Grafting 2015

[cherokee]

b54red / Stvrob~ Thank you very much for your timely and though response answering my question.
O'Neal

[peebee]

Where do you buy your rootstock seeds from and what does the cost (after shipping) average out to? A good friend of mine gave me some and so I have no idea. I tried grafting this year (only did 2) and it's so much fun I will definitely do it again.

[Stvrob]

I used Big Beef for rootstock. It is widely available.

[b54red]

Big Beef is an excellent rootstock if you don't have all three races of fusarium to contend with as I do. I used Big Beef but every single graft ended up dying of fusarium but it did hold off most of the fusarium long enough to have a good crop. The plants that had rootstock resistant to all three races of fusarium fared much better and produced for several more months. I also have nematodes so I try to use a rootstock that has triple fusarium resistance as well as nematode resistance.

So far the most successful rootstock for me has been Multifort which you can obtain from Paramount Seeds. I am also trying another of their rootstock called Estamino this year and will let everyone know how it performs.
https://paramountseeds.com/product-c...duction/tomato
/rootstock-tomato/

I am also trying a rootstock called RST-04-106-T to see how well it does.
http://www.neseed.com/Tomato-Rootsto...-T-p/34002.htm

Bill

[cherokee]

I have at present Maxiford how did they work in Alabama?

[ChrisK]

I started my grafting this weekend. A little late but oh well!

Your technique is similar to mine, Bill. I prefer the cleft graft as I find it more forgiving though. I'm also going with Charger F1 again this year as rootstock since it worked so well last year for Fusarium resistance for me.

Thanks for the nice writeup that will be helpful to folks that want to try it w/o having to spend time failing and reinventing the wheel, so to speak.

[b54red]

Cherokee, I have never used Maxifort but a friend of mine got me to graft some plants for him and he had Masifort rootstock so I'll know next year. I never used it because it is only resistant to two races of fusarium but that is probably good enough for most locations. I have been gardening in the same spot for nearly 40 years and over the years my fusarium problems have gotten worse and up til 4 or 5 years ago any tomatoe that had resistance to two races of fusarium did great but not anymore.

ChrisK, I used Charger for two years and it was an adequate rootstock but it did nothing to improve production other than resist fusarium. It did not work for nematodes which is a big minus for my garden in certain spots. Tasti-Lee is the same way but it did improve production on some varieties quite a bit but didn't have much resistance to RKN. So far for me Multifort overall has been the best rootstock but it is quite vegetative and that means more frequent pruning. I am trying Estamino and RST-04-106l-T along with Multifort this year. I did find a few varieties that did not do well with Multifort and I am hoping one or the other of the new ones will work better. I will post the results I get with my different rootstock again this year.

Bill

[ChrisK]

Yep, you are right on the RKN which can be a problem for me too. However, the LAST thing I need is more vegetative growth!! I was thrilled to have tomato plants that lasted all season with no sign of Fusarium.

Originally Posted by b54red

ChrisK, I used Charger for two years and it was an adequate rootstock but it did nothing to improve production other than resist fusarium. It did not work for nematodes which is a big minus for my garden in certain spots. Tasti-Lee is the same way but it did improve production on some varieties quite a bit but didn't have much resistance to RKN. So far for me Multifort overall has been the best rootstock but it is quite vegetative and that means more frequent pruning. I am trying Estamino and RST-04-106l-T along with Multifort this year. I did find a few varieties that did not do well with Multifort and I am hoping one or the other of the new ones will work better. I will post the results I get with my different rootstock again this year.

Bill

[b54red]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Yep, you are right on the RKN which can be a problem for me too. However, the LAST thing I need is more vegetative growth!! I was thrilled to have tomato plants that lasted all season with no sign of Fusarium.

I used Red Mountain along with Crista for rootstock last year and they did well against both RKN and all types of fusarium. Both Estamino and RST-04-106-T are supposed to be less vegetative. I'll let you know. I will have some with Multifort to give me a good comparison. I liked the more vegetative growth with some varieties particularly Limbaugh's Legacy, Virginia Sweet, Red Barn, KBX, and Neves Azorean Red because I also got steadier fruit set and more production with larger fruit.

Bill

[Stvrob]

My grafted plants (on Big Beef) seem to be lagging behind this year, compared to the ungrafted heirlooms growing in different (and less desirable) locations in the yard. However, Im not sure what to attribute this to. I tried something different this year at the trellis where my heirlooms are growing. I planted mustard late winter, and quite thick for a cover crop, and keep it short by trimming it about 3" tall and leaving the clippings there as a mulch. Can you think of any reason that mustard would interact with tomatoes and slow their growth. Other than lack of vigor, the grafted plants seem healthy enough, their first truss of flowers are opening jusnt about now.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

My grafted plants (on Big Beef) seem to be lagging behind this year, compared to the ungrafted heirlooms growing in different (and less desirable) locations in the yard. However, Im not sure what to attribute this to. I tried something different this year at the trellis where my heirlooms are growing. I planted mustard late winter, and quite thick for a cover crop, and keep it short by trimming it about 3" tall and leaving the clippings there as a mulch. Can you think of any reason that mustard would interact with tomatoes and slow their growth. Other than lack of vigor, the grafted plants seem healthy enough, their first truss of flowers are opening jusnt about now.

It could be a slight shortage of nitrogen where your grafted plants are. Give them a little blast of TTF or MG and see how they look in 3 or 4 days. Also it is not uncommon for some grafts to take much longer to heal to the point that the plant is taking up nutrients at the same pace as an ungrafted plant. I have done multiple grafts of the same variety on the same rootstock and have totally different looking plants as to vigor and the difference is sometimes quite dramatic which I attribute to the speed of the graft healing or the quality of the graft. However over the long season the less vigorous plants frequently become large and healthy just like their brothers and sisters. These less vigorous plants will not be as productive early but will likely be the more productive plants later in the season.

An update in this vein is that the Estamino grafts are tending to be the more vigorous looking plants so far; but time will tell.

Bill

[Stvrob]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1429024130.863544.jpg

3 Stump of the World plants. The 2 on the left are grafted on Big Beef. The one on the right is growing on its own roots. Looks like one of them will need to be pulled soon (Ive already removed most of the yellowing foliage) I have one double-graft Gregori Altai/little lucky on Big Beef roots to replace it with, then I have no more grafted plants left.

We've had 4.5 " of rain the past 2 days, and April is typically one of our dryer months.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Attachment 48085

3 Stump of the World plants. The 2 on the left are grafted on Big Beef. The one on the right is growing on its own roots. Looks like one of them will need to be pulled soon (Ive already removed most of the yellowing foliage) I have one double-graft Gregori Altai/little lucky on Big Beef roots to replace it with, then I have no more grafted plants left.

We've had 4.5 " of rain the past 2 days, and April is typically one of our dryer months.

If I didn't have raised beds my garden would be nothing but mud right now and they are forecasting rain every day for the next week. I fear foliage diseases will be a major problem with this weather. The plants are just not getting any chance to dry out and my seedlings waiting to be planted are getting huge. I may just have to go out and set them out in the muddy soil.

Bill

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by b54red

If I didn't have raised beds my garden would be nothing but mud right now and they are forecasting rain every day for the next week. I fear foliage diseases will be a major problem with this weather. The plants are just not getting any chance to dry out and my seedlings waiting to be planted are getting huge. I may just have to go out and set them out in the muddy soil.

Bill

Good thing about sandy soil...one day of sunshine and iI was able to pull and replant this afternoon.

[yardn_gardn]

I ordered grafting clips from Amazon weeks ago, but they won't be here for another few weeks. I fear they are on a slow boat from China! Has anyone tried using glue? If so, what kind and how?