Effect of Rootstocks on Vegetative Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of Cucumber

Effectiveness of grafting cucumber cultivars ‘Kattia’ and ‘Hesham’ onto Ferro and ‘Shintoza’ as rootstocks on growth and yield was evaluated during two successive seasons 2015/16 and 16/17 under plastic house. Stem length, both No. of leaves and fruits plant-1 were periodically measured after 30, 45, 60 and 90 days from transplanting. At harvest, in 130-days old plants, both No. of branches and nodes, stem diameter(cm) and leaf area (cm2), yield (kg plant-1 and kg m-2); fruit quality as dry weight (g), water content (%), length (cm),diameter (mm) and SSC (%) of fruits were estimated. Concentrations of N, P and K in leaves and roots were also determined. Results cleared that ‘Kattia’ cv. plants were more affected by grafting for vegetative parameters such as stem length, No. of leaves, branches and nodes as well as stem diameter more than ‘Hesham’ cv. Enhancement of vegetative growth was paralleled with high K content in roots. Grafting delayed the fruiting in both cultivars. Grafting decreased both SSC% and water content (%) in fruits in both cultivars. ‘Hesham’ cv. had the highest leaf area and yield plant-1 with high concentration of N in leaves and roots as well as P in roots. Yield increased by 70.7 and 67.6% in ‘Hesham’ cv. after grafting on Ferro rootstock in both seasons, respectively. ‘Hesham’ cv. was more compatible with Ferro rootstock than ‘Shintoza’, due to earlier formation of adhering layer and callus as well as xylem vessels differentiation. It can be concluded that, Ferro is suitable rootstock for cucumber grafting to increase the yield and improve quality of fruits.