Impacts of Temperature and Rootstocks on Tomato Grafting
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HORTSCIENCE 55(2):136–140. 2020. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14525-19 netic potential of two plants. Although vegeta- ble grafting has been known for a long time, it is being used increasingly worldwide on Sol- Impacts of Temperature and anaceae and cucurbit crops (Kubota et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2010). The merits of vegetable Rootstocks on Tomato Grafting grafting for increasing resistance to abiotic and biotic stress have been discussed in several Success Rates recent reviews, which stressed its potential for tackling food security issues (Keatinge et al., Thibault Nordey 2014; Rouphael et al., 2018). The broad genetic The World Vegetable Center, Eastern and Southern Africa, P.O. Box 10, diversity of the Solanaceae family has encour- Duluti, Arusha, Tanzania; and CIRAD, UPR Hortsys, F-34398 Montpellier, aged researchers to improve the performance of tomato plants (S. lycopersicum) by using differ- France ent rootstocks from the same species (homo- Elias Shem grafting), but also from different species (heterografting), such as eggplant (S. melon- The World Vegetable Center, Eastern and Southern Africa, P.O. Box 10, gena), african eggplant (S. macrocarpon and S. Duluti, Arusha, Tanzania aethiopicum), and wild species (S. torvum and S. integrifolium) (Lee and Oda, 2003). Synchro- Joel Huat nizing the development of seedlings used as CIRAD, UPR Hortsys, F-34398 Montpellier, France; and CIRAD, 97455 scions and rootstocks is one of the technical Saint-Pierre, La Reunion, France challenges of grafting, especially for heterograft- ing. Seedlings of eggplant, african eggplant, and Additional index words. Africa, degree-days, heterografting, homografting, vegetable wild species used as tomato rootstocks are Abstract. Numerous studies have highlighted the merits of grafting to improve the commonly sown from several days to several performance of vegetable crops. However, the technique is hindered by several obstacles, weeks before sowing scions, to ensure a similar including the synchronization of seedlings used as scions and rootstocks, and the effects of stem diameter at the time of grafting. The rootstocks and climatic conditions on grafting success rates. This study sought to gain synchronization of seedlings is particularly sen- insights into how such technical obstacles affect tomato grafting. An initial experiment sitive in nurseries, where climatic conditions are conducted in a greenhouse set out to assess the relevance of using degree-days to predict the poorly controlled, as seedling growth rates vary growth rates of seedlings used for grafting (i.e., stem diameters above cotyledons). The with temperature. It would, therefore, be in- success rate for grafting a tomato variety (Tanya) on 10 different rootstocks from different teresting to assess the accuracy of degree-days, a species—namely tomato, eggplant, african eggplant, and a wild species—was assessed at common indicator of plant phenology, to predict different temperatures (i.e., 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 8C). The effects of grafting on plant seedling development (Bonhomme, 2000; Bris- vigor (i.e., fresh biomass), number of leaves, and plant height, and on the hydraulic son et al., 2003; Jones et al., 2003; Keating et al., conductivity of xylem vessels in the plant stem were assessed 2 weeks after grafting. The 2003). The graft-take ratio, hereinafter called the results show the advantage of using degree-days to predict the ready-to-graft stage of grafting success rate, hasbeenreportedtovary seedlings, as it reduced the discrepancy among trials. The grafting success rate was more with seasons (Huat, 2003). Guidelines on the than 90% at 15 and 20 8C, but decreased significantly with higher temperatures, down to optimum temperature range for tomato grafting 20% at 40 8C. Larger variations in growth rate for seedlings used as scions and rootstocks, a vary considerably, depending on the authors, lower grafting success rate, and less vigor were recorded for heterografted plants than for from16to21°C (Kleinhenz et al., 2018) to 21 to homografted plants. The lower hydraulic conductivity measured in the stems of grafted 27 °C (Rosskopf and Pisani, 2017) to 25 to 32 °C plants, especially heterografted plants, was consistent with the lower plant vigor observed. (Black et al., 2003). An extensive study revealed Further studies are needed to investigate how grafting affects the hydraulic conductivity of that a constant temperature of 23 °Cwould xylem vessels in later developmental stages of grafted plants. appear to be the optimum for tomato grafting, and indicated that a temperature increase from 23 to 26 °C decreased the grafting success rate The environmental and human health as using plant extracts (Deberdt et al., 2012), by 13% to 26%, depending on the rootstock (Vu impacts of chemicals used to control soil- applying compost (Noble and Coventry, 2005) et al., 2013). Differences in grafting success borne pathogens (e.g., methyl bromide, or compost tea (Mengesha et al., 2017), inter- rates among rootstocks were explained carbofuran, carbosulfan) have been raising cropping (Deberdt et al., 2015), and soil previously by discontinuities in the vascular concerns and have resulted in their gradually solarization (Krueger and McSorley, 2009). bundles at the graft union (Kawaguchi et al., being phased out at various speeds depending However, such methods do not wipe out soil- 2008). on the countries involved. Efforts have been borne pathogens, but only reduce their pressure After studying the advantages of using made to identify alternatives to pesticides, such for a time in the first soil layers. Improving degree-days as an indicator of seedling plant resistance is believed to be the most growth rates, the impacts of temperature suitable way of dealing with soil-borne diseases and rootstocks on grafting success rates were assessed using differences in plant vigor (i.e., Received for publication 11 Sept. 2019. Accepted and has been considered in vegetable breeding fresh biomass), plant height, and the number for publication 24 Oct. 2019. programs for decades (Fufa et al., 2009; Melo- of leaves. The hydraulic conductivity of Published online 7 January 2020. mey et al., 2019). Breeding efforts are ham- This research was supported by GIZ within the xylem vessels in the stem was also measured GrAfrica project. We also appreciate long term pered by the genetic diversity of soil-borne to explain variations in plant vigor. strategic donors to the World Vegetable Center: pathogens and the challenge of combining various agronomic traits, such as high yield, Republic of China (Taiwan), UK aid from the UK Materials and Methods government, Australian Centre for International quality, and resistance to abiotic and biotic Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Germany, Thai- stress, in the same genotype. Grafting, the Plant materials land, Philippines, Korea, and Japan. union of two plant parts—namely, a rootstock Seedlings of tomato, eggplant, african T.N. is the corresponding author. E-mail: thibault. (base of the union to provide the root system) [email protected]. eggplant (S. aethiopicum), and a common This is an open access article distributed under the and a scion (the upper portion that carries the wild species (S. elaeagnifolium) in Tanzania CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons. harvestable yield)—is seen as a complementary (Table 1) were obtained using seedling trays org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). technique to breeding for combining the ge- with a mix of sterilized soil (i.e., 1/3 soil, 1/3 136 HORTSCIENCE VOL. 55(2) FEBRUARY 2020 Table 1. Description of plant materials. Variety Species Origin Description Status Tanya Solanum lycopersicum WORLDVEG Open-pollinated variety, determinate Scion/rootstock type with oblong fruit Tengeru 1997 Solanum lycopersicum WORLDVEG Open-pollinated variety, semi-indeterminate Rootstock type with oblong fruit Tengeru 2010 Solanum lycopersicum WORLDVEG Open-pollinated variety, semi-indeterminate Rootstock type with round fruits Hawaii Solanum lycopersicum INRA Open-pollinated Rootstock Shelter Solanum lycopersicum Rizk Zwaan Hybrid Rootstock EG 203 Solanum melongena WORLDVEG Open-pollinated Rootstock EG 190 Solanum melongena WORLDVEG Open-pollinated Rootstock DB3 Solanum aethiopicum WORLDVEG Open-pollinated Rootstock Tengeru White Solanum aethiopicum WORLDVEG Open-pollinated Rootstock Wild Solanum elaeagnifolium Wild Open-pollinated Rootstock compost, 1/3 sand). The seedlings were Table 2. Climatic conditions recorded over the four trials to assess seedling growth rates. irrigated daily with a watering can and fertilizer Mean temp Maximum temp Minimum temp Air moisture was applied each week with a 17–17–17 NPK Trials Sowing date (°C) (°C) (°C) (%) –1 fertilizer solution diluted to 2.5 g·L . Grafted 1 8 June 2018 22.8 42.5 11.8 65.8 plants were obtained using the splice technique 2 18 June 2018 23.0 42.5 11.8 64.8 described by Black et al. (2003). Briefly, 3- 3 20 July 2018 24.4 42.5 13.3 61.9 week-old tomato seedlings used as scions were 4 10 Aug. 2018 24.2 42.5 13.3 63.4 grafted onto the varieties described in Table 1. The stems of the scions and rootstocks were cut above the ground, with an open bottom section, obliquely at a 30° angle above the cotyledons to avoid direct exposure to solar radiation. The Table 3. Climatic data recorded in climate using sterilized blades. The surfaces of the cut temperature and air moisture recorded during chambers. scions and rootstocks were then gently joined the four trials are summarized in Table 2. Climate Mean temp Mean air moisture together using a transparent plastic clip mea- Assessing the impacts of temperature and chambers (°C) (%) suring 1.6 mm in diameter. The grafted plants rootstocks on grafting success rates, plant 1 15.4 ± 1.0 97.4 ± 8.5 were stacked and kept for 3 d in a healing vigor, and hydraulic conductivity. Variations in 2 20.1 ± 0.8 97.8 ± 6.02 chamber in the dark, then left to recover under grafting success rates depending on the temper- 3 25.3 ± 1.3 99.1 ± 3.7 artificial light (5 mmol·m–2·d–1) for 15 d.