How do rootstocks of citron watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides) affect the yield and quality of watermelon under deficit irrigation?

摘要

Deficit irrigation practices and utilization of rootstocks that are tolerant to water stress are critical strategies for the protection of water resources and sustainable irrigation management, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the yield and quality of watermelon grafted onto different rootstocks under deficit irrigation conditions during 2017 and 2018 in the Konya Plain of Turkey, where the semi-arid climate is prevalent. In this study, five different plant materials, such as citroides1 (A(1)), citroides2 (A(2)), gourd (A(3)), hybrid TZ148 (A(4)) rootstocks grafted with the Crimson Tide variety, and non-grafted Crimson Tide as control (K-1), were used as the main-plots. Five different irrigation levels, calculated by taking into account the amounts of cumulative water (Ep) that evaporated at 7-day intervals from Class A Pan (I-100 = 1.00Ep; I-75 = 0.75Ep; I-50 = 0.50Ep; I-35 = 0.35Ep, and I-0 = rain-fed), were used as the sub-plots.