Abstract:

The paper aims to improve the watermelon grafting cultivation level in Jiangsu and solve the problem in watermelon continuous cropping. The self-rooted seedlings of ‘Zaojia 8424’ were used as negative control and ‘Jingxinzhen 2’ grafted seedlings were used as positive control, and grafted seedlings of ‘Jingxizhen 9’, ‘Jingxinzhen Guan’, ‘Jingxinzhen Wang’, ‘Jingxinzhen Qiang’, ‘Jingxinzhen You’, ‘Heli 7’, ‘ZM9002’, ‘Qianggen’, ‘SYN650’, ‘SYN004’, and ‘Ribenxuesong’ were used as treatment groups. The effects of different rootstock varieties on the grafting affinity, plant growth status, disease resistance, yield and fruit traits of watermelon were investigated. The grafting survival rate of all the grafted seedlings was good, grafting improved the growth, disease resistance, yield and fruit soluble sugar content of ‘Zaojia 8424’, but grafting had different effects on fruit texture and flavor. ‘Jingxinzhen Qiang’ and ‘SYN004’ had the best performance in Jiangsu, which had good grafting affinity and obvious improvement on plant growth and yield, and no adverse effect on fruit quality. These two rootstock varieties are recommended as special rootstock for watermelon ‘Zaojia 8424’ grafting in Jiangsu.

Key words: watermelon, rootstock, grafting affinity, disease resistance, quality