No abstract

The study aimed to assess if grafting affects tomato fruit quality. The research has been conducted in greenhouses where grafted and ungrafted tomatoes have been produced. A Romanian tomato hybrid and a Dutch tomato hybrid, ‘Siriana’ F1 and ‘Abellus’ F1, were used as scions and four cultivars of the Lycopersicon genus, ‘Emperador’ F1 (Dutch hybrid), ‘L542’, ‘L543’ and ‘L544’ (Romanian cultivars) were used as rootstocks. Eight grafted variants (‘Siriana’בEmperador’, ‘Siriana’בL542’, ‘Siriana’בL543’, ‘Siriana’בL544’, ‘Abellus’× ‘Emperador’, ‘Abellus’בL542’, ‘Abellus’בL543’, ‘Abellus’בL544’) and two ungrafted variants (‘Siriana’, control and ‘Abellus’, control) were obtained. The tomato fruit quality has been observed at ‘Siriana’ and ‘Abellus’ grafted on all rootstocks. Compared to ungrafted tomatoes, which have yielded 80.1% and 85.3% of extra and first quality fruits, ‘Siriana’ and ‘Abellus’ grafted on ‘Emperador’ have had a very good fruit quality, 82.3% and 86.8% and grafted on Romanian cultivars have had a quality between 79.1-79.8% and 84.1-84.4% to the same quality standards. Analyzing the dependence between the quality categories (extra and first class) and the soluble dry substance content, a positive dependence was observed between grafted plants and ungrafted plants at both hybrids, ‘Siriana’ r2 = 0.4914 and ‘Abellus’ r2 = 0.1517 and the carbohydrates content, a negative dependence was observed between grafted plants and ungrafted plants at both hybrids, ‘Siriana’ r2 = 0.017 and ‘Abellus’ r2 = 0.798. The total vitamin C content has decreased after grafting. The grafting has had an influence on the soluble dry substance content, the total amount of carbohydrates and vitamin C at all grafting combinations. It can be said that the rootstocks played an important role on the fruit quality.   ********* In press - Online First. Article has been peer reviewed, accepted for publication and published online without pagination. It will receive pagination when the issue will be ready for publishing as a complete number (Volume 47, Issue 4, 2019). The article is searchable and citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI link will become active after the article will be included in the complete issue. *********

ABSTRACT

No abstract

Among the grafting aims are (1) to enhance plant growth, fruit yield and quality; (2) to control wilt caused by pathogens; (3) to reduce viral, fungal and bacterial infection; (4) to strengthen tolerance to thermal or saline stress; (5) to increase nutrient and mineral uptake to the shoot. The cultivars used to obtain of grafted seedlings were from the Baronesa F1 (Citrullus lanatus) hybrid scion and the Pelops F1 (Lagenaria siceraria), Kiwano (Cucumis metuliferus) and Zefir (Benicasa hispida) rootstocks. The rootstock has influenced the number of fruits per plant, weight/fruit and production/plant; the Pelops rootstock has had a positive influence and the Kiwano and Zefir rootstocks have had a negative influence compared to the non-grafted variant. The Pelops rootstock (105.84 t/ha) has had a positive influence and the Kiwano rootstock (53.45 t/ha) and Zefir rootstock (51.38 t/ha) have had have a negative influence compared to the non-grafted variant (95.5 t/ha). The biometric measurements on watermelon fruit yield were made in 2020 year. The experience aimed the identification of some rootstocks for the watermelon cultures from Romania. The research shows that the rootstocks has influenced fruit yield and some grafting combinations researched may be recommended for cropping in Romania.