2017 Grafting thread: Open to all

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by b54red

You can do that when you pot them up to potting soil or when they are ready to set out. Just brush away some of the DE on top and pinch off some of the exposed roots.

Bill

I will do that instead so i dont disturb the grafts. Good call Bill.

[Tracydr]

I don't have any diseases that I know of. Maybe some nematodes. I do have dry,sandy soil with bouts of heavy rain,high heat and humidity,very heavy bug infestation.
Any recommendation for a very vigorous rootstock for my climate and garden? I've decide that next year I am going to graft all my plants just to see how much diefference it will make.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

I don't have any diseases that I know of. Maybe some nematodes. I do have dry,sandy soil with bouts of heavy rain,high heat and humidity,very heavy bug infestation.
Any recommendation for a very vigorous rootstock for my climate and garden? I've decide that next year I am going to graft all my plants just to see how much diefference it will make.

My guess is that you might have some fusarium but it probably isn't terrible with your cooler winters. Down here it is crippling. You might have Bacterial wilt occasionally as I have heard it can sometimes be bad in NC. If you don't have any of these or nematodes then why graft?

Bill

[b54red]

Those grafts I made with the large overgrown seedlings and rooted root stock have perked up some after two days being shut up in a very moist healing chamber with no light. I opened it this morning and moved it where it will get some indirect light and will see how they do. If they don't look too bad I will increase the light and after four days start leaving a small crack in the healing chamber and after a week or so we will see how they end up.

I know one thing they were so big that for many of them the 3mm clips were almost too small. When the grafting was complete some of them were so tall that even with the graft planted all the way to the bottom of the cup the tops were still against the lid when I closed it up. I am going to do another batch today and use up the rest of the rooted root stock then get ready to start grafting my second batch of seedlings.

One of my tulip poplars opened up this morning after a 37 degree low last night so I guess I will be planting out into the garden as soon as the first grafts are large enough. But before I can do that I need to build my support system for them out of conduit.

Bill

[jtjmartin]

My first two grafts are doing well. 4 or 5 days old - I'm increasing the number of minutes the healing chamber is open.

I checked graft #1 after a day, and there was a small gap between the scion and rootstock - not sure how that occurred. I snugged it back together and it seems to be fine. My eyes are not great for detail work so I ordered a magnifying headset so I can take a closer look at the grafts (and thread a needle when I need to!)

Should be able to do 5 or 6 more grafts tonight with RST and some Big Beef. My seedlings are developing at widely differing, non-uniform rates - never noticed until I started wanting to graft.

[b54red]

It really helps to check the graft against a strong light before putting it in a healing chamber so you can see those small gaps through the silicon grafting clip. I always check mine after putting the two stems together by holding it up to a strong light or sunlight and turn it so I can see any small gaps. Frequently all that is needed is to slightly twist or push down on the scion to close the gap. Sometimes if the cuts are not precise enough a portion of the gap will remain but frequently the graft will still heal.

Bill

[jtjmartin]

Thanks Bill. I know that you have written that you sometimes have problems with your hands - I think my problem is with my eyes!

I just got in the magnifying headset - it really helps me see the graft union though I'm not sure it scores me any points in the romance department with my wife. (But just wait till she needs to thread a needle. "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." Red Green )

graft.JPG

I'm wondering now if the scion stem size was too small for the 1.5mm clip? The good news is that the grafted seedlings are growing and actually stretching the clips a little.

Last night I grafted 7 tomatoes. Grafting definitely has a learning curve. Thank you for the help!

graft 2.JPG

Jeff

[Father'sDaughter]

So here are one each of my experimental grafting plants -- DRO and RST are the two rootstocks, D = Dester, and AR = Antique Roman. All were started on 2/11/17.



I'm giving them one more day for the rootstock medium to dry out a bit more and tomorrow they will go under the knife.

[BigVanVader]

Here are my fully recovered grafts so far. The 4 plant tray are rooted tops of RST.

[jtjmartin]

Father'sDaughter:

I grafted mine when they were a lot smaller - mostly because I was impatient.

What size clips will you use?

BVV:

They look great! Congrats!

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

Father'sDaughter:

I grafted mine when they were a lot smaller - mostly because I was impatient.

What size clips will you use?

BVV:

They look great! Congrats!

Thanks. And I get the patience part -- it's been difficult letting them be. And now I need to show even more patience...

In studying them, I'm realizing the rootstock plants may be a bit to short and stocky (usually that's a good thing...).

It has been recommended to aim for making the graft at least 2" above the soil line on the rootstock. I'm realizing I don't have enough stem on any of them right now.

I've decided to keep them upstairs in a warmer environment with filtered window light to encourage a little "legginess." The scions have gone back under the lights so they don't get any larger.

From what I'm seeing in my growing environment, I guess I do need to do the reverse of what has been recommended here and start the rootstock earlier than the scions.

[Father'sDaughter]

So I did surgery on my experimental plants tonight and they are now in a healing chamber. I did have to go above the cotyledons on most of the rootstock, but I stake and regularly prune so pruning rootstock shoots won't be a problem.

I briefly considered pulling the rootstock out of their pots and removing roots, but decided to continue with my original plan to experiment with not doing so. We'll see how they do!

As for how they matched up after having been started all at the same time, I was able to get pretty good matches.

The Antique Romans are "wispy" pastes so their stems were thinner, and they mated much easier with the slower growing DRO rootstock than the thicker, stockier RST.

Dester, all four of which were thick and stocky, worked really well with the RST rootstock.

I have 2, 2.5 and 2.8mm silicone clips and ended up using some of each size.

None of these are destined for plant out unless I have graft failures and holes to fill with my planned varieties. If they don't make it, no problem. The rest were all started in egg cartons and the plan is to prune roots.

[AlittleSalt]

I enjoy reading this thread. I do understand the principles of it. But in the same thought process - If an unaltered plant won't grow in my soil - Forget it and move on. Transplants are cheap - or grow the varieties you know grow and produce well in your soil. But I do understand it is fun grafting, buying clips and making healing chambers - it's something different.

Starting from seed - There's the seed starting trays, starter mix, party cups, planting mix, the exact amount of water needed, the lights and constantly adjusting the lights, getting them outside for a few hours and bringing them back in, using a fan to get them used to wind - sort of, etc...

Next year, I will most likely go back to buying transplants. It's cheaper and easier. It is good to know how to start tomato seeds. I wish you all the very best of luck and experience.

[Father'sDaughter]

Thanks for the well wishes, Salt. But please keep in mind that my issue, and that of many who turn to grafting, is that I seem to have some sort of soil disease(s) that don't allow any variety to produce more than two to three pounds of tomatoes per plant before the plant turns into a crispy critter. Even if I could find resistant transplants, they won't be the varieties I want to grow.

Grafting for me, is not for the fun of it. It's sort of a last ditch effort to successfully grow in ground tomatoes.

In fact, as a new grafter, the whole thing is a bit stressful...

I'm hoping it gives me the yields I used to get when my beds and soils were new. The alternative would be giving up on tomatoes altogether, and I'm not willing to consider that!

[b54red]

I would like to second that. My soil problems got so bad only those bullet proof varieties could give me a halfway decent yield and they tasted just like those supermarket tomatoes. Growing heirlooms without grafting was nearly impossible and the few that survived long enough to make a few tomatoes would frequently still die very prematurely. Grafting is far less work than replanting over and over with scant chance of any success. Thanks to grafting I now know the pleasure of growing tomatoes only having to worry about foliage diseases, pests, pest born diseases, and weather.

When my soil born diseases got so bad I couldn't grow the few decent tasting hybrids I was pretty much forced into grafting. After a shaky start the first few years grafting became fairly easy to do. Despite how easy it is now if I didn't have to graft in order to grow heirlooms I wouldn't. Even if scientist found a way to make those super disease tolerant tomatoes edible I couldn't give up those 30 to 40 wonderful tasting heirlooms that I have chosen for their flavor out of the hundreds of varieties I have grown. So I will continue to graft until I am no longer able.

Bill