Articles
Watermelon grafting – principles, practices, yield and quality
Article number
1453_4
Pages
25 – 32
Language
English
Abstract
In the near future, climate change driven by global warming is expected to significantly limit crop yields due to increasingly stressful environmental conditions.
This makes the adoption of innovative production technologies essential, particularly those aimed at enhancing the photosynthetic efficiency of plants and improving water use across different vegetable production systems – open fields, home gardens, and protected environments.
One promising approach is vegetable grafting.
The appeal of this technique lies in its relatively simple application, low cost, and environmentally sustainable nature.
Watermelon is one of the most popular vegetables to be grafted, and more than 90% of the plants in Serbia are grafted.
One of the reasons why grafting is widely used in watermelon production unlike other vegetables, is the easily available and cheap seeds from the pumpkin family, which mainly serve as a rootstock for successful watermelon grafting.
The most successful method for grafting watermelon, among others, is the “hole insertion” technique.
The most important quality factors for good watermelon fruits are sugar content in the heart of the fruit, texture and overall taste.
Grafting should be avoided in healthy soils; however, it becomes essential when the soil is contaminated.
Based on the results, grafting, using the appropriate rootstock and scion combination, could be beneficial for increasing yield and maintaining quality parameters in vegetable production, especially in light of climate changes.
This review summarizes the literature on watermelon grafting with a focus on abiotic stress tolerance and fruit maturity and quality with specific reference to physiological disorders, in order to recommend maturity indicators and timing for harvest to optimize fruit quality of grafted watermelon.
This makes the adoption of innovative production technologies essential, particularly those aimed at enhancing the photosynthetic efficiency of plants and improving water use across different vegetable production systems – open fields, home gardens, and protected environments.
One promising approach is vegetable grafting.
The appeal of this technique lies in its relatively simple application, low cost, and environmentally sustainable nature.
Watermelon is one of the most popular vegetables to be grafted, and more than 90% of the plants in Serbia are grafted.
One of the reasons why grafting is widely used in watermelon production unlike other vegetables, is the easily available and cheap seeds from the pumpkin family, which mainly serve as a rootstock for successful watermelon grafting.
The most successful method for grafting watermelon, among others, is the “hole insertion” technique.
The most important quality factors for good watermelon fruits are sugar content in the heart of the fruit, texture and overall taste.
Grafting should be avoided in healthy soils; however, it becomes essential when the soil is contaminated.
Based on the results, grafting, using the appropriate rootstock and scion combination, could be beneficial for increasing yield and maintaining quality parameters in vegetable production, especially in light of climate changes.
This review summarizes the literature on watermelon grafting with a focus on abiotic stress tolerance and fruit maturity and quality with specific reference to physiological disorders, in order to recommend maturity indicators and timing for harvest to optimize fruit quality of grafted watermelon.
Authors
L. Milenković, Z.S. Ilić, Lj. unić, E. Fallik
Keywords
scion, rootstock, physiological disorders, quality, taste
Online Articles (29)