Tomato Grafting

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by JWK, Feb 21, 2013.

  1. misterQ

    misterQ Super Gardener

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    Very sad to report that in my effort to pack 3 square metres of plants onto 3 windowsills which could only support about half of that amount, the tomatoes, which grew top heavy, fell like dominoes onto the floor.

    This wiped out my A-Team of Tumbling Tom/Picasso grafts and all but one Tumbling Tom/Indigo Rose grafts.

    So, I had no choice but to plant my B-Team grafts today (these were grafted about two weeks after the first batch).

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    Unfortunately, I did not have enough viable Indigo Rose rootstocks to do a second batch.

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    As noted from last year - bush-type tomato plants will sprawl onto the soil and form roots if they are not supported. So, ...

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      Last edited: Jul 2, 2017
    • Verdun

      Verdun Passionate gardener

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      Grafted tomatos for me.....third year now. Large crops, healthy and robust foliage. Currently, fruit is forming on some.
       
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      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        What a shame @misterQ

        I've had a few losses with my grafted tomatoes. They are a bit more delicate compared to normal and sometimes had them snap off when carrying in/out the greenhouse for hardening off. Even had a scion blown off by a sudden gust of wind three weeks ago, I re-attached it with a clip and it seems happy again now.
         
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        • misterQ

          misterQ Super Gardener

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          I very much appreciate the sympathy.

          I rarely turn on the central heating and I don't run any electric heaters so the grafts did take longer to fuse together resulting in weaker plants than they ought to be, so next year I plan on taking better control of the temperature and the humidity.

          By coincidence, a local resident has kindly donated a brand new 2KW fan heater. I called out to the universe and the universe seemed to have answered back!
           
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          • misterQ

            misterQ Super Gardener

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            No time to cry over spilt milk - pressing on with the planting.

            [​IMG]

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            Three of the four are Indigo Rose/Osprey tomtato grafts.
             
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            • misterQ

              misterQ Super Gardener

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              Some progress with the Tumbling Tom/Picasso grafts.
              [​IMG]

              The central plant.
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              There are also signs of life with the Indigo Rose/Osprey grafts.
              [​IMG]
               
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              • misterQ

                misterQ Super Gardener

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                A few days after the downpour.
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                The potato shoots will be cut back to soil level whilst the tomatoes are still forming.
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                Preserve the leader, preserve the leader.
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                Bu99er! Something or someone must have snapped the lead shoot.
                [​IMG]


                But, there is fruit.
                [​IMG]


                To fix the damaged plant, I will need to wait for a sucker shoot to form and then train that up as the new leader.
                 
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                • JWK

                  JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                  All my greenhouse grafted plants are looking very strong, photo to give an idea of the stem thickness:
                  WP_20170704_06_57_56_Pro 1.jpg

                  So these plants are grown in the same soil as last year. The rootstock provides resistance against the soil borne pests that would normally make repeated crops in the same soil look sickly. The rootstock also endows the plant with extra vigour.

                  My outdoor grafted plants are not as vigorous yet (I grafted them a month later than the greenhouse batch), but still got 3 or 4 trusses so I have started to pinch out the tops to ensure all the trusses ripen before the end of the season:

                  WP_20170704_06_55_24_Pro 1.jpg
                   
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                  • Verdun

                    Verdun Passionate gardener

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                    Growing Orange Paruche, Sweet Petite, GD and Shirley.....all grafted and all producing. O Paruche the earliest and have had a dozen fruits so far.
                    Agree with JWK about the vigour and disease resistance.
                    Mister Q, did you graft your own? This is something I want to do too :)
                     
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                    • misterQ

                      misterQ Super Gardener

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                      Indeed I did graft my own.

                      Please do have a go and join us.

                      If you do then I would recommend that you invest in some good quality grafting clips like the ones others are using. My own clips are the cheap ebay copies which do not have a consistent clamping grip due to their poor manufacturing so are not recommended.
                       
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                      • JWK

                        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                        • misterQ

                          misterQ Super Gardener

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                        • misterQ

                          misterQ Super Gardener

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                          Some time later.
                          [​IMG]

                          Sacrificed a developing truss to encourage a new leader.
                          [​IMG]
                           
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                          • misterQ

                            misterQ Super Gardener

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                            Blooms and fruit setting on the Tumbling Toms.
                            [​IMG]

                            The first ripened fruit appears on the single Tumbling Tom/Indigo Rose grafted plant.
                            [​IMG]

                            [​IMG]
                             
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                            • misterQ

                              misterQ Super Gardener

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                              Something strange about the Tumbling Tom/Picasso TomTato grafted plants.
                              [​IMG]


                              The scions appear to be exhibiting the growth characteristics of a vine type (indeterminate) tomato despite the seedlings having been taken from the same pot as the Tumbling Toms that are growing next to them.

                              This either means that I've mislabelled the scions or that some of the seeds were a result of cross pollination, or that the potato rootstocks themselves are conferring this strange property to the scions.

                              In any case, I am expecting to get about six trusses on each plant so I am letting them grow unrestrained without pruning for the time being.
                               
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