Post for Photos of Grafted Plants - Page 8

DavidP · November 14, 2013

I just pulled up one of my grafted tomato plants. I'm debating whether to leave some others thru winter but I need space for winter crops, peas cabbages etc.

The plant I pulled actually had an interesting root system. The plant sprouted a small rootball later on in the season from above the graft site. From the photo below you can see that the scion rootball has been heavily infected with nematodes whereas the rootstock root system is relatively healthy despite a few nodules indicative of root knot nematode infection. I've read that above a certain soil temperature the resistance doesn't work or at least not so well.

So looks like my rootstock is working as advertised.

Rootstock rootball at top, graft union 2/3rds of way down stem and small scion rootball furthest down

z_willus_d · November 16, 2013

Hey David, that's a great shot and a nice description to go with. I guess you need to be more careful about keeping the graft union well above ground level. I don't know enough about RKN to know if having the scion roots infected will cause any issue if you have a healthy, robust RS root system.
-naysen

DavidP · November 18, 2013

I guess I don't know either, I wouldn't be surprised if they could vector in a disease but I understand they are fairly sedentary and don't spread very quickly so where would they get the disease from. My understanding is that RKN damage is more physical and stops the root system from performing as it should rather than causing any disease but not sure. I don't know is the bottom line.

The plant was pretty healthy still, had to pull several quite large green tomatoes off of it. I think it was fairly late in the season that this happened, I'm generally quite careful to make sure there aren't any shoots coming up from below the graft union but as the plant gets big it gets more difficult to check on. It had a kink in the stem and was just touching at that point.

johnploch · March 18, 2014

I made my first 16 grafts last Monday and the scions are sending out roots above the stock, and still appear to weak for much light or air. How long should I wait to give them a little more direct light and allow air circulation. When or should I remove the clips?

November 14, 2013	#106
DavidP Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Riverside, Southern California, USDA 9b, Sunset 19 Posts: 63	I just pulled up one of my grafted tomato plants. I'm debating whether to leave some others thru winter but I need space for winter crops, peas cabbages etc. The plant I pulled actually had an interesting root system. The plant sprouted a small rootball later on in the season from above the graft site. From the photo below you can see that the scion rootball has been heavily infected with nematodes whereas the rootstock root system is relatively healthy despite a few nodules indicative of root knot nematode infection. I've read that above a certain soil temperature the resistance doesn't work or at least not so well. So looks like my rootstock is working as advertised. Rootstock rootball at top, graft union 2/3rds of way down stem and small scion rootball furthest down Last edited by DavidP; November 14, 2013 at 07:35 PM.

March 18, 2014	#109
johnploch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: La Vernia, Texas Posts: 1	Grafting Newbie I made my first 16 grafts last Monday and the scions are sending out roots above the stock, and still appear to weak for much light or air. How long should I wait to give them a little more direct light and allow air circulation. When or should I remove the clips?

November 16, 2013	#107
z_willus_d Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Eastern Suburb of Sacramento, CA Posts: 1,313	Hey David, that's a great shot and a nice description to go with. I guess you need to be more careful about keeping the graft union well above ground level. I don't know enough about RKN to know if having the scion roots infected will cause any issue if you have a healthy, robust RS root system. -naysen

November 18, 2013	#108
DavidP Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Riverside, Southern California, USDA 9b, Sunset 19 Posts: 63	I guess I don't know either, I wouldn't be surprised if they could vector in a disease but I understand they are fairly sedentary and don't spread very quickly so where would they get the disease from. My understanding is that RKN damage is more physical and stops the root system from performing as it should rather than causing any disease but not sure. I don't know is the bottom line. The plant was pretty healthy still, had to pull several quite large green tomatoes off of it. I think it was fairly late in the season that this happened, I'm generally quite careful to make sure there aren't any shoots coming up from below the graft union but as the plant gets big it gets more difficult to check on. It had a kink in the stem and was just touching at that point.