EFFECT OF DIFFERENT STORING TIMES ON GRAFT SUCCESS IN BENCH GRAFTED WALNUT PLANTS

Abstract

This study aimed to determine how long grafted walnut plants can be stored before transplanting them to the field.  The experiment was conducted between 2012 and 2013 at Black Sea Agricultural Research Institute of Samsun, Turkey. One-year old seedlings of J. regia and scion woods of ‘Chandler’ cultivar were used as plant materials. The plants were grafted with whip-tongue, chip budding and Mr. Cherny grafting methods. In the study, two different storing treatments (heat & cold room treatment and cold room treatment) and four storing times (3, 6, 9 and 12 weeks) were tested. Graft success (%) was determined at the end of the vegetation period. The study was established with the experimental design of split - plots in random blocks with 3 replications. In each replication 18 plants were used. The highest graft success was obtained from whip-tongue grafted plants that subjected to the heat & cold room treatment and stored for 9 weeks by 83.3 % in 2013. Besides, it is determined that bench grafted walnut plants can be stored for 12 weeks after grafting. However, the rate of graft success decreases due to the increase in storing time.