Why graft tomatoes

Advantages of grafted tomatoes They're bred to tolerate temperature stress either too high or too low They're bred tolerate diseases They're bred to tolerate over-watering or flooding They're bred to tolerate a higher-salinity environment As a bonus advantage, these tomatoes have bigger fruit and increased yield.

Less stress and fewer diseases make it easier for nutrient uptake in plants so they can concentrate their energy on production. Check out different varieties of grafted tomatoes. Stock or rootstock : the below-ground part of the tomato plant, used in a graft for its roots. This variety is chosen for the graft because of its resistance to fungal, bacterial, viral, and nematode pathogens, such as those pesky diseases like early blight , late blight , Septoria leaf spot , verticillium wilt , fusarium wilt , and bacterial wilt.

Hybrid tomatoes are often the rootstock of choice since they have been bred for significant disease resistance. Scion : the above-ground part of the tomato plant, used in a graft for its stems, leaves, blossoms, and fruit. This variety is chosen for the graft because of its fruit qualities. Plants should be watered every two days with a complete nutrient solution at ppm nitrogen, until the grafting date which is about 20 days after sowing the scion cultivar Figure 1.

Tip 1: Start with good seed. Poor quality seed can lead to bad germination, increased risk of disease and inconsistent seedling growth — all of which will make grafting much more difficult. Tip 2: Always run a small trial before using a cultivar for the first time. Tip 3: Seed the rootstock variety two days after the scion variety. Rootstock cultivars have vigorous growth and, therefore, grow faster and reach sufficient stem diameter for grafting earlier than scion varieties.

Twenty days after sowing the scion cultivar the seedlings of both the scion plants and rootstock plants should have a stem diameter of approximately 2 mm although there will likely be some variation and are now ready to graft. While it is possible to graft older plants, younger plants heal faster and have a higher likelihood of surviving. The first step in the grafting phase is to choose a scion plant and a rootstock plant with compatible stem diameters Figure 2.

It is important to graft plants with very similar stem diameters to achieve the best success. Stem diameter measurements should be taken below the cotyledons for both the scion and rootstock plants. The next step is to cut the rootstock below the cotyledons Figure 3.

Cutting below the cotyledons eliminates advantageous shoots from growing out of the rootstock. The cut can be done using a razor blade at a to degree angle with a deeper angle allowing for greater surface for the graft to take hold. Then, a transparent silicon channel grafting clip should be slipped onto the freshly cut rootstock stem so that the top half of the channel is left empty Figure 4. Next, the scion seedling should be cut at the same angle as the rootstock seedling was cut Figure 5.

The top part of the grafting clip should then be pulled open slightly so the scion stem can slip in. The cut surfaces of the two stems should now be in perfect contact with each other with no gap between them Figure 6.

Tip 4: Choosing a transparent grafting clip that is slightly smaller than the seedling stem diameter will allow for the union to be tight and will give more visibility to the grafted area. Tip 5: When making the cuts, it is important to use a sharp surface such as a new razor blade, recently sharpened knife, or new grafting blade placed on a grafting tool. His response? Andrew also points out that if you live in a short-season climate or have a garden that has less-than-ideal soil conditions, opting for grafted tomatoes will make up for some of these shortcomings and increase yield.

Does he grow grafted tomatoes? As long as the root stock varieties are open pollinated or heirloom types, you can do so. Good question! I was thinking the same thing, but realized i would probably have a million more seeds than necessary for creating my own grafted tomatoes. If you try this, please post back, with pictures!

Your email address will not be published. Root-knot nematode and bacterial wilt most likely occur in warmer areas and seldom become a problem in Indiana except root-knot nematode in high tunnels.

With that said, the main benefit of tomato grafting does not always apply in our area. In addition to disease resistance, most commercial rootstocks have strong root systems that confer higher vigor to scion cultivars as compared with their nongrafted counterparts. Because of the increased vigor, grafted tomatoes generally have a higher yield even without disease pressures.

Tomato cultivar and rootstock selections play a major role in the vigor-related yield increase. Some tomato cultivars respond very well to vigorous rootstocks, while others do not. Unfortunately, there are almost endless rootstock and scion cultivar combinations. It often requires farmers to find out whether their favorable cultivar is suitable for grafting or not. I do not have experience with all the tomato cultivars, but from what I have observed, it seems that the cultivars generally have a lower yield or have difficulties in setting fruit hardly have a positive response toward grafting.

A common concern on grafted tomato plants is that they put too much energy into vegetative growth that leads to bushy plants. Some of the newer rootstocks are marketed as having a higher proportion of energy putting into the fruit more generativity. I do not fully understand what this statement means. But from our preliminary study, we found tomatoes grafted onto the more generativity rootstocks tend to have a higher yield than traditional rootstocks.