This work was carried out under green house condition at the Embrapa Cassava and Tropical Fruit Crops, Cruz das Almas - Bahia- Brazil, aiming to identify citrus rootstocks better adapted to Coastal Table Land ecosystem as for their drought tolerance. It was studied the Rangpur lime, Volkamer lemon, Sour orange and the trifoliated hybrids HTR - 051, TSK x CTTR - 002, and TSK x CTTR - 017, the last three from the breeding program of the Embrapa Cassava and Tropical Fruits Crops. The experimental design was completely randomized under a 6 x 9 factorial, with six genotypes and nine period of evaluations. The evaluations followed the sequence: irrigation, water deficit, and irrigation when the plants had two to three leaves pairs. It was analyzed the variables root dry matter, dry matter of above ground parts, plant water potential, and leaf transpiration. For the above ground dry matter the genotypes Volkamer lemon and Sour orange showed decrease during the water deficit condition. The other genotypes showed no significant differences for this variable. Without irrigation, all genotypes decreased in their water potentials. The hybrids kept it unchanged maintaining increased transpiration rates. The hybrids HTR - 051, and TSK x CTTR - 017 presented the best performances for all variables studied being more promising as rootstocks for water deficit conditions.
water stress; transpiration; drought tolerance
