Final results with 2014 rootstock trial

[b54red]

After keeping fairly good records on my tomato production from my grafts with different rootstock I still have mixed feelings about drawing any definitive conclusions for the most part. I can say without any doubt that using rootstock that are resistant to all three races of fusarium and nematodes is a definite winner for me. Two thirds of all my grafted plants that were set out in the spring were still producing tomatoes yesterday. For the most part all of the ones that were no longer alive were rootstock that were not resistant to nematodes though they were resistant to fusarium. Some of those were still doing great but for the most part the nematodes got to them before the end of October and even killed some of them as early as August. Below is my take on how well each of the rootstock I used this past season performed.

Multifort: The winner by a mile for my uses. Super disease resistance with the only drawback being a tendency to be overly vegetative so pruning is constant. By the end of the season nearly every plant with this rootstock ended the season with vines over 20 feet long and some nearly 30 feet. This would make them highly problematic with the standard staking or caging due to the rapid growth but I used a drop line system with clips keeping all the plants to two stems. Fruit production was usually very high and on some varieties the graft really increased production over what the straight heirloom would normally produce though I did notice that fruit ripened a little later with this rootstock. The varieties that showed the most positive influence from this rootstock were Limbaugh's Legacy, Virginia Sweet, Pruden's Purple, KBX, Donskoi, Neves Azorean Red, Cowlick's Brandywine and Lumpy Red. The three plants that produced the most fruit by sheer weight were grafts with Multifort and Limbaugh's Legacy, Virginia Sweet and Donskoi.

Amelia: Very similar to Multifort but instead of increasing production almost every plant with this rootstock had lower production than normal. The only graft with this variety that I thought did well this season was German Johnson but the fruit were generally smaller than normal. I did have good results as far as fruit size with Virginia Sweet and near normal production. Last year this rootstock did well with Indian Stripe but this year it was not very productive. I will only try this one on a couple of grafts if any this coming year.

Tasti-Lee: Has the very distinct drawback of not being resistant to nematodes but if they are not a problem in your garden then I highly recommend this variety for a rootstock both to fight fusarium and increase production. When using this rootstock I didn't get that over vegetative growth as with Multifort and Amelia yet yield was very good. I found increased production with nearly every graft except the ones that got nematodes early. This rootstock doesn't seem to have any negative impact on the heirloom grafted onto it. My most productive plant in number of tomatoes in the garden this year was an Indian Stripe PL grafted onto Tasti-Lee. Varieties that I had the best results with this rootstock are: Indian Stripe PL, Barlow Jap, Donskoi, Brandywine Cowlick's, Henderson's Winsall, Red Barn and Giant Belgium.

Crista: This one was a real mixed bag. On some grafts with this rootstock I got smaller than normal vines and on others it seemed to have no affect on the size of the vine. I had really good results with these varieties grafted onto Crista: Royal Hillbilly, Couiles de Teaureau, Sudduth, Tarasenko-6, Black from Tula, and Arkansas Traveler. On the other hand these did poorly or below average with this rootstock: German Johnson, Zogola, and Marianna's Peace. I will have to experiment with this one some more though it was the most productive Brandywine Sudduth's this year despite a smaller than normal vine.

BHN 640: Don't use this where nematodes are present. I lost most of these grafted plants early to nematodes but a couple did exceptionally good. My graft of JD's Special C Tex was by far the most productive that variety has ever been for me. This was also the best graft for Terhune this year. Both plants were earlier in producing and ripening than is usual. This hybrid seems to be less resistant to nematodes than most heirlooms so it is of little benefit for me to use it.

Red Mountain: This seems to be a fairly innocuous rootstock in that it has little effect on the heirloom grafted to it other than providing protection from fusarium and nematodes. For the most part all the heirlooms grew and produced normally with this rootstock. I think if I were still using a trellis or caging this is the rootstock I would use the most.

Charger: This is another rootstock that doesn't have much if any affect on the heirloom grafted to it. The big drawback is that if you have nematodes it has little if any resistance but it is highly resistant to fusarium.

In conclusion I will use mostly Multifort in areas with nematodes along with some Amelia, Red Mountain and Crista. Where I am pretty sure the nematode problem is less severe I will also use Tasti-Lee because of the benefits I have noticed in production with this rootstock. BHN 640 and Charger will get a few grafts but not too many since neither provide any significant benefit other than fusarium resistance that I can see. When I went out and picked my green tomatoes before the hard freeze last night I was reassured of my decision to make Multifort my go to rootstock next season. I couldn't believe the large tomatoes still growing on the Multifort grafted plants after 7 1/2 months in the garden.

Bill