Compatibility and yield of ‘Santa Cruz 47’ okra onto rootstocks of the Malvaceae family

Abstract

The little-known use of okra grafting, mainly to incorporate nematode resistance, requires evaluation of interspecific compatibilities. This study aimed to determine the compatibility of the okra ‘Santa Cruz 47’ cultivar grafted onto different rootstocks of the Malvaceae family. The research was divided into two experimental stages, with the treatments consisting of non-grafted, self-grafted or grafted okra plants onto rootstocks of mallow, roselle and pima cotton. In the first stage, a completely randomized design was used, with four replications and seedlings grown in a humidity chamber. In the second stage, the seedlings were transplanted to a greenhouse and a randomized block design was used, with five replications. The results of the first stage demonstrated that the self-grafting provided the best results for the growth characteristics assessed, except for the diameter of the grafted region. There was no difference among the treatments for the graft survival rate. In the second stage, the use of roselle as a rootstock enabled an adequate vegetative development, but did not differ from the treatments of self-grafting and mallow rootstock for the graft survival rate. The treatments did not differ for fruit diameter, length and average mass. Grafts onto roselle were the most precocious ones, with estimated means for production per plant (478.75 g), commercial yield (10.07 t ha-1) and total yield (10.64 t ha-1) similar to those observed for self-grafted and non-grafted plants. Hence, among the assessed rootstocks, roselle was identified as the most promising one for grafting with okra.

Grafting compatibility between Okra cultivars and root-knot nematode resistant Kenaf

“…The scion diameter was greater in plants grafted onto kenaf than selfgrafted plants. This differs from the findings reported by Andrade et al (2020), who verified largest diameters for selfgrafted 'Santa Cruz 47' plants compared to roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) and other malvaceous rootstocks. The scion diameter depends greatly on the water and nutrients translo cation, which can be influenced by the compatibility between rootstock and scion.…”

“…Among the possible rootstocks, some Hibiscus spp. have been shown to be interesting for being resistant and com patible for grafting with okra (Marin et al, 2017;Silva et al, 2019 b;Andrade et al, 2020). In addition to genetic resistance, rootstocks recommended to man age some type of pathosystem must be compatible with the scion, ensuring normal vegetative and reproductive development.…”