2017 Grafting thread: Open to all

[jtjmartin]

Did anyone have some minor wilting when transferring the grafted plant out of DE to potting soil?

When transplanting, do you try to get the DE off the roots or leave it all on the rootball?

I popped it into a chamber and it perked right up.

Jeff

[BigVanVader]

I remove the DE, and usually minor wilting on any transplants. Watering the day before transplanting can lessen issues.

[jtjmartin]

Thanks BVV. For a few minutes there I thought it was going to continue to wilt.

[gdaddybill]

I'm trying some on Valley Cat F1 rootstock. It's a determinate and has multiple nematode resistance. Any thoughts?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

Did anyone have some minor wilting when transferring the grafted plant out of DE to potting soil?

When transplanting, do you try to get the DE off the roots or leave it all on the rootball?

I popped it into a chamber and it perked right up.

Jeff

I only lightly shake it to remove some of the DE before potting up into potting soil. I don't usually have any wilting after potting up but I water them with some dilute liquid fertilizer immediately after and place them in a shady location for a day before returning them to full sun.

Bill

[jtjmartin]

Originally Posted by b54red

I only lightly shake it to remove some of the DE before potting up into potting soil. I don't usually have any wilting after potting up but I water them with some dilute liquid fertilizer immediately after and place them in a shady location for a day before returning them to full sun.

Bill

Thanks Bill. I wasn't sure if the DE would eventually be absorbed into the soil, or harden around the roots. I think I was a little too aggressive. The plant is fine now.

[Gardeneer]

DE is not bad . It hold quite a bit of moisture that roots can use. I know a guy that grows his peppers in just DE, nothing else.
I mix DE in potting mix. While it holds moisture also provides good drainage. It is a win win situation.

[jtjmartin]

I grafted 9 plants last night. It was definitely easier grafting plants that used a 2.0 clip vs. the 1.5 clip. Learning . . . learning . . . learning!

Gardeneer - thanks - I won't worry about the DE on the roots anymore.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

I grafted 9 plants last night. It was definitely easier grafting plants that used a 2.0 clip vs. the 1.5 clip. Learning . . . learning . . . learning!

Gardeneer - thanks - I won't worry about the DE on the roots anymore.

I sometimes don't even pot up into potting soil but leave the grafts in DE until plant out. It is best if you do this to wet the DE before you plant out to avoid wilting. If you let the DE dry out pretty well most of it will fall off the roots when removing the plant from the cup; but if it is wet most of it will cling to the roots.

Bill

[jtjmartin]

Thanks Bill.

The Round Two plants are out of the chamber under grow lights all day now. (Too cold for outdoor time lately.) I'll start to pot these up soon. Looks like they will be 7/7.

I have a couple out of Round 3 that are not looking too hot but we will see. I wasn't happy with a couple of the smaller grafts I tried. The larger stems that take the 2.0 mm clips just seem much more substantial and easier to line up.

[b54red]

I completed a healing chamber full of grafts this morning but it was hard as the greenhouse was cold. Cold arthritic hands don't work so good. It took much longer than I thought it would but I now have two dozen grafts done from my second batch of seeds. These will be the plants that go out in my second planting if I ever get the weather to set out my first planting.

The last two batches I grafted from my first seed planting had a low success rate of around 60% to 70%. These were done with rooted root stock and tall too old seedlings of scions. Many I could barely squeeze a 3mm clip on. I find like everyone else that the smaller sized plants do heal quicker unless they are too small. I like the ones that run between 2mm and 2.5mm the best and find my highest success rate with them.

Bill

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by b54red

I completed a healing chamber full of grafts this morning but it was hard as the greenhouse was cold. Cold arthritic hands don't work so good. It took much longer than I thought it would but I now have two dozen grafts done from my second batch of seeds. These will be the plants that go out in my second planting if I ever get the weather to set out my first planting.



The last two batches I grafted from my first seed planting had a low success rate of around 60% to 70%. These were done with rooted root stock and tall too old seedlings of scions. Many I could barely squeeze a 3mm clip on. I find like everyone else that the smaller sized plants do heal quicker unless they are too small. I like the ones that run between 2mm and 2.5mm the best and find my highest success rate with them.



Bill

My fully rooted, too large experimental plants all failed as well. I'm so glad I went with egg carton starts for my "real" plants so I can graft smaller plants and trim back the roots on the rootstock.

Bill, I know you went to the larger grain DE for potting your new grafts, but so far I haven't been able to come up with any. What are the pros and cons of using the smaller grain DE? I have plenty of that!

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

My fully rooted, too large experimental plants all failed as well. I'm so glad I went with egg carton starts for my "real" plants so I can graft smaller plants and trim back the roots on the rootstock.

Bill, I know you went to the larger grain DE for potting your new grafts, but so far I haven't been able to come up with any. What are the pros and cons of using the smaller grain DE? I have plenty of that!

I used the smaller DE when I first tried this method instead of potting mix and it worked better than the potting mix but not nearly as good as the larger DE. The larger DE doesn't hold as much water so their is less chance of water pressure coming up and separating the grafts and it is also better for putting on top of the wet DE because it doesn't absorb so much leaving me with a dry surface for a while that helps reduce rotting and damping off. You can get the larger grain DE from O'reilly Auto Parts there is a link below.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...eyword=oil+dry

Bill

[Father'sDaughter]

Thanks Bill. My husband is going to stop and pick me up some if he passes by any O'Reilly stores. He's on the road all day for work, I would have to travel in the opposite direction of my office to get to one.

Hopefully he come up with some soon as it's looking like Sunday evening will be a grafting night!

[b54red]

Another little trick to help save a few pennies is to dump the DE into a bucket or pan for reuse later when potting up into potting soil. I do this every time and am able to save about 75% of the DE and use it again.

I set out 39 grafted plants on monday and tuesday in my first planting. I already had my support rack and drop lines along with mulch done so it went smoothly. I gave away over 50 of my excess grafts and still have over 50 of them left to give away. I have never had so many left overs before so my grafting results were far better with my first batch of seedlings than ever before.

I am already started grafting for my next planting which will be much smaller. My peppers are not doing so well though. Despite constant spraying to stop the aphid plague that they have been enduring the aphids are winning. Even though the peppers are outside now no ladybugs have appeared to help in the battle. My garden was swarming with lady bugs until that last hard freeze that hit a week ago and I haven't seen a single one since then. I hope they return soon.

Bill