article · Horticulturae
Cucumber cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions is often limited by concurrent heat and soil salinity stresses. Over two consecutive summer seasons in Egypt, Gianco F1 cucumbers were grafted onto five cucurbit rootstocks and evaluated in a net house alongside an ungrafted control. Grafted plants generally matched or exceeded the performance of the control. The highest early and total marketable yields came from plants grafted onto two Cucurbita maxima by Cucurbita moschata interspecific hybrid rootstocks, designated VSS-61 F1 and Ferro. These rootstocks enhanced scion vigour, increased leaf chlorophyll, and reduced flower abortion. Fruit quality and basic nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels remained largely stable. Additionally, VSS-61 F1 increased leaf catalase activity, proline, and selenium, while Ferro increased silicon content, demonstrating that targeted grafting can counteract dual environmental stresses.
Combined heat and salinity present severe obstacles to vegetable cultivation in arid regions. Identifying rootstocks that maintain cucumber yields and reduce crop losses under extreme summer conditions offers a viable cultural technique to sustain production. This approach helps protect harvests in areas where poor soil and rising temperatures otherwise threaten agricultural viability.
This is applied and tested research ready for practical uptake by commercial nurseries, seed producers, and protected-cultivation growers in arid climates. By deploying specific interspecific hybrid rootstocks such as VSS-61 F1 and Ferro, commercial growers can directly improve marketable yields and crop resilience in saline soils prone to high temperatures.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Improving the productivity of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants subjected to combined salinity and heat stresses is a significant challenge, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Gianco F1 cucumbers were grafted onto five cucurbit rootstocks and, together with an ungrafted control, were grown in Egypt in a net house with saline soil during the summer season over two years. The vegetative growth, yield, quality, biochemical, and mineral composition traits were measured. Although many differences were observed among treatments, in general, the grafted plants had a performance better than or similar to that of the ungrafted plants, based on the different parameters measured. In particular, the cucumber plants grafted onto the Cucurbita maxima × C. moschata interspecific hybrid rootstocks VSS-61 F1 and Ferro had the highest early and total marketable yields. These two rootstocks consistently conferred higher vigor to the scion, which had lower flower abortion rates and higher chlorophyll contents. The fruit quality and N, P, and K composition in the leaves suffered few relevant changes as compared with the control. However, the leaves of the VSS-61 F1 had higher catalase activity, as well as proline and Se contents, while those of Ferro had higher Si content. This study reveals that the grafting of cucumber plants onto suitable rootstocks may mitigate the adverse effects caused by the combination of saline soil and heat stresses. This represents a significant improvement for cucumber cultivation in saline soil under high-temperature stress conditions in arid regions.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/horticulturae7030061
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
