Promising rootstocks and peculiar handling of the grafting technique for papaya

Abstract

Papaya has the potential to be grafted, derived from the fact that papaya populations develop, under edaphoclimatic and phytosanitary pressure, characteristics that can be used as rootstocks. Therefore, the standardization of a grafting method for papaya is required; however, in the early stage, it is important to evaluate the development of seedlings for the formation of grafted plants. The objectives were to evaluate the field behavior of different promising papaya materials, synchronize seedling development of prospective materials in the use of rootstocks and grafts, and develop a grafting method for papaya. Trials were conducted for each aspect in 2018. In the first experiment, five papaya genotypes were established under an experimental design. Morphological and productive variables were recorded. In the second experiment, materials derived from the previous experiment were used, a commercial one and papaya as a control, and plant height, stem diameter, and number of leaves were recorded. In the third experiment, different grafting methods were tested. Three trials were formed. The results were remarkable; the genotypes showed development capacity, adaptability, and productivity, and that they are potential lines for use as papaya rootstocks. In addition, it is possible to synchronize the seeding to generate quality grafted plants; the rootstock and graft seedlings reached maturity and size for grafting at 35 days. An effective procedure was also designed to graft papaya seedling under normal environmental conditions, called modified approach grafting, with 92.5% attachment in papaya.