Melon and watermelon grafting for disease resistance in hoop houses

View the project final report

• 2015 annual report

Commodities

• Fruits: melons

Practices

• Crop Production: high tunnels or hoop houses

Hoop house production of high value crops is expanding in the Northeast.  With the increased opportunity there is also increased risk of crop loss due to build up of soil pathogens.  Grafting disease resistant rootstock to high value and quality fruit scions has proven a successful approach in other regions of the world.   Norwich Meadow Farms, our collaborator farm, has lost a considerable amount of their watermelon and melon crops due to soil pathogens, primarily Fusarium and Alternaria.  If disease resistance in these crops can be attained without affecting fruit quality through grafting, there would be an immediate and significant economic impact for Norwich Meadows and other farms in the Northeast looking to expand hoop house production.  Fruition Seeds, the project lead, will trial this opportunity to increase local and regional food production and increase grower opportunities. Dr. Michael Mazourek, a plant breeder at Cornell University and one of the project’s technical advisors, works extensively in developing productive, disease resistant and flavorful cucurbits for the Northeast. Dr. Mazourek sees grafting as a great solution to organic melon and watermelon production in hoop houses as there is a lack of varieties suited to these growing conditions and quality requirements.   Currently there are no certified organic root stocks for melons or watermelons available commercially for Northeast growers. The largest challenge with grafting is identifying suitable rootstocks with scions. We will identify successful grafting combinations and procedures for melons and watermelons, and share the results with growers through printed materials and workshops.

Objective 1:  Rootstock and scion testing to determine size-matching and planting date schedules.   Method: Grafting watermelon and melon plants when stem thickness of 2mm. The scion and rootstock plants need similar stem diameters for successful grafts.  Conduct preliminary germination and growth rate testing due to the scion and rootstock seedlings not germinating or growing at the same rates.  Scion grafts and varieties were determined by Zaid as main market varieties for Norwich Meadow Farms.  The three rootstock varieties were selected by Dr. Mazourek, based on disease resistance, fruit quality and yields.   Measurement: Record number of days from seeding to 2mm stem diameter to match growth and germination rates of rootstock to scion varieties.      Objective 2:  Learn and test grafting and healing procedures.   Method: Matthew Goldfarb and Petra Page-Mann will receive two hours of grafting training with Dr. Mazourek at the Cornell University greenhouse. Upon completing training, they will spend several sessions testing and practicing grafting and healing procedures.  Approach, hole insertion, and one cotyledon grafting methods will be tested and evaluated for rates of success.   Measurement: 80% (or higher) success rate of practice grafts; grafting and healing method identified.   Objective 3: Build and test a healing chamber.   Method: Chamber will maintain relative humidity and exclude light during the healing process.  It will be constricted out of 3/8” plywood, 6 millimeter plastic greenhouse film, black plastic, shade cloth, florescent lights, timer, mini humidifier, and a humidistat.  It will be large enough to accommodate up to 8 seedling flats at a time.   Measurement: Chamber and is able to be maintained at a constant humidity.   Objective 4: Successfully graft a total of 600 grafts (300 melon and 300 watermelon) for two planting dates.   Method: Using grafting and healing techniques, we will graft 750 plants, including 25% overplanting to account for potential loss during grafting.   We will complete two rounds of grafting to provide transplants for two planting dates.   Measurement: 600 grafts survived, healed and ready for transportation and transplanting at Norwich Meadows Farm for both planting dates.   Objective 5: Plant, maintain, and collect data in hoop house trial.   Method: Each trial replicated twice with two weeks between the two plantings.  Norwich Meadows prepares: raised beds, plastic mulch, and drip irrigation.  Goldfarb and Page-Mann will plant and label each trial according to the trial details below.  Norwich Meadows is responsible for cultivation, irrigation fertility management, trellising and harvesting throughout the trial.  Goldfarb and Page-Mann will collect data bi-weekly on plant vigor, time to flowering, disease type and percentage, fruit to maturity dates, and number of fruits.   Melon

• 3 rootstock varieties

• 2 scion varieties (Savor, Honeydew)

• 2 ungrafted scion entries (Savor, Honeydew)

• 1 Fusarium-resistant entry (TBD, as a check)

• 1 Alternaria-resistant entry (TBD, as a check)

• Make graft combinations of 3 rootstock and 2 scion melon varieties for a total of 6 combination entries.

• Transplant grafted entries, ungrafted scion entries, and two checks into 2 of the 4 total hoop houses. The first hoop house will be planted during the first week of May, and the second hoop house will be planted mid-May.  There are 10 total melon transplant entries.

• Hoop house Planting Detail: Each hoop house is 100 feet long by 20 feet wide.  There are 5 beds per hoop house.   Transplanted at 2’ apart in the bed, there are 50 plants per bed and 250 plants per hoop house. Divide 250 plants per hoop house by the 10 entries; there will be 25 plants per entry.

• Each entry will have 3 reps; 8 plants will be planted at the north end of the hoop house, 9 plants in the middle and 8 plants at south end.

  Watermelon

• 3 rootstock varieties

• 2 scion varieties (Little Baby Flower, seedless red)

• 2 ungrafted scion entries (Little Baby Flower, seedless red)

• 1 Fusarium-resistant entry (as a check)

• 1 Alternaria-resistant entry (as a check)

• Make graft combinations of 3 rootstock and 2 scion watermelon varieties for a total of 6 combination entries.

• Transplant grafts, ungrafted scion entries and 2 checks into 2 of the 4 total hoop houses. The first hoop house will be planted the first week of May with the second planted mid-May.  There are 10 total watermelon transplant entries.

• Hoop house Detail: Each hoop house is 100 feet long by 20 feet wide.  There are 5 beds per hoop house.   Transplanted at 2’ apart in the bed, there are 50 plants per bed and 250 plants per hoop house.

• Divide 250 plants per hoop house by the 10 entries; there will be 25 plants total per entry.

• Each entry will have 3 reps; 8 plants will be planted at the north end of the hoop house, 9 plants in the middle and 8 plants at south end.

  Measurement: Comparative analysis of each entry in the trial for plant vigor, days from transplant to flowering, days from transplant to fruit maturity, number of fruits, and disease type and percentage of plants and plant infected.   Objective 6:  Collect fruit quality, size, and brix measurements.   Method:  Harvest 5 fruits per rep to collect data on fruit size, fruit thickness in melon, rind thickness in watermelon, fruit quality, and brix using a field refractometer.  Each entry will have 3 reps per planting with 2 plantings each.  Total reps per planting per melon or watermelon is 30 reps, equaling a total of 5 fruits per 120 reps being evaluated.   Measurement: Averages and range of fruit size, fruit thickness in melon, rind thickness in watermelon, fruit quality, and brix per entry per planting date.   Objective 7: Identify suitable rootstock and scion combinations for future production.   Method: Upon trial completion, analyze the data collected to determine the suitability of rootstock and scion variety combinations.   Measurement: Analyses include:  plant vigor, days from transplant to flowering, days from transplant to fruit maturity, number of fruits, and disease type and percentage of plants and plant infected, and market acceptance of the fruit.  Priority ranking will be given to lowest percentage of disease and number of fruits.  Timetable 

• Objective 1: February 2015. Matthew Goldfarb and Petra Page-Mann of Fruition Seeds test germination rates and growth rates of rootstock selections and scion varieties to determine size matching and planting date schedule.

• Objective 2: March 2015, Matthew Goldfarb and Petra Page-Mann will test complete training with Dr. Mazourek on grafting and healing procedures. 

• Objective 3: March 2015. Matthew Goldfarb will complete the healing chamber by March 15^th 2015 and complete tests and necessary modifications by March 20^th, 2015

• Objective 4: April 1st and April 15^th, 2015 Matthew Goldfarb and Petra Page-Mann will seed root stock selections, scion varieties, and control group varieties. Aril 14^th-May 14^th, 2015 Matthew Goldfarb and Petra Page-Mann will make grafts and care for plants from healing chamber through hardening off. 

• Objective 5: May 1, 2015 Norwich Meadows Farm will prepared soil and raised beds for transplanting. The first and third week of May 2015, Matthew and Petra will plant the first and second trial.  Every other week from mid-May through mid-September Matthew or Petra will visit the trial at Norwich Meadow Farm and collect data and enter it into the trails spreadsheet.

• Objective 6: Late July thru late September 2015 Matthew and Petra will collect fruit quality measurements.

• Objective 7: November 2015 Goldfarb organizes trial data to share with advisors and collaborator. December 2015 the team of Dr. Mazourek, Norwich Meadows, Fruition Seeds, and Dr. Smart will conference, reviewing the data and determining most suitable combinations for future production.

  Outreach Timeline:

• February 2016, Cornell Small Farms Quarterly submit article for spring publication.

• Late summer 2015, submit proposals to both 2016 NOFA NY winter conference and the 2016 PASA winter conference.

• January 2016 write a short summary report of our methods, results, and lessons learned. February/March 2016 post on website and social media, share link in Small Farms Quarterly issue.

• April 2016, on-farm/in the greenhouse class for farmers on melon and watermelon grafting.

   outreach plan    Spring 2016 issue, we will write an article for the Cornell Small Farms Quarterly (currently Petra Page-Mann contributes a quarterly article on the topic of seeds).

• We will submit a class/presentation proposal to the 2016 NOFA NY winter conference and the 2016 PASA winter conference.

• January 2016 we will write a short summary report of our methods, results, and lessons learned. The report will be available on our website, shared through social media and offered as a resource to extension and agricultural service providers.

• April 2016 we will offer an on-farm/in the greenhouse class on melon and watermelon grafting. We will look to NOFA NY and Cornell Cooperative Extension to help promote the event.