Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105

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Scientia Horticulturae
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti

Review

Current status of vegetable grafting: Diffusion, grafting techniques, automation

Jung-Myung Lee a,∗ , C. Kubota b , S.J. Tsao c , Z. Bie d , P. Hoyos Echevarria e , L. Morra f , M. Oda g
a
Honorary Professor, Department of Horticultural Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea
b
School of Plant Science, University of Arizona, USA
c
Department of Horticulture, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
d
College of Horticulture and Forestry, Huazhong Agricultural University, China
e
Polytech University of Madrid, Spain
f
Cra-Unita di ricerca per le colture alternative al tabacco, Italy
g
Osaka Prefecture University, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Vegetable production with grafted seedlings was originated in Japan and Korea to avoid the serious crop
Received 11 May 2010 loss caused by infection of soil-borne diseases aggravated by successive cropping. This practice is now
Received in revised form 7 July 2010 rapidly spreading and expanding over the world. Vegetable grafting has been safely adapted for the pro-
Accepted 2 August 2010
duction of organic as well as environmentally friendly produce and minimizes uptake of undesirable
agrochemical residues. The number and size of commercial vegetable seedling producers has increased
Keywords:
markedly reflecting the increase in farmers’ preferences for grafted seedlings of high-quality and better
Vegetable production
performance. In addition to the widely recognized advantages of disease tolerance and high crop yields,
Cucurbitaceae
Solanaceae
grafting technology is also highly effective in ameliorating crop losses caused by adverse environmen-
Organic produce tal conditions such as low soil temperature and high soil salts, especially under protected cultivations
Grafting machines where successive cropping or continuous farming is routinely practiced. Grafted seedlings are much
favored in hydroponics farming systems where the chances of rapid spread of noxious diseases, once
infected, is high. Active research has been focused to develop efficient rootstocks and handy grafting
tools. In addition, researchers are eager to develop grafting machines or robots to reduce the higher
price of grafted seedlings. The quality of grafted transplants is extremely important to maximize high-
quality crop yield. Use of grafted vegetables has increased with the increased use of improved soil mix
or substrate, farmer’s preferences for better seedlings, efficient management of nursery systems, lower
prices of grafted seedlings, and efficient nationwide delivery and/or transportation system. Improved
grafting methods to cut down the labor cost for grafting and subsequent handling of plug-grown grafted
transplants will contribute further to the increased use of grafted vegetables worldwide.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
2. Purpose of vegetable grafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2.1. Tolerance to soil-borne diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2.2. Plant vigor promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2.3. Yield increases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2.4. Tolerances to abiotic stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
2.5. Effect on fruit quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
2.6. Other uses of grafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3. Current status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.1. Rootstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.2. Grafted plant production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.3. International export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Horticultural Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Global Campus of Kyung Hee University, Room 509, Seochun-dong
1 Giheung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 446-701, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 31 201 2618; fax: +82 31 202 1740.
E-mail address: jmlee@khu.ac.kr (J.-M. Lee).

0304-4238/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2010.08.003
94 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105

4. Grafting methods and acclimatization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

4.1. Hand grafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.1.1. Hole insertion grafting (HIG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.1.2. Tongue approach grafting (TAG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.1.3. Splice grafting (SG), tube grafting (TG), and one cotyledon splice grafting (OC-SG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.1.4. Cleft grafting (CG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.1.5. Pin grafting (PG) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.2. Tools, clips, and grafting aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.3. Grafting machines and robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.4. Acclimatization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5. Commercial production and quality of grafted seedlings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6. Conclusions and prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

1. Introduction Oda, 2003). The increasing awareness and interest in fresh horti-
cultural produce has rapidly expanded among people of all ages
Even though grafting has been practiced in fruit trees for thou- and locations who seek safe, environmentally friendly, and func-
sands of years, vegetable grafting has been only recently widely tional foods. Fast foods are now regarded as dangerous in many
adapted on a commercial scale (Ashita, 1927; Sakata et al., 2007). developed countries and obesity is currently defined as a disease,
Old records on vegetable grafting can be found in Chinese as rather than a symbol of health and prosperity. Many Asian peo-
well as in Korean and Japanese writings. The commercial use ple have been consuming more horticultural crops as compared to
of vegetable grafting is a relatively recent innovation. The wide those living in western countries, especially vegetables. However,
use of plastic films for the production of vegetables in the late because of the very limited total and per capita cultivation area,
1950s provided the momentum for generalized production and intensive use of the land is inevitable to secure food and earnings
use of grafted vegetables. The early use of grafted vegetables was for the majority of farmers. Intensive land use is most frequently
associated with protected cultivation which involves successive performed by multiple or successive cropping even in temperate
cropping. Commercial vegetable grafting originated in Japan and zone areas (Lee et al., 2008). In the southern parts of Korea, it is
Korea and was practiced for about 30 years. It was introduced to not usual to find watermelon growers producing 3–4 crops per
Western countries in the early 1990s and is currently being glob- year in the same greenhouse. The farmers usually apply heavy
ally practiced using local scion cultivars and introduced rootstocks. amount of chemical fertilizers and frequent pesticides treatment
Fortunately, seed companies have been able to select and/or breed to the densely planted vines to obtain high crop yield and earn-
well-adapted scion cultivars for intensive growing. Even though ings. Since the plants are cultivated under the protected structures
the benefits of using grafted seedlings are widely recognized, many year-round, they frequently are subjected to extreme environmen-
other factors must be carefully considered to ensure successful tal conditions in the high tunnels during off-season cultivation
cultivation and satisfactory income with this new technology. For (Lee, 2008). As a result farmers frequently encounter various prob-
example, generous use of chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesti- lems caused by successive as well as off-season cropping such
cides should be minimized for the production of environmentally as heavy infection of soil-borne diseases, low temperatures dur-
friendly produces, in which interest has been exploding in recent ing the winter, high humidity in the high tunnels, insufficient
years (Cushman and Huan, 2008; Davis et al., 2008; Kubota et al., light intensity, and lack of well-balanced fertilization. The plants
2008; Lee and Oda, 2003; Sakata et al., 2007). It has been well- and the fruits grown under these stressful conditions frequently
known that the use of proper rootstocks can minimize the problems suffer from heavy incidence of soil-borne diseases, suboptimal
associated with successive cropping and stress tolerance (Heo, temperature stresses, various physiological disorders, and quality
2000; Hoyos Echeverria, 2010; Lee, 1994; Lee et al., 1998; Lee and deterioration.

Table 1
Major advantages and disadvantages of using grafted vegetable transplants.

Advantages Disadvantages

Yield increase Additional seeds for rootstocks

Shoot growth promotion Experienced labor needed
Disease tolerance Wise selection of scion/rootstock combinations
Nematode tolerance/resistance Different combinations for cropping season
Low temperature tolerance Different combinations for cropping methods
High temperature tolerance High price of seedlings
Enhanced nutrient uptake Increased infection of seed-borne diseases
Enhanced water uptake Excessive vegetative growth
High salt tolerance Fruit harvesting may be delayed
Wet soil tolerance Inferior fruit quality (taste, color and sugar contents)
Heavy metal and organic pollutant tolerance Increased incidence of physiological disorders
Quality changes Symptoms of incompatibility at later stages
Extended harvest period Different cultural practices should be applied
Multiple and/or successive cropping allowed Higher prices of grafted seedlings
Convenient production of organic wastes
Ornamental values for exhibition and education
 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105 95

Fig. 1. Adventitious rooting from the melon scion grafted onto squash rootstocks through the hypocotyl cavity of the rootstock, thus counteracting the grafting effect in
some cases (left) and rooting from the scion of the TAG-grafted cucumber onto figleaf gourd (center and right).

2. Purpose of vegetable grafting
2.1. Tolerance to soil-borne diseases
The vigorous roots of selected rootstock can exhibit excellent
tolerance to serious soil-borne diseases, such as those caused by
Fusarium, Verticillium, Phytophthora, Pseudomonas, Didymella bry-
oniae, Monosporascus cannonballus, and nematodes (Edelstein et al.,
1999; Cohen et al., 2000, 2005, 2007; Ioannou, 2001; Trionfetti
Nisini et al., 2002; Blestos et al., 2003; Morra and Bilotto, 2006;
Crinò et al., 2007) even though the degree of tolerance varies con-
siderably with the rootstocks. Even the scion infection of certain
virus diseases (TMV races) could be markedly influenced by virus
resistant rootstocks depending upon the level of resistance in scion
and rootstocks (Nishi, 2001; Sakata, 1996–97, Vegetable Seed Cat-
alog, p. 176). The mechanism of disease resistance, however, has
not been intensively investigated. These characteristics are cru-
cial for the plants grown under protected environments, where
extended harvesting and higher crop yield are expected. Resis-
tant rootstocks can also effectively counteract the rapid disease
spread when plants are grown in hydroponics system. The disease
tolerance in grafted seedlings may be entirely due to the toler-
ance of rootstock roots to such diseases (Table 1). However, in
actual planting, adventitious rooting from the scion is common
(Fig. 1). Plants having the root systems of the scion and rootstock
are expected to be easily infected by soil-borne diseases. How-
ever, seedlings having dual root systems occasionally exhibit a
certain degree of disease resistance, thus partially supporting the
previous report that substances associated with Fusarium toler-
ance are synthesized in the root and move to the scion through
the xylem. It is generally accepted, however, that the disease-
susceptible characteristics of the scion are not transported to the
rootstock.
2.2. Plant vigor promotion
Since the root systems of selected rootstocks are usually much
larger and more vigorous, they can absorb water and nutrients
much more efficiently as compared to non-grafted plants, For
example, in watermelons, it is routinely recommended to reduce
the amount of chemical fertilizers application to about one-half to
two-third as compared to the standard recommendation for the
non-grafted plants (Lee and Oda, 2003; Salehi-Mohammadi et al.,
2009). This is especially true for nitrogen fertilizers during early
seedling growth and for the safe setting of fruits at the desired
node positions for early fruit set. Early fruit set is crucial for the
early harvesting in greenhouses to secure good market prices.
Cytokinin composition in bleeding xylem sap from decapitated,
grafted, or own-rooted, differs greatly in various cucurbits. Fur-
thermore, the scion is capable of converting the composition of
cytokinins in the ascending xylem sap (Table 2) in a relative short
period. Thus, the higher cytokinin concentration in the ascending
xylem sap contributes to growth promotion.
The frequency of agrochemical application can be significantly
reduced by using vigorous rootstocks. Fungicides application may
also be greatly reduced or totally excluded depending upon the
diseases, thus greatly enhancing the successful production of
organically grown fruits. In cucumber, vigorous root system of the
rootstock can effectively absorb water so that less frequent irriga-
tion may be practiced.
2.3. Yield increases
Grafting is associated with noticeable increases in fruit yield
in many fruit vegetables regardless of infection with certain soil-
borne diseases. In oriental melons, fresh fruit weight increase of
25–55% have been reported as compared to own-rooted plants.
These yield increase were closely correlated with the maintenance
of good plant vigor until late in the growing season in addition to
disease resistance. Virtually no marketable yield was obtained from
plants heavily infected with Fusarium. Similar results were obtained
with tomato. Up to 54% increase of marketable yield in tomato was
obtained with ‘Kagemusia’ and 51% with ‘Helper’ rootstocks (Chung
and Lee, 2007). There was also significant decrease in abnormal
fruits in plant grafted onto most rootstocks as compared with the
own-rooted ‘Seokwang’ tomato. Similar yield increase have been

Table 2
Cytokinin composition in xylem sap collected from ungrafted and grafted plants of cucumber, squash, and figleaf gourd plants.

Cytokinin content (ng/ml sap)

Zeatin Zeatin riboside Dihydozeatin riboside Isopentenyl adenine Total

Ungrafted plants
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) 0.08 4.55 0.80 Trace 6.11
Squash A (Cucurbita moschata Duch.) Trace 3.67 0.43 3.63 7.73
Squash B (Cucurbita maxima Duch.) Trace 4.06 0.57 1.84 6.47
Figleaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia Bouché) Trace 4.54 1.48 6.18 12.2

Grafted plants
Cucumber/Cucumber 0.55 5.58 0.96 Trace 7.07
Cucumber/Squash A 1.65 4.29 0.20 Trace 6.14
Cucumber/Squash B Trace 5.36 0.19 Trace 5.55
Cucumber/Figleaf gourd 1.49 5.08 0.65 Trace 7.22
96 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105

reported by other researchers on watermelon, cucumber (Lee and
Oda, 2003), melon, pepper, and eggplant.
2.4. Tolerances to abiotic stresses
Grafts were used to induce resistance against low and high tem-
peratures (Rivero et al., 2003; Venema et al., 2008), to enhance
nutrient uptake (Colla et al., 2010a), increase synthesis of endoge-
nous hormones (Dong et al., 2008), improve water use efficiency
(Rouphael et al., 2008a), reduce uptake of persistent organic pollu-
tants from agricultural soils (Otani and Seike, 2006, 2007), improve
alkalinity tolerance (Colla et al., 2010b), raise salt and flooding tol-
erance (Romero et al., 1997; Colla et al., 2006a,b; Yetisir et al., 2006),
and limit the negative effect of boron, copper, cadmium, and man-
ganese toxicity (Edelstein et al., 2005, 2007; Rouphael et al., 2008b;
Savvas et al., 2009).
Tolerance to extreme temperature is crucial for the produc-
tion of fruiting vegetables under the winter greenhouse conditions.
In cucurbits, cropping area under protected structure is sub-
stantially larger than field cultivation for watermelon, cucumber,
and melon in Korea. The transplanting of seedlings for protected
cultivation is usually done in early to mid-winter and fruit har-
vesting is usually finished by spring to early summer. Even though
many growers heat their greenhouse during the winter, there are
more growers who do not have electric or gas-generated heat-
ing systems and depend solely on preservation of solar energy
capture during the daytime. These growers find it difficult to main-
tain optimum temperatures in winter greenhouses, especially soil
temperatures which are far below the optimum thus causing trans-
planted plants to suffer during the early stages of cultivation. This
is especially true with crops that require high temperatures for
optimum performance such as watermelon and oriental melon.
Grafting watermelon, melon, cucumber, even summer squash onto
low temperature tolerant rootstocks such as interspecific hybrid
between Cucurbita maxima Duch. × C. moschata Duch. or figleaf
gourd can greatly reduce the risk of severe growth inhibition
caused by low soil temperatures in winter greenhouses. Cucumber
grafted onto figleaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia Bouché), an excel-
lent rootstock even at low soil temperature, grows much faster
than own-rooted cucumber or even summer squash because of
the rootstock’s ability to absorb water and nutrient more effi-
ciently at low temperatures (Tachibana, 1982). Many physiological
disorders can also be minimized effectively by using grafted
plants. Since the resistance to temperature stresses varies with
the rootstocks, different rootstocks should be used during the hot
summer season.

Table 3
Rootstocks for cucurbitaceous crops and some related characteristics.

Rootstock Cultivara Major characteristicsb Possible disadvantage

Watermelon
Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria L.)
Squash (Cucurbita moschata Duch.)
Dongjanggoon, Bulrojangsaeng, VRS, FT, LTT New fusarium race, susceptible to
Sinhwachangjo (Korea), FR Dantos, anthracnose
Renshi, Friend, Super FR Power
(Japan),
Chinkyo, No. 8, Keumkang (Korea) VRS, FT, LTT Inferior fruit shape and quality

Interspecific hybrid squash Shintozwa, Shintozwa #1, VRS, FT, LTT, HTT, SV Reduced fertilizers required. Some
(Cucurbita maxima Duch. × C. Shintozwa #2, Chulgap, (Japan, quality reduction may result.
moschata Duch.) China, Taiwan, Korea)
Pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo L.) Keumsakwa, Unyong, Super VRS, FT, LTT Mostly for cucumbers
Unyong
Wintermelon (Benincasa hispida Lion, Best, Donga GDR Incompatibility
Thunb.)
Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus Kanggang, Res. #1, Tuffnes (Japan), FT Not enough vigor and disease
(Thunb.) Matsum. et Nakai] Ojakkyo(Syngenta) resistance

African horned (AH) cucumber NHRI-1 FT, NMT Medium to poor graft
(Cucumis metuliferus E. Mey. ex Compatibility
Naud)
Cucumber
Figleaf gourd (Cucurbita ficifolia Heukjong (black seeded figleaf LTT, GDT Narrow graft compatibility
Bouché) gourd)
Squash (Cucurbita moschata Duch.) Butternut, Unyong #1, Super FT, FQ Affected by Phytophthora
Unyong
Interspecific hybrid squash Shintozwa, Keumtozwa, Ferro RZ, FT, LTT Slight quality reduction expected
(Cucurbita maxima Duch. × C. 64-05 RZ, Gangryuk Shinwha
moschata Duch.)
Bur cucumber (Sicyos angulatus L.) Andong FT, LTT, SMT, NMT Reduced yield

AH cucumber (Cucumis metuliferus NHRI-1 FT, NMT Weak temperature tolerance

E. Mey. ex Naud)
Melon
Squash (Cucurbita moschata Duch.) Baekkukzwa, No. 8, Keumkang, FT, LTT Phytophthora infection
Hongtozwa
Interspecific hybrid squash Shintozwa, Shintozwa #1, FT, LTT, HTT, SMT Phytophthora infection, poor fruit
(Cucurbita maxima Duch. × C. Shintozwa #2 quality
moschata Duch.)
Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) Keumsakwa, Unyong, Super FT, LTT and HTT, SMT Phytophthora infection
Unyong
Melon (Cucumis melo L.) Rootstock #1, Kangyoung, FT, FQ Phytophthora problem
Keonkak, Keumgang
AH cucumber(E. Mey. ex Naud) NHRI-1 FT, LTT, SMT, NMT Weak temperature tolerance
a
Cultivars vary greatly depending upon countries, growing types, years, and grafting methods.
b
VRS: vigorous root systems; FT: Fusarium tolerance; LTT: low temperature tolerance; ST: strong vigor; HTT: high temperature tolerance; GDT: good disease tolerance;
GDR: good disease resistance; NMT: nematode tolerance; SMT: high soil moisture tolerance; FQ: fruit quality modification.
 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105
2.5. Effect on fruit quality
There are several conflicting reports (Proietti et al., 2008; Flores
et al., 2010 and references cited therein) on changes in fruit quality
due to grafting and whether grafting effects are advantageous or
deleterious. The differences in reported results may be attributable
in part to different production environments and agricultural prac-
tice, type of rootstock/scion combinations used, and harvest date.
The fruit size of watermelons grafted to rootstock having vig-
orous root systems is often significantly increased compared to
the fruit from intact plants, and many growers practice grafting
mainly for this reason. It is also known that other quality character-
istics, such as fruit shape and skin color, rind thickness, and soluble
solids concentrations are influenced by rootstock. In cucumbers,
especially those for export, external color and bloom develop-
ment are important quality factors. Even though these are usually
regarded as cultivar-specific hereditary characteristics, they can be
greatly influenced by the rootstock. However, with the exception
of increasing fruit size, shape, and bloomless-fruit production in
cucumber, the effects of rootstocks on some fruit quality can be
detrimental such as reduced soluble solids contents, thicker rind,
flavor of rootstocks, and undesirable internal breakdown in mature
fruit as briefly described in Table 1. Therefore, most newly devised
growing recommendations are aimed at minimizing the detrimen-
tal effects of rootstock on fruit quality (Cushman and Huan, 2008;
Ko, 2008).
2.6. Other uses of grafting
Grafting can be performed for various other reasons. For exam-
ple, tomato, eggplant, and pepino can be grafted on potato so that
4 or more different kind of vegetables could be harvested from a
single plant. Chinese cabbages and cabbages may be grafted on top
of radish. Grafting can be made for some physiological studies such
as flower induction and early flowering. Grafting is also commonly
used for bioassays of virus infection (Lee and Oda, 2003; Davis et
al., 2008).
3. Current status
3.1. Rootstock
Various rootstocks have been screened from the existing culti-
vars for use in each crop. Recently, however, seed companies and
various breeders are eager to breed superior rootstocks for veg-
etables grown under certain conditions and environments. The
growers, therefore, have to make decision on selection of root-
stocks most suitable for their specific requirements. Some of the
characteristics in cucurbits are summarized in Table 3. Cucurbit
species and number of registered rootstock cultivars are rapidly
increasing mostly due to the increased cultivation of grafted plants
under various cultural as well as environmental conditions (Kato
and Lou, 1989; Ko, 1999; Lee et al., 2008). In general, grafting is
Table 4
Rootstock species and number of registered rootstock cultivars for cucurbitaceous crops in China (Bie, 2010, pers. commun.).
Rootstock Crop
Watermelon Cucumber
Lagenaria siceraria L. 6 2
Cucurbita moschata Duch. 4 5
C. maxima Duch. × moschata Duch. 4 2
C. maxima Duch. 1 1
Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. et Nakai 1 0
Cucurbita ficifolia Bouché 0 7
Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb. 0 0
Luffa cylindria (L.) M.J. Roem 0 0
97
more commonly practiced for vegetables grown under protected
environment as compared to those under the field condition. Root-
stocks belonging to different species often are preferred where
genetic diversity can be exploited. Thus rootstocks of different
species are widely used in cucurbits (Table 4) and solanaceous crops
(Table 5).
3.2. Grafted plant production
Although the possibility and benefits of using grafted plants
were recognized much earlier, large-scale commercial growing of
grafted vegetables can be traced from the late 1950s to the early
1960s in Japan and Korea. Statistics on the current use of grafted
plants in Korea and Japan are shown in Table 6. In cucurbitaceous
crops, over 90% of watermelon seedlings are grafted onto various
rootstocks and about 75% of cucumbers in both countries. Melons
show variable grafting percentages depending upon the genotypes.
For example, virtually all the oriental melons (Cucumis sativus L.
var. makuwa Makino) are grafted onto squash in Korea, but other
melons are selectively grafted depending on the genotypes using
various rootstocks (Ko, 1999, 2008). In solanaceous vegetables,
20–40% of tomatoes are grafted, 20–40% of eggplants, and 5–10% of
peppers. Since grafting is mostly practiced in cucurbits and solana-
ceous vegetables, the percentages of grafting in all vegetables was
only about 5% in 2007. More than 700 million grafted seedlings
were estimated to be produced in 2008 in Korea as well as in Japan
(Table 7).
Even though vegetable grafting is actively practiced in other
countries, accurate statistics are unavailable. However, 40–45 mil-
lion grafted seedlings were distributed in North America in 2005
(Kubota et al., 2008). Spain is by far the leading European coun-
try in using grafted vegetable transplants (129.8 million in 2009)
(Hoyos Echeverria, 2010, pers. commun.), followed by Italy (47.1
million) (Morra and Bilotto, 2009) and France (about 28 million)
(Table 8). It was estimated that about 20% of China’s watermel-
ons and cucumbers are grafted. For example, over 200 companies
produced grafted seedlings for the farmers with the biggest one
producing 200 million seedlings in 2009 (Bie, 2010, pers. com-
mun.). Rapid increases in the use of grafted seedlings are expected
throughout the world for some decades (Davis et al., 2008; Lee
and Oda, 2003; Oda, 2007). Well-known multinational seed com-
panies are now supplying several rootstock seeds which virtually
have little or no negative effects on fruit quality in some vegeta-
bles. Even though cucurbits (watermelon, melons, and cucumbers)
and solanaceous crops (tomatoes, eggplants, capsicum peppers) are
routinely grafted, many other vegetables can be grafted for other
purposes (Lee and Oda, 2003).
The majority of the grafted seedlings are produced by com-
mercial growers globally. In Korea, more than 200 seedlings
growers, excluding individual farmers and farmers’ associations,
are producing plug seedlings and about half of them are produc-
ing grafted seedlings. Hoban Nursery, the largest one in Korea
located in Chooncheon, Gangweon-do, produced 15.6 million
Melon Bitter melon Summer squash Wax gourd Sponge gourd
0 0 0 0 0
6 2 0 2 0
5 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 1
0 2 0 0 0
0 3 0 0 0
98 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105

Table 5
Rootstocks for solanaceous crops (Solanum, Capsicum, and Datura) and their performances.

Rootstock Scion Performance Practical uses or popularity

S. lycopersicum L. Tomato Vigor and virus tolerances Extensive

S. lycopersicum L. Tobacco Nicotine & alkaloid absorption affected Experimental
S. lycopersicum L. Tomato High temperature tolerance Extensive
S. habrochaites S. Knapp & D.M Spooner Tomato Resistant to corky root disease Very limited
Solanum spp. Tomato Resistant to bacterial wilt & nematode Interspecific hybrids
Yield increase
S. sodomaeum L. Tomato Growth & yield reduction Experimental
S. auricularum Ait. Tomato Growth & yield reduction Experimental
S. laciniatum Ait. Tomato Resistant to water-logging Local
S. melongena L. Tomato Growth & yield reduction Moderate
S. integrifolium Poir. Tomato Sugar content increase Local
S. sisymbrifolium Lam. Tomato Disease resistance, no effect on sugar Local
content
S. torvum Sw. Tomato Eggplants Disease resistance, no effect on sugar Nematode tolerant, poor
content seed germination, good
vigor
Extensive
S. toxicarium Lam. Tomato Disease resistance, no effect on sugar
content
S. melongena L. Tomato Multiple disease resistance Local
S. nigrum L. Tomato Fruit size and quality control Selective
S. lycopersicum L. × S. habrochaites S. Tomato Low Fusarium infection Experimental
Knapp & D.M Spooner
S. lycopersicum L. × S. habrochaites S. Tomato Multiple disease resistance Extensive
Knapp & D.M Spooner
S. lycopersicum L. Tomato Resistant to corky root (K), Root knot Extensive
nematode (N), Verticillium wilt (V),
and Fusarium wilt (F)
Yield increase
S. melongena L. Tomato Low & high temperature tolerance Selective
S. lycopersicum L. Tomato Resistance to tomato brown root rot Selective
Solanum torvum Sw. Eggplant Resistant to nematodes Extensive
S. torvum Sw. × S. sanitwongsei Craib. Eggplant Resistance to bacterial wilt Local
S. integrifolium Poir. × S. melongena L. Eggplant High temperature tolerance Experimental
Capsicum spp. Sweet pepper (green) Compatible with Capsicum only Extensive
C. annuum L. × C. chinensis Jacq. Green pepper Superior growth & yield Extensive
Datura tatula Tomato Low yield Experimental

grafted seedlings in 2008 (Table 9). Nongwoo GreenTek produced
9.0 million followed by Nosung, Gongju, and Yeoju. Pureun Nurs-
ery produced about 2.8 million seedlings, mostly for export. Yet,
less than 10% of all grafted seedlings are estimated to be produced
by commercial growers in Korea (Ko, 2008). The price of grafted
seedlings varies with crops and countries, 0.4–1.2$ in the USA and
some Asian countries including Japan and Korea, and 0.6–1.0D in
Spain and some European countries (Table 8). The price of scion
seeds, rootstock seeds, and labor cost for grafting and post-graft
care are considered to be the major factors in price determina-
tion.
3.3. International export
Even though plants growing in pot soil are frequently rejected at
customs because of strict quarantine regulations, grafted seedlings

Table 6
Vegetable cultivation area, number of total seedlings, and number of grafted seedlings needed in Korea and Japan.

Vegetable Cultivation Cultivation No. of seedlings per ha Maximum no. of % use of grafted Maximum no. of grafted
area-2000 (ha) area-2005 (ha) (×1000) seedlingsa (million) seedlings 2005 seedlings (million)

Republic of Korea
Watermelon 30,451 23,179 6–9 208.6 95 198.2
Melona 13,800 13,000 7–10 130.0 90 117.0
Cucumber 7269 5853 20–30 175.6 75 131.7
Tomato 4916 6749 20–30 202.5 25 50.6
Eggplant 1100 933 10–20 18.6 20 3.7
Pepperb 80,130 67,023 20–40 2681.9 10 268.2
Sub-total 766.3

Japan
Watermelon 16,900 13,400 6–9 120.6 92 111.0
Melona 13,800 10,400 7–10 104.0 30 31.2
Cucumber 15,200 13,400 20–30 402.0 75 301.5
Tomato 13,600 13,000 20–30 390.0 40 156.0
Eggplant 13,300 10,400 10–20 208.0 55 114.4
Pepperb 4110 3620 20–40 144.8 5 7.2
Sub-total 721.3
a
Including net melons, cantaloupes, oriental melons.
b
Including hot peppers for dry and fresh uses.
 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105 99

Table 7
Current status of the estimated use of grafted vegetables in some Asian and other countries and regions.

Crop Item Japan Korea China Taiwan USA

a
Watermelon Area (ha) 13,000 20,756 2,162, 456 13,431 50,810
Graft (%)b 92 95 20 35 NAc
Grafting methodd HIG,S HIG, TAG HIG, TAG, SG HIG,TAG,SG –
Rootstockse Ls, Cl Ls, Cmm Ls, Cl Cmm, Ls –

Cucumber Area (ha)a 12,800 5,630 1,702, 777 2,666 59,480

Graft (%)b 75 75 30 11 NAc
Grafting methodd TAG,SG SG, TAG HIG, TAG TAG –
Rootstockse Cmm, Cf Cmm, Cf Cm, Sa, Cf A –

Melons Area (ha)a 10,500 6,607 570,874 6,441 35,790

Graft (%)b 30 90 5 0.1 NAc
Grafting methodd TAG,SG SG, TAG HIG – –
Rootstockse Cmm, Cm Cmm Cm, Cmm, Cl – –

Bitter melon Area (ha)a NAc NAc 200,000 1,802 NAc

Graft (%)b – – 2 30 –
Grafting methodd – – HIG, TAG TAG,CG –
Rootstockse – – Lc La, Cm –

Pickling melon Area (ha)a 232 NAc NAc NAc NAc

Graft (%)b – – – – –
Grafting methodd TAG – – – –
Rootstockse – – – – –

Tomato Area (ha)a 12,700 6,144 1454, 533 4235 330f

Graft (%)b 40 25 1 25 70f
Grafting methodd SG, TAG SG SG HIG, SG SG
Rootstockse Sl, St Sl, Ss Sl Ss, Sl Ss

Eggplant Area (ha)a 10,800 325 1051, 537 1503 2200

Graft (%)b 55 20 1 1.3 NAc
Grafting methodd SG, TAG SG SG – –
Rootstockse Ss Ss St – –

Pepper Area (ha)a 3620 61,023 16,625 2405 32,140

Graft (%)b 5 10 1 2.5 NAc
Grafting methodd SG, TAG SG SG – –
Rootstockse Ca Ca,Cs Cf – –

Data supplied by M. Oda J.M. Lee Z. Bie and Y. Huang S.J. Tsao C. Kubota and M. Bausher
a
Cultivation area was obtained from FAO Statistics 2008 except Taiwan. Other countries actively using grafted vegetable seedlings include Vietnam (6000 ha out of
20,000 ha tomato production area is planted with grafted plants in Vietnam) and possibly many others.
b
Percentage of cultivation area with grafted plants.
c
Data not available (NA).
d
Major grafting methods are: TAG, tongue approach grafting; SG, splice grafting; HIG: hole insertion grafting; and CG, cleft grafting, respectively.
e
Rootstocks are: Cf, Cucurbita ficifolia; Cm, Cucurbita moschata; Cmm, Cucurbita maxima × C. moschata; Cl, Citrullus lanatus; La, Luffa aegyptiaca; Lc, Luffa cylindrica; Sl,
Solanum lycopersicum; Ls, Lagernaria siceraria; Sa, Sicyos angulatus; Sm, Solanum melongena; Ss, Solanum species including interspecific hybrids; and St: Solanum torvum,
respectively.
f
Greenhouse hydroponic tomato cultivation area only. Little or no grafting had been reported for field tomatoes of 162,580 ha in the USA.

produced by export-oriented nurseries easily pass through the reg-
ulation. One of the reasons for this easy pass is the use of sterile
substrates rather than contaminated soils which are believed to
be fully contaminated with numerous diseases and even other
microorganisms. Furthermore the growing period is very short,
usually less than 30 days in most cases except eggplants. Trans-
portation and shipping are also easy with plug seedlings grown in
cell trays. Tomato is the major grafted vegetable for export, fol-
lowed by watermelon and eggplant. It is worthwhile to note that
seedling growers in Agadir, Morocco, exported 12 million grafted
seedlings to southern Europe countries in 2007 and it is expected
that this kind of export will be markedly increased in coming years.
In North America, Canada is the major source of grafted seedlings,
exporting more than 10 million grafted plants to the USA and
northern Mexico. Active export of grafted transplant from Korea
to Japan had been taken place for several years via several nurs-
eries.
4. Grafting methods and acclimatization
Grafting is a process that involves: (1) the choice of rootstock
and scion species, (2) creation of a graft union by physical manip-
ulation, (3) healing of the union, and (4) acclimation of the grafted
plant. In fruit species, pruning is often an essential part of the
grafting process. Grafting methods vary greatly and considerably
depending upon the kind of crops, farmers’ experiences and pref-
erences, facilities and machines available, numbers of grafting, and
even by the purpose of grafting such as grafting for their own
uses or for sales only by commercial growers. In case of Japan
(Table 10), hole insertion grafting is by far the most popular grafting
method in watermelon. However, in cucumbers, tongue insertion
grafting is most popular among the individual growers producing
transplants for their own use. In contrast, the commercial grow-
ers prefer splice grafting. In eggplant, individual farmers prefer
split grafting where as the commercial growers definitely prefer
splice grafting. In summary, less experienced, small-scale farmers
select tongue approach grafting for most vegetables whereas large-
scaled experienced professional seedling producers like to adapt
splice grafting. It is generally accepted that the quality of seedlings
grafted by splice grafting is much better than those grafted by
tongue approach grafting. Manual or hand grafting is by far the
major grafting method even though several grafting machines and
semi-automatic machines or robots have been developed and com-
mercially available.
100 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105

Table 8
Current statusa of the estimated use of grafted vegetables in some European and other countries as of April 30, 2009.

Crop Item Spain Italy France Netherlands

Watermelon Area (ha) 16,100 11,091 186 NAb

No. grafts (million) 48.2 10.0 NA NA
Rootstocksc RS-841 Shintoza Strongtosa Macis RS-841 Shintoza NA NA

Melons Area (ha) 38,600 28,199 14,747 3086

No. grafts (million) 2.5 8.2 NA NA
Rootstocksc RH-841 Shintoza Strongtosa Shintoza Camelforce Dinero RS-841 TZ-148 Dinero NA

Cucumber Area (ha) 7000 2065 631 NA

No. grafts (million) 0.5 0.8 NA NA
Rootstocksc Azman Hercules Titan NA NA NA

Tomato Area (ha) 55,300 115,477 4122 1800

No. grafts (million) 72.8 15.1 50% 75%
Rootstocksc Maxifort Beaufort Beaufort Maxifort He-Man Maxifort Beaufort NA

Eggplant Area (ha) 3500 10,862 417 115

No. grafts (million) 1.8 11.8 65% 75%
Rootstocksc Torvum Vigor Beaufort Espina Salutum STT3 Beaufort Brigeor Maxifort NA

Pepper Area (ha) 24,100 11,721 NA 41

No. grafts (million) 4.0 1.2 NA NA
Rootstocksc Atlante Tresor Rocal Atlante Tresor Galaxy Snooker NA

Price and planting densitiesd,e

a
Information in this table was obtained by contacting seed companies, related horticultural agencies, seedling producing nurseries, and personal communications. Acreage
was obtained from FAO Statistics 2008.
b
Data not available as of April 2010 are marked “NA” in the cell. Other countries actively using grafted vegetable seedlings include Turkey (50% of watermelons), Belgium
(mostly tomatoes), Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and UK (50% or higher), and Morocco (also for export).
c
Seed companies supplying the rootstocks seeds are Seminis, Syngenta, Nunhems, Clause/Tezier, De Ruiter, Rijk Zwaan, Ramiro Arnedo, and others.
d
The price of grafted seedlings varies from 0.6 to 1.0 euro depending upon the crops (Hoyos Echeverria, 2010).
e
Number of seedlings planted per hectare varies from 15,000 to 30,000 depending upon the kind of crops and planting densities. Use of double-stemmed tomato grafted
transplants may cut down the purchasing expense by half (Hoyos Echeverria, 2010).

4.1. Hand grafting
There are a number of grafting methods applicable for herba-
ceous grafting. Some of the most frequently used methods are
diagrammed in Fig. 2.
4.1.1. Hole insertion grafting (HIG)
Grafting methods vary with the kind of crops being grafted,
preferences and experience of the growers, and the kind of graft-
ing machines or robots available. For watermelons, hole insertion
hypocotyl grafting (Fig. 2A) is favored by many farmers in many
areas because of the smaller seedling size of watermelon as com-
pared to the size of the rootstock, which is usually squash or bottle
gourd. Watermelon seeds are sown 7–8 days after the sowing of
gourd seeds (rootstock) or 3–4 days after sowing squash rootstock
seeds. Grafting is made 7–8 days after the sowing of watermelon
seeds. Both the scion and rootstock should be uniform and strong
enough to undergo the grafting operation. The true leaf including
the growing point should be carefully and thoroughly removed and
a hole is made with a bamboo or plastic gimlet or drill at a slant
angle to the longitudinal direction. The hypocotyl portion of the
watermelon is prepared by slant cutting to have tapered end for
easy insertion. Care should be given to avoid the insertion into the
hypocotyl cavity since this greatly interferes with formation of a
rapid union and facilitates later protrusion of watermelon adven-
titious roots into the soil after downward elongation through the
pith cavity of the rootstock (Fig. 1). Some growers insert young
watermelon seedlings (usually somewhat etiolated seedlings with
cotyledons still in folded position) into the hypocotyl (Fig. 2A and
B). HIG had been favorably practiced for tomato and eggplant for
a while, but splice grafting is definitely much favored even among
the farmers for their own uses.
4.1.2. Tongue approach grafting (TAG)
Tongue approach grafting (Fig. 2C) is usually favored by less
experienced farmers and those who do not have a greenhouse with
good microclimate control system. Even though this method needs
more space and labor as compared to other methods, a higher rate
of seedling survival is possible even for beginners. Furthermore, no
special facilities and machines are needed for this grafting tech-
nique. Since the grafting operation would be much more efficient
with both scion and rootstock seedlings having similar height, the
seeds of scion (usually watermelons, cucumbers, and melons) are
sown 5–7 days earlier than the rootstock seeds. The growing point
of the rootstocks should be carefully removed before grafting to
reduce the unnecessary loss of nutrient for the bud growth and to
promote the rapid union of graft interface. Occasionally one cotyle-
don may also be removed when removing the growing point to
ensure complete removal of the growing point and to avoid over-
crowding in limited space on the greenhouse bench. The grafting
cut for rootstock should be made in a downward direction and the
scion cut in an upward direction at an angle, usually 30◦ –40◦ to the

Table 9
Number of grafted seedlings produced by some major nurseries in Korea in 2008 (×1000).

Nursery Watermelon Cucumber Melon Pumpkin Tomato Pepper Eggplant Total

GreenTek 2500 3000 – – 500 3000 – 9000

Nosung 4000 300 – 700 300 – – 5300
Gongju 1500 1000 500 – 1000 – – 400
Yeoju 600 1000 – – 1200 200 1000 4000
Pureuna 300 500 – – 1000 1000 – 2800
a
Major exporter in Korea.
 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105 101

Table 10
Grafting seedlings produced by different grafting methods in Japan (revised from the survey data of Yoshioka, 2001).

Crop Area surveyed (ha) Percent share of grafting methods (%)

Tongue approach Split Hole insertion Root-removed & insertion Splice Others & unknown

Grafted seedlings produced by farmers for their own use

Watermelon 9244 7 1 53 38 – –
Cucumber 6648 89 1 5 4 1 0
Melonsa 1715 56 16 27 1 – –
Tomato 2412 36 13 6 – 45 0
Eggplant 2034 3 79 7 – 10 1

Grafted seedlings produced by commercial nurseries for sale

Watermelon 4455 1 5 35 55 3 1
Cucumber 3171 14 2 18 26 39 1
Melonsa 236 8 14 38 39 2 –
Tomato 2081 4 4 1 – 90 1
Eggplant 3436 2 18 8 – 71 1

Sub-total (own use + commercial)

Watermelon 13,699 5 3 47 44 1 0
Cucumber 9819 65 1 9 11 13 1
a
Melons 1951 50 16 28 6 0 –
Tomato 4493 21 9 4 – 66 0
Eggplant 5470 2 41 8 – 48 1
a
Only the field melon data was listed (house melons and greenhouse melons were not listed).

perpendicular axis, and deep enough to allow the fusion of as many
vascular bundles as possible. After the graft is completed, specially
designed clips are placed to fix the graft position. Grafted plants are
then planted together in a 9–12 cm diameter container.
The grafted plants are partially shaded for 1 or 2 days before
placing them under normal greenhouse growing conditions. The
lower hypocotyl of the scion of several test plants is cut to examine
the degree of graft-take 10–12 days after grafting and based upon
the results the remaining plants can be handled as described below.
The root and lower hypocotyl of the scion are removed from the
grafted plant by simply cutting off at the desired position, prefer-
ably at the closer position to the grafted position held by the clip.
The clips are usually removed at later stages, shortly before trans-
planting. An experienced person can graft about 800 plants per day,
but grafting machines and robots specifically designed for this kind
of grafting are also available at varying prices.
TAG is the oldest and perhaps the most convenient grafting
method for herbaceous plants. The method can be used for basi-
cally any kind of plants such as cucurbits, solanaceous plants, and
many other types. Grafting is performed with very young seedlings
and preferably at the hypocotyl portion of the rootstock and scion of
cucurbitaceous plants and at the lower epicotyl portion in solana-
ceous crops. In spite of the simple and easy grafting operation
and higher rate of survival, this method is not extensively used
by commercial seedling growers mainly because (1) labor required
for grafting, (2) labor needed for cutting the rootstock again, (3)
needs for removal of clips after union, (4) larger space is needed
for growing grafted plants as compared to other methods, and (5)
frequent rooting from the scion after transplanting if the seedlings
are transplanted too deep (Lee, 1994, see Fig. 1).
4.1.3. Splice grafting (SG), tube grafting (TG), and one cotyledon
splice grafting (OC-SG)
Splice grafting (Fig. 2D, E and J) is very popular among expe-
rienced growers and commercial plug seedling nurseries. Splice
grafting can be done by hand, machine, or robot and can be applied
to most vegetables. The major advantage is the production of strong
and healthy grafted seedlings since all the vascular bundles of the
scion are fused with those of rootstock and the graft union is strong
enough to take all the rough post-graft handling. Intact or excised
(root-removed) rootstock seedlings may be used depending upon
the growers and farmers’ preference. For the cucurbit rootstocks,
1 cotyledon and the growing point are removed for grafting. After
placing the scion on the rootstock (Fig. 2D and E), ordinary graft-

Fig. 2. Major grafting methods in cucurbits and solanaceous vegetables: (A and B) hole insertion grafting; (C) tongue approach grafting; (D, E and J) splice grafting; (F, G)
cleft grafting; (H and I) pin grafting.
102 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105

ing clips as in tongue approach grafting are used to fix the grafted

position tightly together. This is the most common methods for
cucurbits and also called as one cotyledon splice grafting (OC-SG).
For solanaceous crops, grafting is usually made at lower epicotyl
and fixed (Fig. 2J) with ordinary clips, elastic tube-shaped clip with
side slit, or ceramic pins (see Section 4.1.5) developed specifically
for this type of grafting. Tube grafting is performed by holding the
grafted position together in a slit elastic tube rather than using the
usual grafting clips. The tube may be used several times depending
upon the materials.

4.1.4. Cleft grafting (CG)

Cleft grafting (Fig. 2F and G) in herbaceous plants may be some-
what different from those of woody plants. Usually a portion of the
stem is cut longitudinally. The rootstock seedlings are decapitated
and longitudinal cut is made in a downward direction, 1–1.5 cm
long and 3/4 depth of the stem diameter. The scion is pruned to
have 1–3 true leaves and the lower stem is cut to slant angle to
make a tapered wedge. After placing the scion into the split made
on the rootstock, a clip is placed to hold in position until the union.
Various types of grafting clips, differing in material, size, shape,
and others, have been developed for cleft grafting. Cleft grafting
had been used in cucurbits for a while in several countries, but the
use is usually confined to solanaceous crops these days.

4.1.5. Pin grafting (PG)

Pin grafting (Fig. 2H and I) is basically the same as the splice
grafting. However, instead of placing grafting clips to hold the
grafted position, specially designed pins are used to hold the grafted
position in place. The ceramic pin developed by Takii Seed Co., in
Japan is about 15 mm long and 0.5 mm in diagonal width of the
hexagonal cross-section. The pins are made of natural ceramic so it
can be left on the plant without any problem. The price of ceramic
pin is fairly high so that alternative methods are being sought.
Experimental results revealed that bamboo pins, rectangular in
cross-sectional shape, could successfully replace the expensive
ceramic pins at much lower price. Watermelon seedlings grafted by
HIG described above are shown in Fig. 3 and a solanaceous grafted
plant near maturity is shown in Fig. 4.
4.2. Tools, clips, and grafting aids
Fig. 3. HIG grafted watermelon seedlings ready for transplanting.
ers in different parts of the world. A special knife with self-feeding
connection of skimmed milk or alcohol to inactivate some potent
viruses has been developed in The Netherlands and in Korea. A
hand held grafting device constructed with changeable stainless
steel, single-edge razor blades, makes it possible to simultaneously
create a uniform wedge and a receptacle in the stem of Phaseolus
vulgaris. Rapid changes have been taking place recently and it is evi-
dent that marked progress will be made on these devices with the
improvement of grafting technology and introduction of new and
efficient grafting robots. Uniformly small seedlings are definitely
favored for grafting, especially for machine grafting, so that experi-

A number of grafting tools to perform automated grafting and to

hold the graft union together have been developed by various agri-
cultural companies (Lee and Oda, 2003). Unfortunately, however,
most of them have not been widely used by the commercial grow-
ers. Simple grafting aids, such as grafting clips, tubes, tapes, and
pins have been selectively but widely used for grafting (Fig. 5). The
ordinary grafting clips consisting of a round spring made out of plas-
tic (Fig. 5A) have been most extensively used for tongue approach
grafting in cucurbits and other crops. The clips, although slightly
different in size and shape depending upon manufacturer, are inex-
pensive, ease to operate and handle for various stem sizes, and can
be used many times. Various other clips, especially elastic tube-
shaped clips with or without attachment for supporting pole for
the grafted seedlings (Fig. 5B and C), are also widely used by many
commercial growers for manual grafting as well as for machine
or robot grafting. Much smaller elastic slit-tubes are being used in
many countries including Israel and The Netherlands (Fig. 5E) for
tomato and pepper grafting. Ceramic pin (Fig. 5D) is a very handy
and efficient aid to fix the grafted interface, and highly suitable for
machine or robot grafting. It can be used with naked hands, with
simple pencil-shaped device, or with machine or robots. Adhesive
tape or glue, or sometimes aluminum foil, is another means of hold-
ing the grafted counterparts in place. Specially designed knives and
gimlets for grafting have been manufactured and are used by grow- Fig. 4. Tomato grafted onto potato plants near harvest time.
 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105
Fig. 5. Grafting clips, tubes, pins, and other aids.
enced growers are eager to produce uniform healthy seedlings for
efficient grafting by using better quality seeds preferably primed
seeds.
4.3. Grafting machines and robots
The first robot, the “One Cotyledon Splice Grafting” system was
developed in 1980s by Iam Brain in Japan to graft cucurbit veg-
etables (similar to the latest Korean version shown in Fig. 6). The
robot took into account variation of seedling shape, location of
cutting and gripping, cutting, and attachment. Seedlings were cut
at the point of attachment of the cotyledon to the hypocotyl at
an angle of 20◦ –30◦ for the scion and the rootstock, respectively.
The prototype grafting robot was constructed in 1987 and the
second in 1989 (Ito, 1992; Kubota et al., 2008). It took 4.5 s to
make a grafted plant with 95% survival. The demonstration model
robot was deemed practical and the results were transferred to
an agricultural machinery company that developed machines for
the market. Prototype semi-automatic grafting system was also
developed in Korea. Several grafting robots have been manufac-
tured by the Rural Development Administration (RDA), Korea, and
will be distributed to the commercial plug seedling growers at rela-
Fig. 6. Semi-automatic grafting machine developed by Helper Robotech Co., in
Korea.
103
tively reasonable prices. Three grafting robots have been developed
in Korea, 2 in 1998 and 1 in 1999, and one was commercialized
in 2001. The pin grafting robot developed by Rural Development
Administration for solanaceous crops can graft 1200 seedlings per
hour. The simple and economic grafting machine was developed
by Yupoong and has been very popular in Korea. This machine
by Yupoong, priced about US $500, has been exported for more
than 10 years to many Asian countries and some European coun-
tries. This machine can graft up to 600 seedlings per hour by
tongue approach grafting, mostly in cucurbitaceous crop. However,
an experienced operator is needed to run this machine effec-
tively and efficiently. Recently a multiuse semi-automatic grafting
machine has been developed by a private company in Korea (Helper
RoboTech) and many growers purchased this machine to graft
tomato and pepper plug seedlings. This machine (Fig. 6) has also
been actively exported to many foreign countries in recent years
because of the reasonable price, multiple functions (can be used
for both cucurbit and solanaceous crops), and convenient handling.
More recently, a fully automated grafting robot (1000 grafts per
hour) has been developed and used commercially for tomato in
The Netherlands (ISO GROEP). With increasing demand of grafted
plants, faster, more reliable, and more flexible automation of graft-
ing operations is one of the key technologies need to develop in the
future.
4.4. Acclimatization
Proper acclimatization is critical for grafted plants to survive.
Acclimatization involves healing of the cut surface and hardening
for field or greenhouse survival (Lee and Oda, 2003). Maintenance
of proper moisture content before and after grafting is critical for
the production of uniform grafted seedlings. Acclimatization may
be achieved simply by enclosing the rootstock and scion in a black
plastic bag (to avoid heat buildup) until the union is formed. Grow-
ers usually achieve acclimatization by use of plastic film coverings.
In many commercial nurseries, the grafted plants, usually in cell
trays of 32–72 cells, are placed on a greenhouse bench and the trays
are sealed with a single layer of semi-transparent high-density
polyethylene film (0.01 mm or thinner) to reduce the moisture loss
and kept sealed for 5–7 days without additional irrigation. Par-
tial shading may be needed during the daytime to avoid excessive
heat build-up. Several types of acclimatization chambers have been
developed and widely used by commercial plug seedling growers
in Japan and Korea (Lee et al., 2008).
5. Commercial production and quality of grafted seedlings
High-quality grafted seedlings are usually produced by profes-
sional seedling growers rather than individual farmers. The overall
quality as well as the price of those grafted seedlings produced
by large commercial growers is much higher than those produced
by smaller growers or farmers’ associations. However, the sale of
these grafted seedlings grown in cell trays has been grown explo-
sively during the last decades. Even though there are considerable
differences in quality of plug-grown seedlings depending upon the
growers as well as the substrate, farmers would like to order their
seedlings grafted on preferred combinations from the industrial
growers. Most of the seedlings are grown in trays of different num-
ber of cells. The cell trays in Korea are the same in size and the
seedlings are easy to handle for grafting and transport including
export and also can be efficiently transplanted by machine. Even
though problems arising from the use of grafted seedlings are rather
common especially with respect to seedling health and quality of
produces, more farmers are purchasing grafted seedlings rather
than grafting their own seedlings.
104 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105
Since more and more farmers are purchasing grafted trans-
plants from professional nurseries, the quality has become one of
the keen concerns among the farmers. The quality of transplant
varies greatly depending upon the growers and also by substrates.
The definition of high-quality seedling would be very complicated
task because so many factors are associated with quality evalua-
tion. Seedlings are in the first place normal and abnormal seedlings
based upon the external appearance. Various factors influence the
outcome of abnormal seedlings. Uniformity in terms of genetic
quality and cultural and/or physiological quality are the 2 major
factors influencing seedling quality (Lee, 2007). Mineral deficiency
in the soil or substrate, frost damage, heating, mechanical dam-
age, insect damage, chemical treatment injury, declining vigor,
pathogen infections, water and temperature stresses, and many
others. In vegetable seedlings, the quality of seedling also varied
greatly depending upon the kind of crops and types of seedling
distribution such as seedlings without soil or substrate, seedlings
grown in conventional pots, or seedlings grafted or non-grafted,
or seedlings grown in cell trays. The performance check of the
seedlings would be the best way to evaluate the seedling qual-
ity, but this is almost impossible, because so many other factors
also influence the seedling performance after the transplanting.
Therefore, the quality of seedlings is mostly evaluated at the time of
transplanting or seedling purchase at the commercial nurseries. On
the basis of this concept, the high-quality seedlings should be uni-
form in size and traits, proper size or height with thick healthy stem
with large thick leaves. The seedling should have well-developed
root systems and show good shoot/root ratio. Seedlings for fruit
production should have large number of flowers in good vigor.
Those seedlings for leaf such as lettuces and cabbages should not
bolt after transplanting. The seedlings should not be exposed to
extreme water and/or temperature stresses during their growth
stage.
One of the conveniently used parameters to evaluate the
seedling quality is the ratio of shoot dry weight divided by shoot
length. This may be appropriate for tomatoes, peppers, and egg-
plants. However, in cabbages and Chinese cabbages, different
criteria should be adapted and so are the cucurbits. Perhaps, the
critical factor involved in seedling quality is the infection of serious
bacterial and viral diseases which may not be easily recognized at
the time of seedling purchase. Serious outbreaks of tomato bacte-
rial canker had been reported in Mexico caused by infected seeds,
causing closure of a commercial propagation in Mexico who was a
main supplier of grafted seedlings (Kubota et al., 2008, pers. com-
mun.). Serious outbreaks of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus
(CGMMV), a strain of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), in many parts
of the world, causing tremendous damage to the farmers as well
as the seed companies who supplied the virus-infected rootstock
seeds for watermelon seedling production. Since the spread of these
diseases is phenomenal, the presence of a single infected plant can
destroy the entire field. Two large seed companies in Korea were
bankrupted after serious outbreaks in 1997 and 2000.
CGMMV can be transmitted by seeds, contact, grafting, and
some other means such as soil and water. Dry heat treatment is
the only practical way of eliminating this virus from infected or
infection-suspected seeds and has been used routinely for all the
cucurbits seeds in Japan and Korea (Kim and Lee, 2000). Production
of organic vegetables using pesticide-free seeds can only be per-
formed by using dry heat treatment in various vegetables including
lettuce and Brassica crops. However, production, supply, and use
of healthy seeds should be the first choice for the production of
healthy seedlings, especially in cucurbits and solanaceous crops.
Overuse or misuse of bioregulators or chemical inhibitors to sup-
press the overgrowth of seedlings grown in high-density cell trays
is another problem to be minimized and replaced by other physical
means.
6. Conclusions and prospects
For decades, vegetable grafting has been successfully practiced
in many Asian countries, and is becoming increasingly popu-
lar worldwide. Many multinational seed companies are eager to
develop and distribute rootstock seeds through their commercial
seed catalogs. Identification of compatible multi-disease resistant
rootstocks with tolerance to abiotic stresses is a basic require-
ment for continued success. Watermelon and tomato are the 2
major vegetables for grafting and worldwide distribution. Grafting
in herbaceous plants is also practiced in cucumber, melon, orien-
tal melon, greenhouse squash, eggplant, and peppers. Introduction
of excellent rootstocks possessing multiple disease resistance and
efficient grafting machines including grafting robots will greatly
encourage the extended use of grafted vegetables over the world.
There are many problems commonly associated with vegetable
grafting and cultivating grafted seedlings as seen in Table 1. These
include the additional cost for rootstock seeds, labor required
for the grafting and raising grafted seedlings, lack of experience
and technique for grafting and cultivation of grafted plants, and
incidence of possible physiological disorders associated with graft-
ing. However, there are enormous benefits from using grafted
seedlings. These include income increase by high yield and off-
season growing, lower input of fertilizers and irrigation water
due to the wide root systems of the rootstocks, considerable sav-
ing in agrochemicals due to high resistance of the rootstocks,
extension of the harvest period, efficient maintenance of popu-
lar cultivars against diseases and other physiological disorders, no
need for long-term crop rotations, overcoming problems due to
saline soils and thermal stress, ease of producing organically grown
vegetables. Partial or full take of these benefits will depend upon
various factors such as farm size and degree of mechanization,
cultivation practices such as crop rotation and transplanting, tech-
nology level, understanding the full benefits and risks of grafted
seedlings, and the uses of protected cultivation and hydropon-
ics.
Growers can now purchase grafted seedlings of any specific
combination from many commercial plug seedling growers rather
than doing the tedious grafting themselves although growers
need to place orders in advance in most cases. This is especially
true in Japan, Korea, and The Netherlands. With the invention
of more efficient grafting robots and acclimatization facilities,
the price of grafted seedlings could be considerably reduced in
the future to meet grower expectations. Grafted seedlings can
solve much of the problems arising from conventional cultiva-
tion such as use of methyl bromide for soil sterilization, incidence
as well as the rapid spread of diseases caused by successive
cropping, low soil temperature damage during the early stages,
heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and economic
use of irrigation water. For organic produces, the seeds of both
scion and rootstock may be treated with dry heat to eliminate
seed-borne diseases such as Fusarium and viruses. Effective dry
heat treatment method has been developed and rapid detection
technique on the inactivation of some seed-borne virus, such
as cucumber green mottle mosaic virus, has also been estab-
lished. Even though the benefits of using grafted seedlings are
now fully recognized over the world, production of uniform,
healthy grafted seedlings at reasonable prices is the key point
for wider use, especially in those countries with limited experi-
ence.
Acknowledgements
Critical reading of this manuscript by Dr. Jules Janick of the USA
is deeply appreciated.
 J.-M. Lee et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 127 (2010) 93–105
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