grafting plants?

[phantom_white]

There's another thread on here about grafted plants, but I was more interested in grafting tomatoes (and other plants) myself rather than buying them. Not sure if this is even the right place to put this... I was going to post on another website, but it will no longer let me log in...

I heard that tomatoes can be grafted onto things other than tomato plants... is that true? Do to a lack of reliable income AND all the nonsense the foods in the markets are bombarded with, I want to grow as much of my own stuff as possible and utilize whatever I can to increase production.

Is there a website somewhere that tells what plants can be grafted and tips on doing it? And as far as tomato grafts go, would Big Zac be a good candidate for grafting?

Thanks for any help...
Abby

[Fusion_power]

Any tomato can be grafted. Several other close relatives can serve as graft recipients. Eggplant and potato are capable of supporting tomato grafts, however, potato puts excess energy into maturing tubers instead of producing tomatos. Eggplant can convey several important disease tolerances and are an important rootstock for tomato in some areas. Selected tomato varieties are usually preferred as rootstocks for tomato grafting. The overall cost of grafting is about $1 per plant so expect to tie up some money in getting them to grow.

Now the hard part. While anyone can graft tomatoes, I do not suggest doing so unless you have the means to maintain the plants while the grafts heal. That means some specialized care items are needed. Watch the video at:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-video_tomato_grafting.aspx
and then see if you want to go through with the effort involved.

Plant Propagation Principles and Practices is a book that covers most of the theoretical and practical aspects of growing and grafting plants. It is a bit of overkill if all you want to know about is tomatoes, however, it does give the required basic information.

DarJones

[jessennessen]

Did you look at the links in this thred:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...light=grafting

I have red that tomatoes cam be grafted to egplant and tobaco. Whey do you want to graft your tomatos.

jens

[RinTinTin]

Personally, I feel that the time/expense of grafting annual plants would hardly be worth the trouble unless you live in the center of Diseaseville.

[phantom_white]

That's a pretty useful video. I think it's still something I'd like to try, considering the amount of different varieties I grow. I have one particular variety that has awesome grape tomatoes (it actually throws everything from teeny pears to plump grapes) that are sweeter than anything I've tried, including Sungold, but they don't quite produce like I'd prefer. Seems they'd be a pretty good candidate for grafting. Experimenting with different veggies would be fun too. The extra work would be worth it to me if it increases yields and bumps up the disease resistance... haven't had the greatest luck with gardening the past couple years. Between blight, pests, and horrid weather it's been pretty off-putting. I'm still dreaming about the year we canned 250+ quarts of beans off 2 50 foot rows. Talk about a good year!
So, are eggplants and potatoes the only plants that tomatoes can be grafted onto?

Abby

[Fusion_power]

you can also graft tomato onto jimson weed and tobacco. I strongly suggest that you do not try these. There are soluble alkaloids that translocate from the roots into the tomatoes. They can be very dangerous.

You might look at these Solanum Torvum.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320527866304

DarJones

[phantom_white]

There's certainly plenty of Jimson Weed and Tobacco here in TN, but I try to stay far away from them if at all possible. I let some Jimson grow up a couple years ago because I thought the flowers were cool, but the stink they let loose when I cut them down was enough to discourage me further.
The link you sent me looks similar to something that grows around here, but the fruits are smaller, and the flowers are purple. The whole plant is covered in thorns too... turkeys love them.
Besides Maxifort and the other expensive grafting types, is there a variety that can be found easily in a nursery to use? I think someone mentioned using Celebrity as stock... I've never grown that before and don't really know the disease resistance/vigor for it. I've got plenty of seeds, but no hybrids except Brandy Boy to graft with. I can get them, I just need to know what I need.

[Fusion_power]

Then please stop asking questions and start doing your own due diligence. Nobody learns anything by waiting on someone else to tell them what to do. If you can't read the articles that have already been presented and if you can't do a simple web search on tomato grafting, then I am not in a position to help you.

DarJones - http://www.newciv.org/whole/schoolteacher.txt

[pinakbet]

I tried grafting tomatoes on eggplants several times with 0% success. the scion always dies but I get a eggplant in return.