Bacterial wilt resistant rootstock

[BigVanVader]

Eggplant rootstock may be a option. I called about some Takii rootstock and was told the minimum order is 1 million seeds.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Eggplant rootstock may be a option. I called about some Takii rootstock and was told the minimum order is 1 million seeds.

That's just a smidge more than I need. Maybe we can round up 20,000 tvillians to go in on an order?




Where would I even store 1 million seeds, even if I could afford them? I'm sure at some point rootstock will be far more available to home gardeners, but it looks like most of us wanting to graft at home are still pioneering the retail end of it, LOL.

[BigVanVader]

Yeah it was a funny call. I was like ummmmm, seriously? Then I ask for a free sample and they said "we don't do that"

[Gardeneer]

Is that has to be just a special variety of eggplant ?
Eggplant is eggplant. You can buy oriental, Italian, American, German ... eggplant seeds.

BTW: My eggplants are doing great. Thanks gorbelly.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Is that has to be just a special variety of eggplant ?
Eggplant is eggplant. You can buy oriental, Italian, American, German ... eggplant seeds.

I'm no expert on rootstock, but it always seemed to me that eggplant grafting was way behind tomato grafting, and that most grafting for disease control was done on tomato rootstock?

Maybe the situation is different in tropical areas, Asia, etc.

If bacterial wilt is the only concern, S. aethiopicum (a lot of African eggplants you find on heirloom seed sites are this species) is resistant. No idea what will happen in terms of productivity, but buying a packet of African eggplant is certainly cheaper than a million seeds of hybrid eggplant rootstock! I suppose one could experiment with using it as rootstock for tomatoes, too, although, once again, not sure what that will do to yields. Many eggplant varieties can have thicker stems than tomatoes and very strong roots, but not sure how big and vigorous S. aethiopicum types are.

I know S. aethiopicum was in use as a rootstock against verticillium, but it has recently become susceptible and no longer offers good protection in certain areas.

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

BTW: My eggplants are doing great. Thanks gorbelly.

Glad to hear it! Looking forward to seeing whether the Thai long green tastes better in your garden than in mine.

[gorbelly]

Also for both eggplant and tomato, S. torvum is very disease resistant, but the germination is erratic and can take a long time, so AFAIK it's very difficult to plan when you start your scions. I also have no idea whether growth is vigorous enough for annual cropping, as it's a perennial woody bush, technically.

[gorbelly]

FYI, this Japanese study shows impressive results in suppressing the bacterial wilt pathogen in the lab and in greenhouses by amending the soil with the amino acid lysine. Lysine is available in not-terribly-expensive form as a livestock supplement.

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article...5_ME09171/_pdf

It hasn't been tested in field conditions, though.

Just thought those who can't graft might be interested. I may try this this year.