EFFECTS OF SILICON SUPPLY ON SILICON ABSORPTION AND BLOOM FORMATION ON FRUIT SURFACE OF CUCUMBER GRAFTED ON DIFFERENT ROOTSTOCKS

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) cultivar ‘Xintaimici’ was grafted onto two rootstocks, ‘Yunnan Figleaf Gourd’ (Cucurbita ficifolia Bouche) and ‘Huangchenggen No. 2’ (C. moschata Duch. × C. moschata Duch.), and all grafted and non-grafted plants were simultaneously grown in Yamazaki’s cucumber nutrient solution with two silicon concentrations (1.7 mM and 8.7×10-4 mM), to determine the relationship between absorption and allocation of silicon and bloom formation on fruit surface.
A low concentration of silicon was found in roots, stem, leaves and fruits of non-grafted and grafted cucumbers, and a small amount of bloom was found on the fruits when no silicon was supplied in nutrient solution.
A large amount of bloom was found on fruits from non-grafted plants and plants grafted on ‘Yunnan Figleaf Gourd’, while silicon contents in roots, stem, leaves and fruits increased with silicon supplementation in the nutrient solution.
Plants grafted on ‘Huangchenggen No. 2’ absorbed less silicon and produced minor bloom on fruits regardless of silicon supplementation.
In conclusion, rootstocks affected bloom formation of grafted cucumber fruit by changing the absorption and distribution of silicon in the plants.

I International Symposium on Vegetable Grafting

Q. Shen, Z.H. Ren, M. Wei, Y. Li , X.F. Wang, J. Cui

grafting, own-root, Cucurbita ficifolia, Cucurbita moschata × Cucurbita moschata, allocation

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1086.29