IMPROVING THE FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY OF CUCUMBER BY GRAFTING ONTO DIFFERENT ROOTSTOCKS UNDER SALINE CONDITIONS

Abstract

The present study included two experiments conducted during 2014 /2015 and 2015 / 2016 seasons, to study the response of grafted and non-grafted on cucumber plants under salinity conditions. Commercial cultivar of cucumber "Eshrak" were used on its own roots or grafted on five rootstocks (Shintoza, Ferro, Pumpkin, Bottle gourd and Squash). The grafted seedling and control (non-grafted) were transplanted under low plastic tunnels condition. Experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of these grafted and non-grafted cucumber plants under salinity conditions on the growth, yield and fruits quality. This study gives more options for cucumber growers by increasing their ability to use low quality of irrigation water with substantial plant production. Our result indicated that certain rootstock genotypes such as Shintoza and Ferro were able to tolerate high salt. The effects of grafting proved to improve plant production under salinity water.