STUDIES ON GRAFTED WATERMELON (CITRULLUS LANATUS) PRODUCTIVITY UNDER NORTH SINAI CONDITIONS

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted in Baloza Research Station, Desert Research Center, at North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, during the two successive seasons of 2016 and 2017 to study the influence of grafting (Star and 6001 rootstocks as well as ungrafting) and the foliar sprayofpotassiumsilicate(4and5ml/L),calcium(1and2ml/L),urea(1 and 2 %), and amino acids (1.5 ml/L), on the growth and productivity of watermelon. The experiment was arranged in a split plot design with three replicates. Every replicate included twenty four treatments resulted from the combinations of three grafting treatments and eight foliar spray treatments. The main plots were devoted to the foliar spray treatments, while the sub-plots were occupied with the grafting treatments. The grafting process was carried out on watermelon plants in privatenurseryforvegetablesinBerqasharea,Gizagovernorate,byusing