Abstract:
The delay in flowering caused by a long juvenile phase occurs in Citrus and its related genera.
Reliable methods to shorten the juvenile period are required to overcome this major obstacle in
citrus breeding programs and to accelerate the production of improved genotypes. Photoperiod
and benzyladenine (BA) influenced flowering of Fortunella hindsii seedlings. More than 80 %
of seedlings flowered 91 days after germination F. hindsii seedlings sprayed with 0.1 mg 1-1
BA and maintained at 25°C under 16 h photoperiod illuminated with fluorescent tubes at 52.9
3mol m2 s-1 flowered within 106 days after germination, and the seedlings without BA treatment
flowered within 130 days after germination. Percentage of seedling flowering in 0.1 mg 1-1 BA
treatment was reached to 97 % when photoperiod was extended to 20 h. The highest percentage
of flowering and fruiting was achieved in the seedlings sprayed with 0.1 mg 1-1 BA under 20 h
photoperiod at 25°C. This paper describe the effects of BA, photoperiods and temperatures on
subsequent flowering of F. hindsii seedlings.
