Grafting thread 2021

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Saskatchetoon

How often should a guy feed the plants for the week or so after removing them from the healing chambers and prior to transplanting into potting soil?

I gave mine some diluted food yesterday, and a bit today. They're still not 100% out of the chamber, but I think tomorrow should probably do it. They spent 8 hrs out today with minimal wilting. Just wondering how often to feed them as I've never used the DE as a grow medium before. The water/food sure finds the drain holes in the bottom of the planter quickly!

I usually feed mine when I see that the DE is getting really dry or if I see any wilting at all. This is after they are out of the healing chambers. It is easy to see when they are getting dry by the color of the DE. When it is totally white on top it is starting to get fairly dry so when most of the cups have DE that is white then I give them a drink.

Bill

[Saskatchetoon]

Originally Posted by b54red

I usually feed mine when I see that the DE is getting really dry or if I see any wilting at all. This is after they are out of the healing chambers. It is easy to see when they are getting dry by the color of the DE. When it is totally white on top it is starting to get fairly dry so when most of the cups have DE that is white then I give them a drink.

Bill

Thanks Bill. I didn't realize just how long the DE held onto moisture for. That stuff is impressive. Moving everything to soil today anyhow.

[Saskatchetoon]

Final shock until they move outside. Took all of my grafted plants out of the diatomaceous earth that they were grafted into and repotted them into soil. Hopefully they can build a root system quickly, I had to plant them low enough to keep the graft above the soil level. Fingers crossed!

[Saskatchetoon]

Yet another question from the new guy.... Should a person remove the new growth that shows up below the graft line? I have been pinching it off this far. That's not the scions trying to root, is it?



Thanks,
Kevin

[biscuitridge]

Yes,pinch it off. No it's not scion trying to root,its the rootstock trying to grow.

[Saskatchetoon]

Hey guys, do you have any tips on speeding up the veg stage after grafting? Mine are currently under a set of six 54 watt 4100k cfl tubes for 16 hours a day. My only other option currently is a table in the dining room with a few hours of direct and about 9-10 hours of indirect sun.


In a perfect world I'd begin hardening here in about 2 weeks but plants are pretty slow to get going again. Coming up on 3 weeks post graft. Plants are still only about 4" tall, around half the size of other plants that were from the same batch but didn't get grafted. I allowed an extra 2 weeks on account of grafting but it's looking like I may want to allow for more next year



Thanks,
Kevin.

[biscuitridge]

If you use a little bottom heat it will speed them up a bit,I usually keep mine at 78 to 80 degrees.

[Saskatchetoon]

Originally Posted by biscuitridge

If you use a little bottom heat it will speed them up a bit,I usually keep mine at 78 to 80 degrees.

I'll try that, thanks. Our biggest hurdle up here is having such a short growing season.

[Saskatchetoon]

Day 56 post germination Day 22 post graft and all plants are beginning to show hints of renewed vigor. New growth is apparent, focussing on getting some more size before I begin hardening in a week or so. Running fans and lights 16hrs on and 8hrs off. Feeding liquid organic food by Evolve (3-2-2) once a week. I was a bit worried for a while that they wouldn't beef up enough before hardening but I'm getting more confident now. 🙂 Still planning on germinating a week or so earlier next Spring.

[biscuitridge]

They're looking great

[zipcode]

So about 3 weeks recovery time, not bad. I will calculate next year 4 weeks for eggplants, I underestimated how much it needs. Some recovered faster, but some at 5 weeks still wilt in the outside sun. I assume the variety has also something to do with the recovery time (with cleft grafting, the plants are also older, so recovery time is probably worse).

[Saskatchetoon]

Originally Posted by zipcode

So about 3 weeks recovery time, not bad. I will calculate next year 4 weeks for eggplants, I underestimated how much it needs. Some recovered faster, but some at 5 weeks still wilt in the outside sun. I assume the variety has also something to do with the recovery time (with cleft grafting, the plants are also older, so recovery time is probably worse).

I underestimated also. I made notes to budget for 3 weeks recovery in future seasons instead of the 2 weeks I allowed for this year. I already had notes to germinate one week earlier to allow for a bit more plant size when I graft.


Being my first time grafting I had alloted 10 weeks from seed germination to target date for transplanting outside. So far now I will be planning for 12 weeks next season. Of course, as soon as I do that next year we'll likely have an unseasonably early Spring.


We only typically get ~120 growing days up here (Saskatoon Saskatchewan), so every bit of indoor advantage is needed.

[Saskatchetoon]

How's everyone making out? Whereabouts are y'all at in your graft/grow seasons? Anyone have pictures they're willing to share?


Thanks,
Kevin

[zipcode]

The first eggplants grafted are doing ok, but with the absolutely tragic weather nothing is growing, not even the tomatoes. I keep thinking that the weather has to change at some point, there's a delay in growth by more than one month.
The two I grafted on tomato also healed fine, I think faster than those on torvum. The two peppers I grafted healed very slowly, and one died in the meantime from external factors (crushing). So overall a 100% success. I have now a frutescens on baccatum left at least, a very sensitive variety that I just can't seem to please, even pictures I've seen online look terrible, I hope that those baccatum roots will help it a lot.

The task for next year is to find how to minimize healing time really. I would say the cleft method is fool proof, but I still need to find out why some healed so much quicker than others.

[Saskatchetoon]

We finally had the weather to plant out. I picked the best looking 3 plants from each of my 4 grafted varieties and put them into their beds. Finally.



77 days from starting germination. 43 days from grafting.