FATTY ALCOHOL ROOTSTOCK TREATMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF A NEW APPROACH TO CUCURBIT GRAFTING

R. Hassell, S. Daley
Fatty alcohol treatment at the appearance of the first true leaf is a newly-introduced technology that control meristematic regrowth of cucurbit rootstocks used in grafting. In addition to regrowth control, rootstocks treated with fatty alcohol have been shown to increase in stored carbohydrates over time after treatment. This carbohydrate increase allows for a more successful, durable graft, and gives grafted transplants an advantage in field establishment. Because treated rootstocks increase in carbohydrates over time, older, treated rootstocks may contain enough stored energy to allow improved grafting success in a shorter period of time. This treatment also allows for a longer time period in which rootstock can be used in grafting. An overview of experiments will be presented to describe this novel approach to cucurbit grafting, including a rate trial to determine the optimal fatty alcohol treatment concentration, analyses of rootstock carbohydrate content over time after fatty alcohol treatment, grafting experiments to determine the effect of fatty alcohol treatment on rootstock grafting success as well as to determine the optimal grafting age after fatty alcohol treatment, and field trials to determine whether fatty alcohol treatments give grafted transplants an added advantage in the field.
Hassell, R. and Daley, S. (2015). FATTY ALCOHOL ROOTSTOCK TREATMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF A NEW APPROACH TO CUCURBIT GRAFTING . Acta Hortic. 1086, 71-77
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1086.7
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1086.7
watermelon grafting, Citrullus lanatus, regrowth control, grafting methods, cotyledon-free graft
English

Acta Horticulturae