Grafting techniques in cucumber using wild and cultivated cucurbits as rootstocks

Grafting is a method of asexual plant propagation that joins stems of two different plants so as to live together and grow as one plant. Normally grafting has been largely applied to propagate trees that are not able to root easily by cuttings and whose own root system is not strong enough or resistant to several soil-borne pathogens. Now, grafting is used for vegetable crops, such as solanaceous and cucurbits mainly to mitigate biotic stress factors. One such attempt has been made in wild and cultivated cucurbits to identify suitable rootstocks for cucumber grafting and to develop resistant cucumber plants against soil borne diseases and nematodes through vegetative propagation. Inherent resistance within wild rootstocks and improved plant nutrient uptake through their vigorous root system are generally suggested as the main reasons for improved disease control in grafted vegetables. The cucurbits viz., fig leaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia), pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata), winter squash (Cucurbita maxima), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) and sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica) were grafted onto two cucumber scions viz., 'Green Long' (cultivar) and NS 408 (hybrid) by two grafting methods viz., side grafting and hole insertion grafting. Comparison of the two grafting methods revealed that hole insertion grafting was more advantageous with higher graft success percentage with the rootstocks on both scions (LSQUOGreen Long', NS 408), with 70.10 and 70.23% in C. ficifolia, 71.32 and 72.97% in C. moschata, 64.54 and 65.91% in C. maxima, 65.32 and 67.94% in L. siceraria and 63.04 and 63.91% in L. cylindrica, respectively.