Effect of three cucurbits rootstocks on vegetative and yield of ʹʹCharleston Grayʹʹ watermelon

Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (thumb.) Matsum and Nakai] cv. Charleston gray was grafted onto three rootstocks: Cucurbita pepo, Lagenaria siceraria and (Cucurbita maxima x C. moshata). The non grafted watermelon plant was used as control. In this experiment efficiency of two kinds of grafting methods: Tube grafting and Hole insertion grafting and it was found that, Hole insertion grafting gave better survival rate than the other type. The grafted and non grafted plants were transplanted to the filed. The experiment was conducted as a complete randomized block design with four replications, each consisting of ten plants. The results revealed that grafted plants had better vegetative growth than none grafted, control ones. Furthermore, stem length, number of lateral branches, number of internodes and fresh and dry weights of stem and leaves were improved, but grafting had no significant effect on fruit quality and yield. In conclusion it is recommended that grafting procedure in some crops such as watermelons should be done only after assuring the benefits and risks of grafted seedlings.