Best grafted tomato varieties?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by livinonfaith

Ha, ha, Farmer Shawn. As a graphic artist, I'm thinking my Exacto blade might be the tool of choice for me.

I think the old fashion razor blades halved like the one used in the video would be much better. They are so much thinner than Exacto blades so they should slice through cleaner. Now if I can find some.

[JamesL]

b54,
I think Mischka mentioned this on another thread - Wilkinson Sword at Wally world. $1.76 for 10
http://www.walmart.com/ip/20926177?a...l5=pla&veh=sem

[z_willus_d]

Originally Posted by livinonfaith

Farmershawn, you may be right about not being able to plant deeply. That also worries me a little. I usually plant well past the cotyledons, even in containers. My understanding is that the root systems of these rootstock are vigorous enough to make up for that, but it still seems strange.

I'm under the impression that you lose all of the characteristics of the rootstock if the scion forms it's own root system, but may be mistaken.

Have you heard anyone talking about making the graft higher up the root stock? Maybe pinch the cotyledons off and make it between there and the first true leaves?

The above question/concern is one that's bothered me for some time as well. I came to the same possible solution when thinking about the problem. If we could just perform the graft higher up on the RS, then we'd be able to bury down more of the mother plant. I hope someone can chime in on whether this is a viable option, as my main concern is the grafting success rate might fall precipitously as you move the union up the RS stem. I'm not sure if that's a valid concern or not.

-naysen

[fortyonenorth]

If one of the primary benefits of the "bury deep" practice is to develop a more vigorous root system, that shouldn't be necessary when grafting to rootstock such as Maxifort. It's got vigor aplenty. From what I've read, the challenge is to limit the vigor in order to balance foliage/fruit.

Originally Posted by z_willus_d

The above question/concern is one that's bothered me for some time as well. I came to the same possible solution when thinking about the problem. If we could just perform the graft higher up on the RS, then we'd be able to bury down more of the mother plant. I hope someone can chime in on whether this is a viable option, as my main concern is the grafting success rate might fall precipitously as you move the union up the RS stem. I'm not sure if that's a valid concern or not.

-naysen

[z_willus_d]

Forty, so I've heard. Marla said as much. There some kind of comfort I get, perhaps irrationally, in having the vine planted down a ways. It seems more able to support itself under load or wind/weather. Less likely to snap under pressure, etc. I suppose that may not be true, and there's always caging techniques to help with support. It sounds like a lot of us are taking the extra effort to try grafting this year, so there should be plenty of data to sift through on the benefits/downsides.
Thx, Naysen

[b54red]

I set out my fall plants and experimented with not burying them deep. Many I planted even with the top of the cup and I couldn't tell much difference in the growth pattern. One thing I did notice is that I didn't lose as many of my newly planted tomatoes to Bacterial wilt with the shallower planted ones; but that could have just been luck. I am going to see if it makes a difference this spring and summer when I set out the grafted plants.

[livinonfaith]

Naysen, I may try grafting both under and over the cotyledons to see which one works better.

Having watched a few of these videos, some of the grafts seem awfully close to the ground. Makes me nervous!

Of course, having never grafted before, I should probably be more worried about just getting the graft to take than where it is on the stem!

[casino]

About planting deep or not planting deep is still a puzzle to me. When a volunteer tomato pops up in my compost pile they are not planted deep and they grow just fine.

My friend Edda Fears is 93 years old and cannot bend over anymore, but still gardens. What she does is take her tomato plants out of a 4 pack, tosses them on top of the ground and places a shovel of dirt on top of the tomatoes. Thats it. Her plants grow as big as my plants and I plant deep. All I can think of is that I plant deep into the cold soil and Edda plants on top of the soil that is nice and warm and her plants get big.

[efisakov]

Is anyone planning on grafting multiple varieties on one plant?
I was thinking of grafting few cherries...
Ella

[b54red]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Is anyone planning on grafting multiple varieties on one plant?
I was thinking of grafting few cherries...
Ella

Seems that you would need a rootstock that was much bigger so it would have separate stems to graft onto.

[livinonfaith]

The problem I'm having right now is that my rootstock seedlings are very thin, whereas my scions are much thicker. Stupid me, I thought the rootstock would be more vigorous and started them two days later than the others.

The good thing is that they are all still pretty tiny. I'm going to leave the rootstock on the heating pad and move the others to a cool area. Maybe that will slow them down until the rootstock catches up.

[efisakov]

I jast have to start the rootstock earlier by a month or so...

[b54red]

I planted all of mine within hours of each other and they are all over the place as to height and thickness. Many of my rootstock are bigger than the scions but not all. I guess I'll just try to match them up the best I can. Looks like some will be ready in a few days and others may take a week or more. I got some different size clips so that I can do as many as possible on the same day.

[z_willus_d]

I started my scion tomatoes at the same time as the Maxifort root-stock a couple weeks ago to the day. I'm finding that the Maxifort seeds are germinating erratically, if at all. A few seem relatively strong, but most are paradoxically weak and quickly falling behind their scion counterparts. I've doubled-up on the rootstock seed starts, and I expect sooner or later I'll catch up with rootstock starts. The problem is the more vigorous scion heirloom tomato seedlings already show much thicker stems, further progression, etc. I had very bad graft success rates (0%) this Winter when trying to mate inconsistent stem diameters.

I'm not sure what to do about this other than to take the lesson to start the Maxifort seeds a good 2-3 weeks ahead of their scion pairs. This is just a warning for anyone else who might experience the same results.

BTW, I use an LED light system for efficiency, hence the magenta haze in my pics. Unlabeled seedlings are my rootstock; blue-tagged Beaufort, else Maxi. The covered dome is my plantation of future RS seedlings, if they ever germinate successfully.

Good luck!
-naysen

[Mlm1]

Naysen, thanks for the reminder on the rootstock. Can you start some more scion to use with your smaller rootstock? Also if you wait longer to graft sometimes the rootstock catch up-you just need the larger clips. I think I will start my first batch tomorrow, mostly rootstock and a few scion, then in a week I'll start more rootstock and more scion and then in two weeks I'll start mostly scion and a few more rootstock. That way I should be able to find some nice matched pairs.
Marla