Abstract
Vegetable production in greenhouses is preferred when soil quality is degraded by high salinity or incidence of pests and diseases. In these soils with abiotic and biotic issues, it is a challenge to increase the yield and quality of fruits. The use of rootstocks and organic substrates are effective and environmentally friendly techniques to solve that challenge. The objective was to study the effect of rootstocks on yields and quality in bell peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) grown in either soil or coconut fiber substrate, in greenhouses. Using a randomized block design with three repetitions, the resulting treatment groups consisted of three rootstocks (Foundation-F1, Yaocali-F1, CLX-PTX991-F1 (Ultron), and non-grafted controls) with four hybrids as scions (Lamborghini, Bambuca, DiCaprio, and Ucumari). The yield of fruit per plant (YFP) and number of fruit per plant (NFP) obtained in coconut fiber were 85% and 55% greater, respectively, than in soil. The CLX-PTX991-F1 rootstock was superior to the hybrids without rootstock (p ≤ 0.05) in YFP and NPF (30% and 19.5%, respectively). The Lamborghini hybrid had significantly greater YFP and NFP than the Ucumari. We concluded that the use of coconut fiber significantly improves the yields of bell pepper and that the use of rootstock improves plant vigor and plant yield.
Highlights
The human population is growing at an exponential rate, and the demand for food grows proportionally while the usable space for agricultural production diminishes as urban settlements grow
The FYP and number of fruit per plant (NFP) of bell pepper plants grown in coconut fiber were 85% greater than those of plants grown in soil (Table 1)
The 85% improvement in FYP, NFP, FED, and mesocarp thickness (MT) was a result of the increased plant vigor seen in the coconut-fiber-grown plants, which demonstrated greater plant height, leaf length and width, and stem thickness
Summary
The human population is growing at an exponential rate, and the demand for food grows proportionally while the usable space for agricultural production diminishes as urban settlements grow. Mexico is no exception to this and the challenges of the global agricultural industry focus on developing new technologies that increase yields per unit of area and improve the quality of the resulting products. One of those technologies is grafting, a propagation technique that consists of joining one plant to another that is already rooted. Plant grafting has its beginning in Asia, in the 1920s.
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