Grafting tomato plants.....anyone try it?

MikeT_PDX · June 4, 2010

Seems a company in Oregon is selling grafted tomato plants.......both single and double grafted varieties on a very hardy rootstock.
Anyone here tried it in your garden?

http://blog.oregonlive.com/kympokorn...es_promis.html

danwigz · June 4, 2010

Never tried it, never even heard of it before your post. Very interesting idea. Does double grafting mean having 2 different tomato plant types on top of the root system?

I wonder if you could graft two different varieties and have a plant grow them both equally as well. It would free up a lot of space for those who want to try a variety.

feraltomatoes · June 4, 2010

I am trying some grafting this year. Trying a hoophouse for the first time and grafted 50 heirlooms to maxifort rootstock. Also have 50 non grafted to compare. Just starting to ripen, so far grafted plants have an edge but not sold yet. Some very unusual vegitative growth was observed on maxifort grafts.
I also played around and made a 6 way graft so I do have one plant with 6 different tomato varieties growing from on root.(also maxifort).

Next year I am going to graft some eggplants and tomatoes together just to confuse people. Both can be grafted to the same rootstock.

**carolyn137** · June 4, 2010

I have a problem with some of the claims made. Specifically the comments about preventing foliage diseases and I didn't go back up to re read it to note the others.

Two years ago I was in communication with a Prof from a midwestern U who was doing many experiments with grafting, using both Maxifort and Beaufort root stock.

You can Google both of those and see what tolerances they have as rootstock and I think you'd be surprised at what they have as compared with many named hybrids out there. This Prof concluded from field studies that Celebrity F1 was just as good as Maxifort as a rootstock. And that's for the systemic diseases b/c none of the rootstocks have tolerance against any of the common foliage diseases which are THE most common tomato diseases everywhere.

Grafted plants are sold routinely in Australia and I remember one of our Aussie friends saying that all it did was to allow for a much increased cost in buying those grafted plants.

*I'll try to find the links in my faves from this Prof to see what else he had to say about grafted plants.

bigbubbacain · June 5, 2010

This definitely has my interest piqued, as I dig up my disease riddled Golden Ponderosa which only managed to give me 4 beefsteaks before giving up.

Is grafting a tricky procedure? Is the disease resistance passed on to the seed of the fruit in the grafted variety?

MikeT_PDX · June 5, 2010

Here's a link to a "how to" video. Seems pretty simple.

http://www.loghouseplants.com/reading_room.htm#veg

June 4, 2010	#1
MikeT_PDX Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 17	Grafting tomato plants.....anyone try it? Seems a company in Oregon is selling grafted tomato plants.......both single and double grafted varieties on a very hardy rootstock. Anyone here tried it in your garden? http://blog.oregonlive.com/kympokorn...es_promis.html

June 4, 2010	#3
feraltomatoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Home=Napa Valley/ Garden=Solano County Posts: 245	I am trying some grafting this year. Trying a hoophouse for the first time and grafted 50 heirlooms to maxifort rootstock. Also have 50 non grafted to compare. Just starting to ripen, so far grafted plants have an edge but not sold yet. Some very unusual vegitative growth was observed on maxifort grafts. I also played around and made a 6 way graft so I do have one plant with 6 different tomato varieties growing from on root.(also maxifort). Next year I am going to graft some eggplants and tomatoes together just to confuse people. Both can be grafted to the same rootstock. __________________ Brad Gates-Wild Boar Farms ______________________________

June 4, 2010	#4
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	I have a problem with some of the claims made. Specifically the comments about preventing foliage diseases and I didn't go back up to re read it to note the others. Two years ago I was in communication with a Prof from a midwestern U who was doing many experiments with grafting, using both Maxifort and Beaufort root stock. You can Google both of those and see what tolerances they have as rootstock and I think you'd be surprised at what they have as compared with many named hybrids out there. This Prof concluded from field studies that Celebrity F1 was just as good as Maxifort as a rootstock. And that's for the systemic diseases b/c none of the rootstocks have tolerance against any of the common foliage diseases which are THE most common tomato diseases everywhere. Grafted plants are sold routinely in Australia and I remember one of our Aussie friends saying that all it did was to allow for a much increased cost in buying those grafted plants. *I'll try to find the links in my faves from this Prof to see what else he had to say about grafted plants. __________________ Carolyn

June 4, 2010	#2
danwigz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 150	Never tried it, never even heard of it before your post. Very interesting idea. Does double grafting mean having 2 different tomato plant types on top of the root system? I wonder if you could graft two different varieties and have a plant grow them both equally as well. It would free up a lot of space for those who want to try a variety.

June 5, 2010	#5
bigbubbacain Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Zone 9 Texas, Fort Bend County Posts: 436	This definitely has my interest piqued, as I dig up my disease riddled Golden Ponderosa which only managed to give me 4 beefsteaks before giving up. Is grafting a tricky procedure? Is the disease resistance passed on to the seed of the fruit in the grafted variety?