Grafting studies of tomato with wild Solanum rootstocks

Abstract

A grafting study was conducted with three rootstocks viz., Solanum torvum, Solanum sisymbrifolium and Solanum capsicoides and two scion viz., TNAU tomato hybrid CO 3 and Shivam. Among the rootstocks Solanum capsicoides took less time to germinate and germination percentage was more in Solanum sisymbrifolium both at 15 and 25 days after sowing. Success percentage was more in graft combination of Shivam with Solanum sisymbrifolium on 30th and 45th day. The highest plant height was observed in Shivam grafted with Solanum torvum rootstock, whereas total number of branches per plant, days to first flowering, per cent fruit set and yield per plant was high in TNAU tomato hybrid CO 3 grafted with Solanum sisymbrifolium rootstock. Days to fifty percent flowering and fruit weight was positive in non- grafted Shivam compared to other treatments. Days to first fruit set was observed earlier in non-grafted tomato hybrid CO 3. The combination of TNAU tomato hybrid CO 3 grafted with Solanum sisymbrifolium rootstock performed well under field condition for yield and yield contributing characters.