The objective of this study was to evaluate the vegetative growth, yield and survival of yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims) grafted on the three rootstocks in area with description of premature death of plants. The experiment was carried out in Adamantina, SP, Brazil, from May 2006 to February 2007, adopting the statistical design of randomized blocks, with three treatments and seven replications. The rootstocks evaluated were Passiflora edulis, P. alata and P. gibertii, using conventional cleft grafting. The variables evaluated were: stem diameter of the rootstocks, stem diameter of the grafts, length of internodes, length of the secondary branches, number of tertiary branches, number of fruits, average weight of fruits, diameter and length of fruits, yield and plant survival. The work demonstrated that the use of the grafting in yellow passion fruit is a viable option as vegetative propagation, as well as a means of controlling some soil pathogens, one problem that has limited the expansion of culture. It was observed that plants grafted on P. edulis presented better initial vegetative growth, followed of P. gibertii and of P. alata. The lowest yield was obtained in P. alata. It was observed that although the presence of Fusarium solani and Rotylenchulus reniformis in soil, 91% of the plants grafted on P. gibertii survival after 12 months of field planting, whereas in P. alata and P. edulis these indices were 60% and 8.6%, respectively, showing a bigger tolerance to the root diseases.
Passifloraceae; yellow passion fruit; graft; fructification; control of diseases
