Valencia SPB 1-14-19 remained the most propagated Florida citrus variety for at least the fourth straight year in 2024–25, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). The FDACS Division of Plant Industry’s Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registration recently released the Citrus Budwood Annual Report 2024–25. The report is a highly detailed 44-page document.
US-942 returned as the top rootstock in 2024–25 after coming in fourth in 2023–24. It had been the leading rootstock in 2022–23 and 2021–22. In 2023–24, US-942 came in behind Sour Orange, Kuharske and US-897. In the new report, Sour Orange slipped to second place, Kuharske to fourth and US-897 to eighth among the top rootstocks.
A total of almost 1.66 million propagations were reported in 2024–25 from 34 Florida citrus nurseries. That’s down from about 1.73 million propagations in 2023–24. Propagations have been decreasing annually in recent years. There were approximately 4.8 million propagations in 2020–21, the last year shown in the report. The propagation decline mirrors drastic declines in Florida citrus acreage, fruit production and the number of citrus growers ever since the devastating citrus disease HLB was discovered in the state in 2005.
TOP VARIETIES
The top 10 variety clones and numbers budded (in parentheses) in 2024–25 were:
- Valencia orange SPB 1-14-19 (228,917)
- Ruby Red grapefruit (169,539)
- WG mandarin 911-C-37 (146,580)
- Ray Ruby grapefruit CGIP-103 (142,641)
- Hamlin orange 1-4-1 (133,269)
- Vernia orange UF 35-15 (51,192)
- Flame grapefruit US 1-26-71 (44,299)
- Meyer lemon US (39,923)
- Donaldson orange 9-10-28 (36,017)
- Persian lime SPB-7 (35,092)
TOP ROOTSTOCKS
The top 10 rootstocks and numbers budded (in parenthesis) in 2024–25 were:
- US-942 (419,634)
- Sour Orange (249,511)
- Swingle Citrumelo (156,915)
- Kuharske (146,223)
- US-812 (114,263)
- X-639 (106,612)
- Volkamer lemon (104,286)
- US-897 (85,616)
- US-802 (35,281)
- Super Sour 3 (32,619)
Source: FDACS
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