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Old February 12, 2013   #99
FarmerShawn
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vermont
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I've experimented two years now with planting grafted and ungrafted plants of the same varieties side by side, and my results have been inconclusive at best. In general, the grafted plants do a bit better overall, but each year, my best plants have been ungrafted, and my worst ones have been grafted. I do not have soil-borne diseases here, so I am just looking for general increased vigor and production. I should also note that, despite my best intentions each year, I do not, in the heat of harvest, take actual notes of production per plant and other details that would verify my gut reactions. I just, a couple of times during the summer, stand back and say "Hm. Overall, these grafted ones look just a bit better than those other ones. But the best one is surely that impressive ungrafted specimen over there!" Most of my experimenting has been with Brandywines from Fedco, although I did use a few Brandywine Sudduth last year, and the year before last I did some other varieties, including Paul Robeson, Cherokee Purple, and Opalka, but just a couple of each of those.
By the way, I had great success with the grafts themselves - especially the first year. Last year I ran into problems with coordinating the plantings so the seedlings were the same size, so I ended up not doing as many as I planned.
It is, fun, though, to play around with.
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