Abstract
Grafting watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) onto resistant rootstocks is an effective technique in the management of biotic and abiotic stresses. Since the first reported grafting of watermelon for disease resistance in 1927, adoption of the practice has been steadily increasing up to 95% in Japan, Korea, Greece, Israel and Turkey. However, for grafting to be further adopted in the United States and other regions of the world with high labor costs and high plant volume demands, the watermelon grafting method must be more time and labor efficient as well as suitable for automation. To accomplish these goals, recent advances have been achieved in splice grafting of watermelon, where both cotyledons are removed from the rootstock. This review provides a summary of the new discoveries regarding watermelon grafting and an overview of the anatomy of cucurbit stems and the physiological processes that occur at the time of grafting and during the healing process in order to enhance the understanding of the complex nature of the cucurbit vascular system, which limits grafting success. This review article further provides insights to guide future research and technology development that will support the expansion of watermelon grafting.
Highlights
Grafting has become a common practice for watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) production in many parts of the world, due to its efficacy against biotic and abiotic stressors
Recent advances have been achieved in splice grafting of watermelon, where both cotyledons are removed from the rootstock
This review provides a summary of the new discoveries regarding watermelon grafting and an overview of the anatomy of cucurbit stems and the physiological processes that occur at the time of grafting and during the healing process in order to enhance the understanding of the complex nature of the cucurbit vascular system, which limits grafting success
Summary
Grafting has become a common practice for watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) production in many parts of the world, due to its efficacy against biotic and abiotic stressors. Commercial watermelon grafting currently relies on two methods, the one-cotyledon graft and the hole insertion graft Both grafting methods are labor intensive due to the time and detail required for grafting, and additional labor is needed to graft up to 20% extra plants due to reduced plant survival during graft healing, and to manage for rootstock regrowth. An overview is provided of the complex anatomy of the cucurbit vascular system as well as the physiological processes that occur at the time of grafting and during the healing process, as they limit grafting success Taken together, these advances and insights provide new recommendations to optimize watermelon grafting for efficiency and automation, as well as provide future research directions to optimize automated production of grafted watermelon transplants on a large scale
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