Final SPH -JHS Coverpage 17-1 Jan 2022 single J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 17(1) : 118-123, 2022 This is an open access article d istributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommer cial-ShareAl ike 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, d istribution, and reproduction in any med ium, provide d the original author and source are credited. Original Research Paper INTRODUCTION Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a popular and second important cucurbit grown throughout tropical and sub-tropical region. Due to the rising demand for salad cucumber in off-season, protected cultivation can be followed to increase the yield and quality (Singh et al., 2012). Parthenocarpy along with gynoecious sex expression is an asset for protected cultivation of cucumber. Cultivation of parthenocarpic hybrids is gaining attention of the growers as it is a reliable and profita ble ventur e. T he ma jor fa ctors limiting cucumber cultiva tion a r e soil-bor ne r oot knot nematodes and soil salinity. To overcome the problems in cucumber cultivation, an eco-friendly technique exploited is vegeta ble gr a fting with r esista nt rootstocks. Grafting was confined to woody perennials but now vegetable grafting has gained importance to combat biotic and abiotic stress. Though cultivated area of gr a fted cucubita ceous pla nts ha s incr ea sed tremendously in foreign countries, but the commercial use of vegetable gra fting is a relatively recent innovation in India and scientific information is meagre. Sakata et al. (2008) showed that cucumber could be grafted onto different wild and cultivated rootstocks, including Cucurbita interspecific hybrids, Cucumis spp., bottle gourd, wax gourd, fig-leaf gourd, African horned cucumber, sponge gourd and ridge gourd. However, survival, growth and yield of grafted plants depend on stock-scion compatibility, grafting method and post-grafting management. Due to change in root system, the physiology and metabolic process of plants are affected in grafted plants. The studies on use of parthenocarpic variety as scion in grafting is limited. Grafting can also increase yield since grafted plants are resistant to soil borne diseases, have strong root systems and increased photosynthesis (Davis et al., 2008). Cucumber adapts well to grafting and has few compatibility problems with the usual rootstocks Performance of parthenocarpic and non-parthenocarpic grafts of cucumber Gowda P.P.1*, Rafeekher M.2 and Sarada S.1 1Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani 2Department of Fruit Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, KAU, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. *Corresponding Author E-mail : pooja.praju94@gmail.com ABSTRACT Effect of rootstock on yield and quality of cucumber scion was studied at Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala during February-May, 2021. Parthenocarpic and non-parthenocarpic cucumber scions were grafted onto five different cultivated cucurbit species i.e. pumpkin, bottle gourd, oriental pickling melon, culinary melon and ash gourd. Significant variations were observed for all the traits under this study. The highest vine length (4.37 m) was observed in Heera scion grafted onto Lagenaria siceraria rootstock followed by Heera scion grafted onto Cucurbita moschata rootstock (4.13 m). The diameter of rootstock hypocotyl was higher in case of KPCH-1 grafted onto bottle gourd (1.48 mm) and Heera grafted onto bottle gourd (1.43 mm). KPCH-1 grafted on bottle gourd (29.33 days) and culinary melon (31 days) rootstocks showed early female flower initiation. The greater number of fruits was observed in graft combination of KPCH- 1 and bottle gourd (32) followed by parthenocarpic grafts with pumpkin (30.33) and ash gourd (30.33) rootstocks. A greater fruit weight was observed in graft combination of Heera and bottle gourd (7.51 kg) followed by Heera grafted onto pumpkin (7.38 kg). Results of this experiment suggest that these graft combinations can be employed in sustainable vegetable cultivation. Keywords: Cucumber, grafts, non-parthenocarpic, parthenocarpic, rootstock and scion 119 Performance of parthenocarpic and non-parthenocarpic grafts of cucumber J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 17(1) : 118-123, 2022 (Echebarria, 2001). Edelstein et al. (2004) observed that number of leaves, stem length, and fresh weight of melon plants increased when grafted onto other cucurbitaceous rootstocks. Chao and Yen (2013) observed that cucumber gra fted onto Cucumis rootstock showed good rootstock scion combination, better tolerance to soil-borne diseases, better growth, yield and quality. Hang et al. (2005) observed that when scion and rootstock have hollow hypocotyls as in cucurbits, the hole insertion and one cotyledon grafting methods are preferred. MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted in rain shelter during February-May, 2021 at Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala. The experimental site was located at 8.5o30’ North latitude and 76.9o54’ East longitude at an altitude of 29 m above mean sea level. Predominant soil type of the experimental site was red loam of Vellayani series, texturally classified as sandy clay loam. In this experiment, two different scions were used: a pa r thenoca r pic hybr id KPCH-1 a nd a non- parthenocarpic variety, Heera. Five rootstocks were used, namely, pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) var. Ambili, bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) var. Arka Bahar, ash gourd (Benincasa hispida) var. KAU Local, culinary melon (Cucumis melo var. acidulus) var. Mudicode local and oriental pickling melon (Cucumis melo var. conomon) var. Vishal. Considering the early germination of cucumber (scion) compared to rootstocks, rootstocks were sown four days earlier than scions. Depending on the result of standardization, ten days old scion was grafted onto fourteen days old rootstocks. Alar and cycocel 20 ppm each were used to control height of rootstocks. Based on the stem grith of rootstocks and scion, grafting methods were employed. For culinary melon, oriental pickling and ash gourd where the stem size were similar to scion, one cotyledon grafting was used. In case of pumpkin and bottle gourd whose stem girth is higher than that of cucumber, hole insertion method was employed. The protrays were shifted to graft healing chamber (e”85 % humidity) immediately after grafting. Graft union formation was noticed within seven days and thereafter the grafts were shifted to 75 % shaded net house. The grafted plants were planted in the main field (rain shelter) after twelve days of grafting. The experiments were laid in a randomized complete block design with three replications of ten plants each at a spacing of 1.5 m × 0.5 m on raised beds. Standard cultural practices were followed to raise a healthy crop under protected condition. Diameter of rootstock hypocotyls was recorded using vernier calliper. The vine length of each graft was measured using a scale after final harvest. For determining earliness, the node number and days at which the first pistillate flower appeared was recorded for each plant. The number of fruits per plant and yield per plant was recorded as an average of all ten plants in each replication. For quality assessment, five random fruits were selected from each replication. Fruit length and diameter were measured. The total soluble solids (TSS) content was measured using a handheld refractometer (ERMA, Japan). The data obtained in evaluation trial was analyzed using WASP (Web Agriculture Statistical Package) 2.0 software through ANOVA techniques. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The present study revealed that the vegetative and yield parameters of the grafted plants were significantly affected by scion-rootstock combinations (Table 1 and 2). Significant difference was observed in vine length with respect to rootstocks and scions used in this study. Among the ten graft combinations, the highest vine length (4.37 m) was observed in Heera scion grafted onto bottle gourd rootstock followed by Heera scion grafted onto pumpkin rootstock (4.13 m). Generally, vigorous rootstocks increase the vine length of scions. However, the root and shoot vigour imparted by these rootstocks did not reflect in higher yield. This is confirmed by a lack of correlation between yield and root parameters. Similar differences in vine length were also obtained by Mohamed et al. (2012) who stated that grafted watermelon plants were more vigorous than self-rooted ones and had a larger central stem diameter and recorded 32 per cent higher main vine length than that of non-grafted counterpart. Selvi and Pugalendhi (2018) also observed the increase in vine length through grafting in bitter gourd. Improved plant growth of grafts is measured by phenomena of stronger and more extensive root growth, increased water and plant nutrient uptake as well as endogenous hormone production (Islam et al., 2013). 120 Gowda et al The diameter of rootstock hypocotyl reflects the vigor of the grafts. The diameter of rootstock hypocotyl was higher in case of KPCH-1 grafted onto bottle gourd (1.48 mm) and Heera grafted onto bottle gourd (1.43 mm). Growth and development of grafted plants was better than that of non-grafted plants throughout the growing period. High vigor was noticed in grafts with high diameter of rootstock hypocotyl. Similar results were observed by Aishwarya (2019). Earliness coupled with high yield is an important trait for commercial cultivation of vegetable crops. A significant influence of the rootstocks was observed on earliness in terms of the appearance of pistillate flower at the lower nodes and also number of days to female flower initiation. Early flowering was observed in grafts than the control. KPCH-1 grafted on bottle gourd (29.33 days) and culinary melon (31 days) rootstocks showed early female flower initiation whereas, Heera grafted onto pumpkin took greater number of days (48.33 days). These results are similar to Pal et al. (2020) and Bigdelo et al. (2017). However, a reverse trend of delayed flowering in grafted plants was observed by Hamed et al. (2012) and Selvi and Pugalendhi (2018). In cucurbits, node at which first female flower appears is also considered as important trait to measure earliness. The number of nodes of female flower initiation was lower for the graft of KPCH-1 on bottle gourd (3.33) and oriental pickling melon (3.67) than the non-grafted control (4th node). Parthenocarpic gynoecious hybrid bears only fema le flowers and in case of Heer a, the graft combinations of Heera on ash gourd (8) and culinary melon (8.33) showed female flowers at lower nodes (Table 1). Significant difference was observed for traits like number of fruits per vine, fruit yield, average fruit weight and days to first fruit harvest. Number of fruits were higher in case of parthenocarpic grafts than the non-parthenocarpic graft combinations. The greater number of fruits was observed in graft combination of KPCH-1 and bottle gourd (32.00) followed by parthenocarpic grafts with pumpkin (30.33) and ash gourd (30.33) rootstocks. In non-parthenocarpic graft combination, the grafts with oriental pickling melon (27.67) followed by ash gourd (26.33) and bottle gourd (26.00) produced a greater number of fruits than the control (25.67). These graft combinations produced 5 to 10 per cent higher fruits per plant. In cucumber, Table 1. Vegetative and flowering parameters of grafts Graft Diameter of Vine Days to Node of rootstock length 1st female 1st female combinations hypocotyl (cm) (m) flower flower KPCH-1 on culinary melon 1.20 1.77 31.00 4.00 Heera on culinary melon 1.21 4.00 47.30 8.33 KPCH-1 on oriental pickling melon 1.24 1.91 32.00 3.67 Heera on oriental pickling melon 1.23 2.30 47.00 11.00 KPCH-1 on pumpkin 1.36 2.53 31.67 4.67 Heera on pumpkin 1.37 4.13 48.33 9.00 KPCH-1 on ash gourd 1.34 2.63 31.67 4.67 Heera on ash gourd 1.26 2.27 45.33 8.00 KPCH-1 on bottle gourd 1.48 2.46 29.33 3.30 Heera on bottle gourd 1.43 4.37 44.33 9.00 KPCH-1 0.90 2.73 33.67 4.00 Heera 0.97 3.60 46.00 10.00 CD (0.05) 0.10 0.34 3.17 1.50 SEm 0.05 0.25 2.27 0.81 SD 0.17 0.89 7.86 2.82 CV 4.94 7.10 4.84 13.34 J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 17(1) : 118-123, 2022 121 Performance of parthenocarpic and non-parthenocarpic grafts of cucumber Graft Fruits per Fruit yield Days to first Fruit TSS combinations vine (kg) harvest (oB) KPCH-1 on culinary melon 28.00 3.48 41.00 2.20 Heera on culinary melon 25.00 3.89 57.00 3.60 KPCH-1 on oriental pickling melon 25.67 3.06 40.67 2.07 Heera on oriental pickling melon 27.67 5.20 56.67 2.20 KPCH-1 on pumpkin 30.33 4.09 41.33 2.27 Heera on pumpkin 24.67 7.38 57.67 2.97 KPCH-1 on ash gourd 30.33 5.09 41.00 2.17 Heera on ash gourd 26.33 6.33 54.67 1.97 KPCH-1 on bottle gourd 32.00 5.25 40.00 2.03 Heera on bottle gourd 26.00 7.51 54.00 2.27 KPCH-1 29.00 4.82 43.00 2.07 Heera 25.67 7.14 55.67 2.00 CD (0.05) 3.63 0.89 2.66 0.63 SEm 0.69 0.44 2.25 0.13 SD 2.40 1.52 7.80 0.48 CV 7.78 10.06 3.24 16.12 Table 2. Fruit yield parameters of cucumber grafts ‘Shelper’ rootstock provided increase in the number of marketable fruits and 35.5 and 39.5 % increase in yield, compared to non-grafted plants (Kohatsu et al., 2013). A gr ea ter fr uit weight wa s obser ved in gr a ft combination of Heera and bottle gourd (7.51 kg) followed by Heera grafted onto pumpkin (7.38 kg). However, in case of KPCH-1, higher fruit yield was observed in the graft combination of bottle gourd (5.25 kg), followed by ash gourd (Table 2). Fruit yield depends on number of fruits and average fruit weight. In the present study, fruit yield was directly proportional to the average fruit weight. Higher number of fruits was noticed in parthenocarpic grafts whereas higher fruit yield was observed in non-parthenocarpic grafts, which is due to high average fruit weight of non-parthenocarpic grafts (Fig.1). Ea r ly fr uit ha r vesting wa s noticed in ca se of parthenocarpic graft combinations with bottle gourd (40 days) followed by ash gourd (41 days) and culinary melon (41 days) than the control (43 days). The graft combination of Heera with bottle gourd Fig. 1. Graphical representation of average fruit yield per vine CM - Culinary melon, OPM - Oriental pickling melon, BG - Bottle gourd (54 days) and ash gourd (54.67 days) rootstock showed early fruit harvesting than that of non- parthenocarpic control (Table 2). Earliness of any vegetable crop is directly measured through days to first harvest which could fetch premium price and catch the early market. Days to first harvest had the positive direct effect with days to female flower initia tion a nd node of pistilla te flower appearance. Five to ten per cent increase in yield J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 17(1) : 118-123, 2022 122 was observed in grafted plants than the non-grafted control. Fruit TSS was observed to be higher with non-parthenocarpic scion combined with culinary melon rootstock (3.6 oB) and pumpkin (2.96 oB) against the control (2.0 oB). Parthenocarpic non- grafted cucumber has total soluble solids of 2.06 oB which wa s lower tha n t ha t of gr a fts with rootstock pumpkin (2.26 oB) and culinary melon (2.20 oB). Quality parameters are not affected by rootstock-scion combination as previously reported by Selvi and Pugalendhi (2018) in bitter gourd. CONCLUSION It can be concluded that grafted plants performed better tha n non-gr a f ted contr ol in cuc umber. Gr a fting ca n be commer cia liz ed in pr otec ted cultivation of cucumber for parthenocarpic and non-parthenocarpic cultivars. According to this study, both scions, KPCH-1 and Heera performed better with the bottle gourd rootstock for almost all vegetative and yield attributing traits. Therefore, this graft combination can be used in sustainable horticulture with higher yield. Further, grafting can be utilized to combat biotic and abiotic stress in cucurbitaceous vegetables. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This research was a part of doctoral programme of fir st a uthor and financial support from Ker ala Agricultural University. The study was supported b y I CAR- J RF / SR F 2 0 18 -2 1 . F ir s t a ut hor is recipient of ICAR-JRF/SRF fellowship. REFERENCES Aishwarya, D. V. 2019. Standardization of grafting in b it t er gou r d. M . S c . T hes i s , K er a la Agricultural University, Thrissur. Bigdelo, M., Hassandokht, M. R., Rouphael, Y., Colla, G., Soltani, F. and Salehi, R. 2017. E va lu a t i on of b it t er a p p le ( C i t r u l l u s c ol o c yn t h is ( L. ) S cha r a d) a s pot entia l rootstock for watermelon. Australian J. Crop Sci. 6: 727–732. Chao, H. and Yen, Y. 2013. Effect of Cucumis and Cucurbita rootstocks on vegetative traits, yield and quality in ‘Tainan No. 1’ cucumber. J. Hortic. Sci. 8(1): 51-54. Gowda et al Davis, A. R., Veazie, P. 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(Received: 18.10.2021; Revised: 18.02.2022; Accepted: 19.02.2022) 00 A Final SPH -JHS Coverpage First 2 pages.pdf 00 Content and in this issue.pdf 01 Mohan Kumar G N.pdf 02 Meera Pandey.pdf 03 Biradar C.pdf 04 Varalakshmi B.pdf 05 Vijayakumari N.pdf 06 Barik S.pdf 07 Sajid M B.pdf 08 Ranga D.pdf 09 Usha S.pdf 10 Manisha.pdf 11 Amulya R N.pdf 12 Akshatha H J.pdf 13 Adak T.pdf 14 Sujatha S.pdf 15 Gowda P P.pdf 16 Subba S.pdf 17 Dhayalan V.pdf 19 Ahmed S.pdf 20 Vishwakarma P K.pdf 21 Deep Lata.pdf 22 Udaykumar K P.pdf 23 Nayaka V S K.pdf 24 Sahel N A.pdf 25 Bayogan E R V.pdf 26 Rathinakumari A C.pdf 27 Yella Swami C.pdf 28 Saidulu Y.pdf 29 Sindhu S.pdf 30 Neeraj.pdf 31 Sivaranjani R.pdf 32 Rashied Tetteh.pdf 34 Sangeetha G.pdf 35 Shareefa M.pdf 36 Last Pages.pdf