2018-19 Grafting

[Harry Cabluck]

b54red--Good idea on staggered plantings. It will permit multiple stem sizes for easy matching when grafting. Hereabouts, the first planting of rootstock shows a few germinations. Am reminded that a few of Joseph Lofthouse's varieties produce hardy roots, similar to Estamino rootstock. Although not a fan of Estamino. Believe his variety Ot'Jadkoa and Big Hill grew vigorously. Both are better-tasting and will be planted this year.

[zendog]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

Zendog:
I also picked up some larger plastic boxes to use as healing chambers for grafting.

Now if I can just keep the brakes on planting seeds to early!!!!

I'm going to try trays with the high domes this year (7" I think) for healing. Last year I stuck some chopsticks in a few of the cells and wrapped over the top with plastic dry cleaner bags - ugly but it worked. I'm hoping the domes give me a good enough seal to keep the humdity high since that will make it much easier to work with and see into, plus they have adjustable vents which I think will be useful for tapering off the humidity slowly.

When do you plan to start your seedlings? I was thinking around the middle of Februrary for my area (7A, Arlington, VA), which is earlier than I planted last year. It seems I loose about a week of growth during the grafting/healing cycle.

My biggest challenge for timing is that besides my own seedlings, I start a couple hundred peppers and tomatoes for the PTA plant sale at my kid's high school and that happens mid-May. Keeping the seedlings that long is a pain since I need to transplant them to cups, etc. and they get pretty big. I am thinking of doing about 40 grafted tomatoes for the sale, since I'm sure people who have had trouble with tomatoes would like to try them. I may decide to plant the PTA ones later, but it seems easier to deal with it all at once.

[ckw346]

has anyone used big beef hybrid as a rootstock and topped it of with an heirloom or paste tomato ?

[jtjmartin]

I used some Big Beef as alternative rootstock my first year of grafting heirlooms. The plants resisted some disease better than ungrafted. However, my main disease problem is bacterial wilt - it destroyed most of my Big Beef and Brandy Boy plants this past year.


Jeff

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by ckw346

has anyone used big beef hybrid as a rootstock and topped it of with an heirloom or paste tomato ?

Many people post about starting with Big Beef and seeing only slight, if any improvement.

If you're grafting because of disease, I recommend you go with rootstock seed. If you're going to go through all the time and effort to graft, go with rootstock that's proven to work.

[charley]

i haven't grafted in a few years can someone tag me in the original post that talks about how to do it i need a refresher thanks

[charley]

going threw my root stock i only have beaufort seeds left are they any good for grafting

[b54red]

If you don't have serious fusarium or bacterial wilt problems then Big Beef works very good as a root stock. It gives some protection from both fusarium and RKN and it grafts well. It has little or no affect on the growth habit of the heirloom grafted to it so if you are looking for some boost in size or vigor from grafting and not mild disease help then I would pick out several of the available true root stock seeds and try them. Some will give you much larger more vigorous plants and some will help with fruit size and some will help with production. You will have to experiment some to find the one that works best with the heirlooms you wish to grow and see which gives you the best results in your garden conditions.

For me RST-04-106-T has proven itself to be the best root stock overall for dealing with my awful soil born diseases. If you don't have to deal with three races of fusarium and bacterial wilt then there are many available root stock varieties available to try.

Bill

[jtjmartin]

Bill:

I picked up the RST-04-106 from Tomato Growers since NESeed is still out. I emailed NESeed earlier trying to find out what the problem was and they gave me a nice non-answer answer.

I order some 105 from NE Seed as back up since it resists BW also.

Any other source you know of?

Jeff

[zendog]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

Bill:

I picked up the RST-04-106 from Tomato Growers since NESeed is still out. I emailed NESeed earlier trying to find out what the problem was and they gave me a nice non-answer answer.

I order some 105 from NE Seed as back up since it resists BW also.

Any other source you know of?

Jeff

Good thing you grabbed it from Tomato Growers when you could. I just went to order another pack and it looks like they're out of it now as well.

I should have enough this year, but if anyone does find another source for RST-04-106 please let us all know.

[charley]

amazon has the rst-04-106 for 24 dollers for 20 seeds

[zendog]

Originally Posted by charley

amazon has the rst-04-106 for 24 dollers for 20 seeds

Thanks for mentioning it.

I actually emailed DP seeds and they said they are completely out of stock for this year and it looks like 105 is out a lot places now as well. So don't hold your breath for anyone who is out of stock to get more in this year. The pack I bought from Tomato Growers Supply about a month ago, before they ran out, was less than $10 for 20 seeds, so it looks like these guys are just trying to jack up the price and profit from the shortage... if they are even the correct seeds.

[Harry Cabluck]

So far, so good with 2019 seed starting in Austin, Tx. Dozen Maxifort have germinated and most SuperNatural seeds (leftover from last year) are looking good. Hope to graft 15-20 plants when they grow enough to fit into two-millimeter clips. Plantings a week later than rootstock have germinated. Amazingly, Lofthouse's Ot'Jagodka, Brad and Big Hill have great germination rates. Started more seeds a few days ago in nine more three-and-a-half ounce cups. Varieties of: Dr. Carolyn, Jaune Falmmee, Kellog's Breakfast, Sioux and a few of seeds harvested from last year's crop, including (Wispy) Sioux and Big Hill.

[vincep]

Check out "Seeds n Such" I ordered some RST-04-105-T last week

[jtjmartin]

Anyone know why supplies of RST-04-106 and -105 are so limited this year?