No abstract

Grafting techniques are being used to improve economically important horticultural crops including Cucumis melo L. This 2-year study was carried out at Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of grafting using different rootstocks on plant, fruit and seed quality in cantaloupe melons. The double haploid (DH) female (H27) and male (H4) parental lines of Solmaz F1 (Cucumis melo L. var. cantalupensis) variety developed by Cukurova University Faculty of Agriculture were used as scion and three commercial interspecific hybrid Cucurbita (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne × Cucurbita moschata Duchesne) varieties, Nun-9075 F1 (Nunhems), Ares F1 (ITU) and TZ-148 (Clause) were used as rootstocks. The parental lines were also self grafted and ungrafted parents were used as the control group. The grafted and ungrafted parents were crossed during pollination. Graft combinations and control were compared for performances in measured parameters such as the main stem length (cm), main stem diameter (mm), node number, harvest time (day), fruit weight (g), fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), fruit cavity length (cm), fruit cavity diameter (cm), fruit flesh thickness (cm), fruit rind thickness (mm), total soluble solids (TSS, %), fruit flesh productivity (%), number of full and empty seeds (number/fruit), 1000 seeds weight (g), seed germination rate (%) and time (day), seed emergence rate (%), and time (day). Most of the plant, fruit and seed parameters have been positively affected by grafting. The use of commercial interspesific Cucurbita hybrid rootstocks resulted in high values compared to the control group however, harvest time, fruit cavity length and diameter, fruit rind thickness and fuit flesh productivity parameters were not statistically significant between rootstocks. Considering seed emergence and germination rate Cucurbita hybrid rootstocks performed lower values than self grafted and ungrafted control. The current study concludes that grafting plays a crucial role in plant growth, fruit and seed characters in cantaloupe melons. Statistically significant differences were mostly observed based on evaluated parameters.

In this study, the characteristics of tetraploid and diploid watermelon’s flowers, fruits, and seeds were examined, and their differences were investigated. As plant material, tetraploid ST101 and ST82; diploid WL92, WL124, WL134, WL216, WL259-B and WL235 were used. Flower (pollen viability, pollen germination, number of anthers and number of pollen per anther and flower); fruit (weight, length, diameter, rind thickness and TSS) and seed (weight of 1000 seed, length, width, thickness, full seed number, seed yield, embryo/seed ratio, germination and emergence) parameters were investigated. In terms of pollen parameters, diploid watermelon has a higher value than tetraploid watermelon. According to research results, average pollen germination was found to be in diploid watermelons at 74.48% and tetraploid watermelons at 71.62%. Pollen viability was determined highest in WL 235 (95.53%). In fruit parameters, tetraploid watermelons had higher values, but fruit length decreased (diploid 19.32 cm; tetraploid 15.33 cm) significantly. Considering the average values of tetraploid watermelons, a significant decrease occurred in terms of seed germination, full seed number, seed yield and embryo/seed ratio (57.22%, 225.48 seed, 6.33 g/fruit, 57.51% respectively in diploids; 37.31%, 57.67 seed, 4.90 g/fruit, 46.42% in tetraploid), and no difference observed in other seed parameters.

In this experiment the effects of different root weights (50-99, 100-149, 150-199, 200-250 g) and increasing doses of boron application to soil (0, 100, 200, 300 g/da) on plant, siliqua, characteristics, and seed yield, germination and emergence in radish were investigated. In this research ‘‘Ç.Ü. Seleksiyon No:2’ radish genotype was used as plant material which developed by selection breeding method at Cukurova University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture. The experiment was carried out in open field and greenhouse conditions in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Radish roots were grown in an open field. Roots harvested for seed production were classified according to their weight and transferred to pots in the greenhouse. In this study, plant length (cm) plant diameter (mm), number of leaves (number/plant), number of siliquas (number/plant), siliqua length and width (mm), number of seeds (number/siliqua), 1000 seed weight (g), seed yield (g/plant), seed germination (%) and seed emergency (%) were analysed. According to the results of the two-year research, positive effects of increasing root weight were observed on the parameters measured in the plants, while the application of boron at different doses was found to be significant only in terms of the number of leaves. In terms of siliqua and seed characteristics, it was revealed that the increase in the root weight and applied boron dose was not effective except the increase in seed yield. Although seed germination was not affected by the applications, the best results were obtained from the application of 200 g/da boron at seedling emergence.