Determination of grafting adaptation of native chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) genotypes of Düzce to marigoule (C. sativa × C. crenata) hybrid rootstocks

Turkey is the central gen pool for Anatolian chestnut. Chestnut is a forest tree species that is found naturally in Turkey's forest areas. Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is most distributed in the Black Sea of Turkey and then in the Marmara, the Western Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey. In addition to the naturally grown chestnuts in the forests, chestnuts can also be found in the farmlands of the Aegean and Marmara. But the greatest problem in chestnut cultivation is root-rot diseases and chestnut branch cancer. The Marigoule chestnut (C. Sativa × C. Crenata) hybrid was studied in the present study in order to reproduce the natural chestnut genotypes with fruit characteristics identified by the locals of the Düzce region. 24 different genotypes were used such as Akçakoca 1, Akçakoca 2, Yığılca 2, Yığılca 4, Kırık, Alaplı F1, Gümeli, Kadınca, Güven 1, Güven 2, Güven 4, Yalnızçam, Paşa 1, Paşa 2, Ereğli Sefer, Güven 3, Gümeli Sarısı, Dağlıca, Gümeli Karası, Erfelek, Kocaman, Betizac, Marigoule ve Maraval of genotypes were used. The most commonly used grafting methods by the locals include: Tongue british grafting, splitting, chip budding grafting and side veneer grafting. All grafting procedures were carried out in the Düzce University Forestry Faculty greenhouses with diurnal greenhouse temperature of 25/15oC. In this study, it was determined that local domestic genotypes were found to be the best fit and most compatible with Marigoule chestnut. The most compatible were Yalnızçam at 87,5%, while the worst were Kırık at 15% and Akçakoca1 at 17,5%. Maraval and Betizac compatibility were also investigated. According to the results- Betizac revealed the highest compatibility at 95%, while Maraval was only at 67,5%. The study also determined that the most successful grafting methods were side veneer grafting at 74,2% followed by the tongue british grafting 59,9%, cleft grafting 51,4% and chip budding grafting 29,7% success rate.