Improving Salinity Tolerance of Cucumber Plants Grown under Shadehouse Conditions by Grafting onto Some Genotypes and F1 Hybrids of Cucurbit Rootstocks

Abstract

Grafted seedlings has become important agricultural practice in many parts of the world for the production and protection of cucurbitaceous crops from biotic and abiotic stress. Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses which cause reduction in the growth and productivity of cucumber in Egypt. This study aims to investigate the performance of commercial greenhouse cucumber hybrid (Hesham) grafted onto some genotypes and F1 hybrids rootstocks under salinity stress conditions (Salinity of the experimental soil and irrigation water were about 70.9 and 2.77 dS/m, respectively), at El-Anwar Farm, Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, during summer seasons of 2020 and 2021under shade house conditions. This experiment was done in a randomized complete block design with 3 replicates. The experiment contained fourteen treatments, consisted of six genotypes rootstocks in additions to 7 F1 hybrid rootstocks compared to ungrafted control. The results indicated that grafting cucumber onto all rootstocks gave a significant improve of plant height, leaves area, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, yield and photosynthesis in both seasons, compared to non-grafted one, whereas grafted cucumber onto Kalabsha, Lagenaria siceraria PI 554556, C. maxima, C. moschata, Kalabsha x PI 534556 and Lagenaria siceraria PI 554556 x Lagenaria siceraria PI 491365 rootstocks had larger internode length than non-grafted plants in the first season. The highest values of carbohydrates content in fruits were noticed when cucumber grafted onto C. maxima x C. moschata rootstock in both seasons, whereas the highest proline content were estimated in cucumber leaves that grafted onto kalabsha rootstock in both seasons.