Contribution of roots to growth and physiology of watermelon grafted onto rooted and unrooted seedlings of various bottle gourd rootstocks

Abstract

A hydroponic experiment was conducted between April and May in 2018 by using an aerated Deep Water Culture(DWC) technique in a controlled growth chamber of Erciyes University, Agricultural Faculty in Kayseri, Turkey.To evaluate contribution of roots for growth and physiology a commercial watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)Matsum. and Nakai] cultivar (Crimson Tide F1) was grafted onto two different bottle gourd (Lageneria siceraria)genotypes (39-01 and 47-02) and one commercial rootstock genotype (Argenterio) by using two propagation techniques (unrooted or rooted seedlings). Plants were grown in 8 L pots filled continuously aerated nutrient solution, inRandomized Block Design with 4 replications for 6 weeks. Results indicated that shoot and root fresh (FW) and dry(DW) weights, main stem length, total leaf area, leaf chlorophyll index (SPAD), photosynthetic activity of leaves ofwatermelon were significantly (P