Effect of grafting Nubian watermelon on its growth, flowering, yield and fruit quality.

Abstract

Two field experiments were carried out on Nubian watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var.Colocynthoide) during the summer season of 2009 and 2010 in the farm of Sakha ResearchStation in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. The main objective of the study was comparison of nongraftedwatermelon plants with four rootstocks: bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), pumpkin(Cucurbita moschata), luffa (Luffa cylindrical) and fig leaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia) toimprove Nubian watermelon production by using grafting technique. The study includedmeasurement of vegetative growth parameters, flowering, fruit and seed yield and fruitcharacteristics.The results indicated that grafting Nubian watermelon onto bottle gourd and pumpkin rootstockswas the best grafting compared to the control.Grafting onto bottle gourd rootstock significantly increased number of hermaphrodite flowerwhile, the lowest numbers were obtained from non-grafted plants and those grafted onto luffa.Grafting onto bottle gourd significantly increased both number of fruit/plant, seeds/ fruit andfruit weight, while non-grafting plants and grafting onto fig leaf gourd led to lowest values ofthem. Grafting onto bottle gourd followed by pumpkin significantly increased fruit yield per m2,seed yield per m2, both weights of fruit yield (ton/fed.) and seed yield (ton/fed) in comparisonwith non-grafting plants and grafting onto luffa.Plants grafting onto bottle gourd rootstock had the highest dry weight of 100 seeds, net weightof seed kernel values, the highest fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit shape values.The main objective of this investigation was chosen suitable rootstock for grafting and studyingits effect on growth and yield of Nubian watermelon plant.