The conservation of citrus bud permits the best planning of nursery. However, the tests to verify bud viability consist of bud grafting in rootstocks which is dependent of several factors. This work aim to test in vitro culture of citrus stem bud sprout. This is an alternative form to evaluate bud viability and the effect of the number of buds in the stem on bud sprout. Stems containing 2, 4, or 6 buds of 'Montenegrina' Mandarin (Citrus deliciosa Tenore) and 'Valencia' orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) were collected in May of 2004. These stems were placed in a tube containig Hoagland & Arnon (1950) medium. The tubes were stored in a growth-chamber with controled luminosity (16 h) and temperature (27,5 °C). A randomized experimental design was used, with 15 replicates per treatment, totalizing 90 tubes. The main results showed that the stem bud sprout in vitro is an alternative form to evaluate the viability of citrus buds. The percentage of sprouted branches varied with cultivars and it was directly proportional to the bud number per stem. The number of bud in the stem did not influence the bud sprout percentage.
Grafting; propagation; in vitro culture
