Tomato Grafting

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by JWK, Feb 21, 2013.

  1. Freddy

    Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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    Brilliant post John!:dbgrtmb: I wont be bothering with it, as I'm not so good at those fiddly jobs, and would only get down-hearted when it failed. Some very interesting points though:)
     
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    • Kristen

      Kristen Under gardener

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      The video on JohnnySeeds of their side-grafting technique made it look like some diameter difference would be tolerable whereas for a top-graft it looked like they had to be identical. The chap made it look disarmingly easy, and said he could do about 80 an hour ... rather him than me!

      For the top graft (about 2/3rd the way through the video) he slipped [what looked to be] a collar onto the rootstock and then stuffed the Scion into the collar. I expect he aligned them so that the diagonally cut surfaces mated, but the speed he went at didn't make that obvious, but I was left wondering how those collars came off subsequently - they didn't look to be spring-loaded like the clips.
       
    • Dave W

      Dave W Total Gardener

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      Many thanks John for passing on your experiences.:ThankYou: It was fascinating reading.
      Seems like a lot of work. I wonder if that's where the term "hard graft" came from!
       
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      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        Yes he does make it look easy and so fast :) For me I would have liked to have had a a practical lesson with seomone face to face rather than watvhing youtube videos.

        I tried a similar side-splice, like this one (photo taken just before I put the clip on):

        IMG_5956.JPG

        None of this sort of splice worked for me, the tension of the two seedlings seemed to spring them apart. Although the guy on the link was working slightly differently, using seedlings from seperate pots.
         
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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          I think these are exactly the same silicon tube clips I ended up using, they are very flexible and have a slit so it's really easy to slip off. I think they are designed so that as the stem increases in diameter it pushes the tube off by itself:

          [​IMG]
           
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          • Freddy

            Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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            Blimey John, it's just like watching a scientist at work!:)
             
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            • kevinm

              kevinm Gardener

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              Last year I grew Elegance grafted and from seed and I found that the grafted plants were were more vigorous overall. However, the difference hardly warants the extra expense in the long run,
               
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              • Phil A

                Phil A Guest

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                • JWK

                  JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                  It's good to get your feedback kevin. Did you grow them in a greenhouse and in the border soil, or in containers/grow-bags?
                   
                • JWK

                  JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                  I can email the photos to you or is there a better way?
                   
                • j.r

                  j.r Gardener

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                  hello ived tried grafting recently giant watermelon onto pumpkin casper and ived been doing insertion grafting, u put a hole in the rootstock and then cut the scion the right size to fit in and u dont need grafting clips, i think u could use gardeners delight as a rootstock
                   
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                  • JWK

                    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                    Do you mean use Gardeners Delight as the rootstock for other tomatoes? That wouldn't convey any resistance to soil-borne diseases, or am I mis-understanding?
                     
                  • j.r

                    j.r Gardener

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                    • JWK

                      JWK Gardener Staff Member

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                      That's a very useful link j.r. - one I'd not found before, and has some interesting ideas - Thanks!
                       
                    • Phil A

                      Phil A Guest

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                      I'll sort it out over the weekend John:) too tired now.
                       
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