Plant growth and quality of cucumber grafted with Lagenaria siceraria in soil infested with nematodes

R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Suárez-Hernández, et al. 68 Emir. J. Food Agric ● Vol 33 ● Issue 1 ● 2021 Recent studies have shown the benefits of using L. siceraria as rootstock in cucumber under other environments. L. siceraria as rootstock in hybrid cucumber cv. Kalaam F1 under non-stressful environment promotes higher plant growth and fruit quality, mainly in parameters such as plant height, leaf area, fruit weight and yield (Noor et al., 2019). Under saline conditions, cucumber plants grafted increase fruits number and reduce non-marketable percentage (Huang et al., 2009). Tolerance to salinity is result of morphological and physiological changes in plant (Elsheery et al., 2020). A morphological study of accessions diversity in different regions of Mexico indicates that fruits vary in size and shape (Grimaldo et al., 2018). Mexican L. siceraria accessions used as rootstock have positive effects on fruit quality in watermelon (Suárez et al., 2017a, b). Another study related with Mexican L. siceraria accessins, indicates that are less susceptible to root-knot nematodes compared with other regions of the world (Levi et al., 2009). However, there is no evidence of studies related to nematodes tolerance of Mexican L. siceraria landraces on plant growth and fruit quality of cucumber. Therefore, our objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of two Mexican L. siceraria accessions (Lag 53 and Lag 48) and Forticuke F1 (commercial rootstock) on plant growth and fruit quality of cucumber in soil infested with rootknot nematodes. MATERIAL AND METHODS The experiment was carried out in a low-tech greenhouse covered with polycarbonate roof during spring 2019 at Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Autonomous University of Baja California, Mexico (32° 24’ 19” N, 115° 11’ 48” W, and at an elevation of 14 m). The climate of the region is very dry with 13.6°C and 31.7°C minimum and maximum annual temperature, respectively. Annual precipitation is 10 mm. The temperature inside the greenhouse oscillated between 20°C to 40°C from April to June 2019 (Fig. 1), presenting higher temperatures in May and June. Relative humidity during the experiment was 20 to 90% (Fig. 2). Centenario cucumber variety was used as scion, which was grafted in three roostoocks: the commercial hybrid Forticuke F1 (Numhems®) and two Mexican L. siceraria accessions (Lag 48 and Lag 53). Centenario ungrafted was included as control. The cleft grafting technique was used (Maroto et al., 2002). The experimental unit consisted of 15 plants. A randomized block design with three replications was used. Grafted and ungrafted seedlings were established at 21 days after grafting in polyethylene bags with capacity of 10 L. The bags contained 5 kg of contaminated soil with M. incognita. Nematological analysis of a composite sample showed a density of 45 second-stage juveniles per 100 grams of soil. The texture was sandy its chemical properties were showed in Table 1. The water and nutrients were supplied by drip irrigation. Water contained EC 1.1 dS m-1 and pH 8.3. The nutrient solution was applied 7 days after planting. The nutrient contents were: 8.0 meq K+ L-1, 8.0 meq Ca+2 L-1, 1.25 meq NH4 + L-1, 16.0 meq NO3 L-1, 2.7 meq SO4 -2 L-1 and 1.25 meq H2PO4 L-1 (Cadahia, 2005). The variables evaluated were of plant growth and fruit quality. The plant growth was quantified two months after it was established considering height (cm), internode distance (cm), leaves number and leaf area (cm2). Leaf area was determined using an LI-3100C Area Meter (LICOR Inc. USA). Fruit quality was evaluated on ten fruits considered at random from each experimental unit in the first harvest. Cucumber was harvested in the morning 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55