Effect Of Grafting On Growth And Development, The Yield And Quality Of Pepper

The application value of the rootstocks were studied by analysing the affinity ofrootstocks （‘Weishi’ and ‘Buyeding’） and four different types of pepper varieties. To screenthe appropriate grafted method of pepper, the effect of different grafted methods on thesurvival rate was investigated. On this basis, the effects of grafted on the growth anddevelopment, physiological characteristics, the yield and quality in pepper were researched,with ‘Weishi’ and ‘Buyeding’ as rootstocks,‘Xinfeng2’ as scion, and the ‘Xinfeng2’own-root plants as control. The results were as follows.1. Four kinds of pepper scions grafted onto ‘Weishi’ and ‘Buyeding’, the survival rates ofgrafted were81.5%⁹8.1%, the growth and blossom fruit of grafted seedlings were normal,and the grafted pepper showed higher plant height, stem diameter, branch number comparewith the control, and the yield of grafted pepper were significantly higher than that of thecontrol. The results indicate that the rootstocks of ‘Weishi’ and ‘Buyeding’ have good affinitywith different types of pepper varieties, so they can be applied in production.2. The seedlings grafted with cleft showed the highest survival rate, and that with thecottage the lowest among the three grafting methods.10³0days after grafted, the plantlength and stem diameter of seedlings grafted with cleft grafting method were significantlyhigher than those with approach and cuttage grafting methods.3. Grafted pepper showed higher root weight, total length, volume, surface area, tips andforks, compared with the control. The root activity, respiration intensity, absorption area andactive absorption area were significantly higher than those of the control.4. Grafted plants have higher contents of N、P、K in roots, stems and leaves comparedwith the control. These indicate that grafted plants have more robust and developed root andbetter fertilizer absorption ability.5. The pigment content and net photosynthetic rate（Pn）were mostly higher in graftedleaves than in control leaves. The diurnal Pn varied in a bimodal curve, and the two peaksappeared at10:00and13:00. The midday depression of Pn is mainly caused by stomatallimitation. The light compensation points of XF/WS and XF/BYD were38.1μmo1·m^-2·s^-1and50.9μmo1·m^-2·s^-1respectively, and the CO₂compensation points were53.9μL·L^-1and54.8μL·L^-1, which lower than that of the control. The light saturation points of XF/WS and XF/BYD were981.0μmo1·m^-2·s^-1and903.0μmo1·m^-2·s^-1respectively, and the CO₂saturationpoints were1295.0μL·L^-1and1285.0μL·L^-1, both higher than that of the control significantly.No differences were found in apparent quantum yield（AQY）between grafted and the control.However XF/WS showed a markedly higher carboxylation efficiency（CE）than that of thecontrol. The low temperature compensation points of XF/WS and XF/BYD were-6.7℃and-5.1℃, which lower than that of the control （-4.61℃）. However the high temperaturecompensation points of XF/WS and XF/BYD were57.0℃and55.8℃, significantly higherthan that of the control （53.1℃）.6. In comparison with the control, the yield of XF/WS and XF/BYD increased by14.9%and8.5%respectively, but no changes were observed in the fruit size, shape and color, andthe contents of protein, amino acid, VCand capsaicine in fruits of grafted plants. The contentsof dry matter and soluble sugar in XF/WS fruits increased by7.1%and9.7%respectivelycompared with the control. These data suggest that ‘Weishi’ and ‘Buyeding’ have highervalues of application and popularization.