Rootstock effects on alkali stressed melon plants

The aim of the present study was to determine alkalinity tolerance of gourd rootstocks grafted with melon and to examine physiological and morphological response of the grafted plants under different pH levels. The climate chamber experiment was carried out to determine main stem length, leaf chlorophyll content (SPAD), branching number, shoot and root fresh mass, as well as root length. Under climate chamber conditions, two melon cultivars [Galia type (citirex F-1) and Kirkagac Manisa Altmbas type (PI-169303 open pollinated)] were grafted onto two different commercial Cucurbita maxima x C. moschata hybrid rootstocks (Kardosa and Nun 9075) and grown in 8L pots filled continuously with aerated nutrient solution under two different pH levels (7 and 9) with three replications. The results indicated that grafted and ungrafted plants were significantly (P