Grafting, Scion and Rootstock Effects on Survival Rate, Vegetative Growth and Fruit Yield of High Tunnel-grown Grafted Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Plants Mahmoud M Soltan 1,2,3 , Farouk A ElAidy 2 , Joseph C Scheerens 3 and Matthew D Kleinhenz 3* 1 Department of Vegetable Production under Modified Environment, Horticulture Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Sakha Horticulture Research Station, Kafr El-Sheikh University, Egypt 2 Department of Horticulture, Kafr El-Sheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt 3 Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, USA * Corresponding author: Matthew D Kleinhenz, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, Ohio 44691, USA, Tel: 13302633810; E-mail: kleinhenz.1@osu.edu Received date: September 16, 2017; Accepted date: October 24, 2017; Published date: October 27, 2017 Copyright: © 2017 Soltan MM, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract The objective of this study was to develop information useful to pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) rootstock breeders, grafted plant propagators and growers managing commercial plantings in semi-protected settings. To accomplish this, an experiment involving four phenotypically diverse scion cultivars and five rootstocks grafted in all combinations along with self-grafted and non-grafted cultivars as controls was completed twice. The effects of the grafting process, scion cultivars and rootstock genotypes on grafted plant performance were delineated by measures of post-grafting plant survival (%), plant vegetative vigor and by early and total season yield parameters. The grafting process significantly increased vegetative vigor parameters, most notably in 2014 whereas the yield parameters of self-grafted plants exceeded their non-grafted counterparts only in 2015. In both years, scion performance in graft combinations remained characteristic of the cultivar type; long-fruited cultivars ‘Eigman’ and ‘Kurtovszka Kapia’ had lower survival rates, generally exhibited greater vegetative vigor and amassed greater yields per m 2 than blocky-fruited ‘Toronto’ and ‘Zedinca’. In general, graft combinations using commercial pepper rootstocks 52-03 RZ and Tan Tan (No: 12G076) outperformed those composed of standard cultivars or breeding lines used as rootstocks. Scions on these rootstocks exhibited greater vegetative vigor in both years and higher yields per m 2 than non-grafted controls in 2014. The superior performance of 52-03 RZ and Tan Tan (No: 12G076) in this study exemplified the advantage of using rootstocks specifically bred for optimum root system performance and compatibility with a variety of scions. However, significant scion × rootstock interactions and seasonal differences in performance suggested, that as new rootstocks are developed or as new graft combinations are introduced, it will be necessary to rigorously test them in multiple environments to insure commercial success. Keywords: Capsicum; Grafing; Rootstock development; Grafing efects; Rootstock efects; Scion efects; Survival; Vegetative growth; Fruit yield Introduction In many countries, cultivation of peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) in open-framed, plastic-covered tunnels is widespread because these systems provide a greater amount and duration of crop protection from unwanted precipitation, wind, and other abiotic conditions, thereby typically leading to greater production per unit area per unit time. However, soil-based stresses, including disease, can spike in these systems, undercutting their value. Regardless, combining superior root system traits with desirable scion characteristics through grafing is an increasingly recognized approach, along with other practices [1]. Historically, vegetable crop grafing was used to alleviate soil-borne diseases [2], but the range of vegetable species grafed has expanded and the reasons for its use have increased over time. Today, grafing is used as a means to confer resistance against low and high temperature stress [3] improve nutrient uptake [4] enhance synthesis of endogenous hormones [5] improve water use efciency [6] improve alkalinity tolerance [7] raise salt, drought and fooding tolerance [8] reduce the assimilation of agrichemical residues present in soils [9] diminish metal ion toxicity damage [10] extend production-market windows [11] facilitate organic vegetable cultivation [12], control pests [13] confer food security [14] and improve fruit quality [15]. Although the use of grafed plants for vegetable production in protected environments has increased globally over the last decade [16] it is a proven technique for enhancing a crop’s genetic potential that is still considered to be underutilized [17]. Te current status of vegetable grafing and its potential for improving production of tomato and other solanaceous crops have been recently reviewed [18]. However, to date, the infuence of grafing and rootstocks on grafed pepper survival, vegetative growth, fruiting characteristics and yield has been investigated in few studies and with only a limited number of rootstocks. Moreover in pepper, current expansion of the practice is hampered by the lack of the following: a cadre of well-tested commercially-available rootstocks; information about the interactive nature of rootstock-scion combinations in regards to performance factors; an understanding about how performance factors are interrelated during grafed plant production and cropping; and an awareness of how cropping potential for a given rootstock- scion combination may vary when cultured in diferent production environments. A d v a n c e s i n C r o p S c ie n c e a n d T e c h n o l o g y ISSN: 2329-8863 Advances in Crop Science and Technology Soltan et al., Adv Crop Sci Tech 2017, 5:5 DOI: 10.4172/2329-8863.1000312 Research Article Open Access Adv Crop Sci Tech, an open access journal ISSN: 2329-8863 Volume 5 • Issue 5 • 1000312