Effects of grafting on growth and quality of autumn-delayed watermelon

LI Guifen; XIE Huayun; YE Yunfeng; QIN Sihua; LIU Tangjing; HE Yi; LI Tianyan; HONG Rixin; WEI Zhengguang; HUANG Jinyan

doi:10.16861/j.cnki.zggc.2024.0736

Abstract：To study the effects of grafting on the growth and quality of autumn-delayed watermelon,using random block design,taking gourd and wild watermelon as rootstocks,Guihongyu watermelon as scion,and self-rooted seedlings as control,the grafting experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of grafting on main stem length,stem diameter,disease resistance,yield and quality of autumn-delayed watermelon,so as to provide technical basis for autumn-delayed watermelon production.The results showed that grafting can significantly improve the growth potential,disease resis-tance,single fruit mass and yield of autumn-delayed watermelon.The yield of grafted seedlings was 87.7％-115.7％high-er than that of self-rooted seedlings,and the yield of gourd grafted seedlings was 115.7％higher than that of self-rooted seedlings.Grafting can increase the peel hardness while reducing the peel thickness and flesh hardness,thereby improv-ing fruit storage and transportation and taste quality.Grafting could not increase the soluble solids content of autumn-de-layed watermelon,but gourd rootstock could increase the content of fructose,sucrose,lycopene,vitamin C and the ratio of fructose to glucose(F/G),thus improving the flavor quality and nutritional quality of autumn-delayed watermelon.Wild watermelon rootstocks significantly reduced the content of lycopene,vitamin C,citrulline and the ratio of fructose to glucose(F/G),thus reducing the flavor quality and nutritional quality.In summary,the growth,yield and fruit quality of the gourd grafted seedlings were better than those of the wild watermelon grafted seedlings,therefore,gourd is more suit-able as a grafting rootstock for autumn-delayed cultivation of watermelon than wild watermelon.