Vegetative growth of passiflora edulis 'brs gigante amarelo' is influenced significantly by grafting.

Abstract

Abstract: Although Brazil is the largest producer of passion fruit, the mean fruit yield is only 13 t ha-1 and may be attributed to susceptibility to pests and diseases. An attractive solution to the problem would be to improve traits by grafting onto a rootstock presenting enhanced vegetative vigor. To this end, the commercial cultivar Passiflora edulis 'BRS Gigante Amarelo' was grafted onto rootstocks that included three native species of Passiflora and four passion fruit hybrids that are still under development. Grafts were performed with 30-day old seedlings of scion and rootstocks using the cleft graft technique, and stem diametersabove the graft and plant heights were determinedat 30, 60 and 90 days after planting (DAP). The diameters and heights of grafted plants formed on rootstocks Passiflora edulis Sims. and hybrid P. edulis 'BRS Gigante Amarelo' X [(P. quadrifaria V and erpl. XP. setacea DC.) F1 X P. incarnata L.)] were improved significantly compared with those of the control 30 and 60 DAP, although only the height increment was statistically significant at 90 DAP.The successful grafting performances of all scion-rootstock combinations can be attributed to the age of the seedlings employed and to the use of the cleft method of grafting.