Cultivation

Grafting and Budding — Cucurbita moschata

Cucurbita moschata Duchesne

Butternut squash is used as a rootstock for cucurbits due to its resistance to Fusarium wilt and adaptability to soil stresses. As a scion, it is more difficult to manage in terms of compatibility than Cucurbita pepo or Lagenaria due to stem growth specifics and high environmental requirements.

In the reference 7 varieties crop Butternut squash, where this is mentioned in the description.

Butternut squash is an effective rootstock for melon, watermelon, and cucumber, providing the scion with high growth vigor and resistance to soil-borne pathogens, including Fusarium wilt. Interspecific hybrids of this crop are often chosen to increase tolerance to salinity and low soil temperatures, outperforming Lagenaria in several parameters related to fruit quality.

Grafting of butternut squash itself as a scion is complicated by issues of biological compatibility and thermophilicity. Technically, budding is not used for this crop; instead, herbaceous grafting methods are employed, such as tongue approach grafting, splice grafting, cleft grafting, or hole insertion grafting. The main difficulty lies in the presence of a cavity in the stem, which complicates the precise alignment of cambial layers and requires careful selection of the developmental stages of the components.

General information about the subject — on the page Grafting and budding.

Sources8

Varieties of Butternut squash mentioned in the description

Selection based on the description text, not on official evaluation: these data are absent from registers. For specific variety details, please refer to its profile.