Tomato Grafting 2022

Nice videos thanks for sharing!

Guess I can stop wondering why my DRO seeds arenā€™t up yetā€¦ Damnit these suckers were even expensive three years ago. I thought I had a 6 year supply but I guess not. Crap!

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Are these rootstock hybrid, or could you grow one out and save the seeds?

They are hybrids. I believe most of them have some other wild types mixed in. So they wouldnā€™t be the same from saved seed, but that doesnā€™t mean they wouldnā€™t be okay. On one of the tomato forums someone used saved RST-04-106-T seed and had luck a second year. His primary issue was bacterial wilt in the soil and his saved seed seemed to retain that trait.

Seeds are expensive, but since I do a full tray of 72 cells each year, the cost per plant buying the 100 pack of DRO from Paramount isnā€™t too bad for what I get from grafting. So for me Iā€™ll stick with the F1 seeds.

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I had one stock grow out last year and I regret not saving seeds from all the little tomatoes that it had given that my original seed is now no good.

I ended up having to put a temp regulator on the seed heating pad. Soil was getting close to 100Ā°. I didnā€™t suspect the short duration at those temps killed off the seeds, but weā€™ll know in a few days. I set it to 80Ā° with the probe in one of the center-most cells.

Iā€™ve been grafting for a few years and have enough success and benefits that I will continue to do it. My experience also is that the rootstock seeds do not last long. Last yearā€™s Maxifort germinated well this year. I have a new packet of 100 seeds of DRO. I am willing to mail you a few seeds if you live in the states. Instead of grafting clips, I usually use clear vinyl tubing that I get from a local building supply. I cut it into one inch pieces, slit it with a scissors and put it over the rootstock. Then slide the scion down into the tube till it connects.grafting tomatoes grafting tube

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Already getting some evidence of life, and in what, three days?!

Perhaps letting the soil get too hot for a short time jump-started the process, I dunno.

So once the sprouts reach out from the soil, I should remove the humidity dome until grafting? Iā€™ve read the light should be only a few inches above the plants, but does that mean gradually raising it as the plants grow or putting it a few inches above the desired height?

Should the light just stay on all day, or do they do better with light/dark cycles?

What about food, I used seed-starting potting soil, should I add any fertilizer while they are growing indoors? When?

Thanks, this is exciting!

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I do find DRO is quick to germinate. I think mine were up in 4 days at room temps. The older RST-04-106-T I planted are now emerging at 7 days. Weā€™ll see how many of those come up, but at least a few are showing.

Once you see the majority of the cells with seedlings up or at least emerging, you can take the humidity dome off. In fact, I often germinate without the dome. The domeā€™s biggest benefit that I can see is keeping the surface of the soil evenly moist since it is about 100% humidity in there. It is also helpful if you are starting your young seedlings in a more humid environment if you happen to be growing them in a really low humidity area, such as part of a house heated by forced air heat. It is about 40-50% humidity in my basement and I donā€™t really seem to need the dome. Of course for healing the grafts theyā€™re great if they are tall enough.

How high and how long the lights should be on depends a lot on how strong the lights are. I keep my LED tube lights about 6-8 inches over the top of the lights, but when I had fluorescent I kept them closer to 2 inches above. I generally run my lights 16 hours on and 8 hours off.

Check your bag of seed starting mix and see if it includes any fertilizer. Most consumer mixes do. Sometimes they say things like ā€œfeeds plant for 8 weeksā€ or something without listing the fertilizer. If it has fertilizer included hold off and see how they grow for you before adding anything. If you donā€™t see anything listed, then you should fertilize when you see the first regular leaves emerge, using 1/4 to 1/2 strength liquid fertilizer.

One thing to be aware of with rootstocks, is they are very susceptible to developing edema growing under LED lights, to the point that it can deform or even kill the seedlings. I lost a whole tray of the RST rootstocks last year due to this. It has to do with the more reduced spectrum in many LED lights, particularly the lack of an UV. Iā€™ve added a UV bulb above my seedlings to see if that helps this year. Either way, definitely keep a fan blowing on them (not too hard) to help combat edema as well. Even just getting them out in the sun on warm days will help.

Hereā€™s a long article on the issue:

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Thanks for pointing that out. I had that last year on one plant and didnā€™t know what it was.

That explains a lot why I always get it on my plants. I got fans galore going this year though and am going to take it easy on the water.

First off, thanks for your great input and vids. I love the dog whose happy just hanging with you.
There is some sort of tomato disease at our new house that I had never dealt with before moving here even though our old house is only like a mile away. From my digging I think it is TSWV, but I could be wrong. We arenā€™t really in a region known for that.
Most old heritage varieties die from it about halfway into the season or as soon as I recognize a plant is infected I just pull it as I donā€™t need it spreading whatever it is into the soil or onto other plants. I used to love to grow Early Girl. Varieties with decent general disease resistance such as Celebrity or the Goliath original do fine. I have been getting a good deal of very undersized fruits on otherwise healthy plants which is new to me, not sure if that could be a culture thing or not. I donā€™t remember any problems in any soil tests. Anyway, I have been toying with the idea of trying grafting on Estamino for quite a few years. Maybe I will have to try it in the future. This thread has renewed my interest.

Do you think there was any alteration from the Determinate type growth pattern due to the rootstock leading to a semi-determinate or indeterminate fruit growth pattern?

The worst issue I have on my tomatoes is Septoria blight anyway.

@cis4elk Sorry to hear youā€™re having such issues with that disease. Viruses are particularly tough. I had terrible virus issues with peppers at my community garden plot last year and traced it to probably coming from whiteflies that had wintered over in brassicas in neighboring plots due to a particularly mild winter. White flies, thrips, etc. are usually the carriers for viruses I think, so possibly spraying for thrips early in the season might help, but that is only a guess.

Last year was my first year growing Devine Maltese so I canā€™t really compare growth to other years on its own roots, but I donā€™t think the rootstock changed the growth pattern. It stayed pretty much determinate, although it was a super producer. Iā€™m growing it again and will just leave it on its own roots, so Iā€™ll hopefully get some idea whether it is worth grafting or not depending on how it does this year. Actually, maybe Iā€™ll graft one and leave one on its own roots as an experiment since comparing different years leaves too many variables.

Ziggy loves going to the garden or just the backyard to replant. I put my seedlings in the backyard for the day yesterday to get some real sunlight and she kept an eye on them for me. Squirrels will dig in anything this time of year.

Whatā€™s the best way to water the seedlings? Just pour water into the humidity dome base? Do the seeding trays just soak up the correct amount as needed?

I ended up with a 100% germination rate on 48 seeds, which seems lucky. I assume the seed heating pad can stay on and the 80Ā°F soil will continue to accelerate growth?

Is it about a month before they are ready to graft?

I use 10x20 trays for all my seedlings and bottom water them by pouring water into the tray. I wait until the top of the soil is dry and the trays feel light when I lift them, sometimes even letting them start to wilt a tiny bit before watering. Overwatering is more likely to lead to damping off, root rot and various other ways to kill seedlings. From trial and error, I know exactly how much water to add to the tray. If in doubt, use less than you think is needed and wait an hour for the water to wick up to the top. If the top of the soil doesnā€™t show moisture, add more and wait another hour. Keep track of how much it takes to get the soil just wetted through and youā€™ll know how much to use. You definitely donā€™t want to put in so much that the soil in the cells is saturate and there is still water in the tray.

Regarding how long, it might only be 3 weeks, but a lot depends on lighting, temps and any fertilizing you do.With the silicon clips I use, I test fit them on the stems when I think it is getting close and then graft when the clip fits well and hold snuggly without being too difficult to get on.

I turn the heating pad off once the seedlings have emerged and actually donā€™t necessarily use the pad for tomatoes, but definitely do for peppers. My growing area in my basement runs between 65 and 70 and it is definitely warmer around the plants during the day when the lights are on.

Awesome, thanks for the info.

I looked at my seed mix and it has fertilizer in it (itā€™s miracle grow brand). When would be a good time to start fertilizing, and whatā€™s your technique? Liquid tomato fertilizer added to the water in the tray

I donā€™t really know when you will need to fertilize since Iā€™m not sure how long what you have in that mix will last, but you may be fine without it if there is enough in the soil. I usually give them their first shot just after the first set of true leaves starts emerging, but there is no fertilizer at all in my seed starting mix. I use 1/4 to 1/2 of the suggested rate of liquid fertilizer and just do a watering with that.

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These guys are coming along! Turns out 4 days was a bit long without water, and I thought I killed about 6-9 plants, but they sprung back up after a couple days with water.

Iā€™ve still got them on the seedling pad because they seem to like warm soil. Right now I have the soil at 82Ā°. 18 hours a day under the light, which is just a cheap Amazon grow lamp, but it seems to be working.

How often do you generally have to water? Iā€™m just using lightly packed seedling mix. Itā€™s looking like every other day, but does that seem right?

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They are looking good. Every other day sounds about right, but it depends on temperature, humidity and how much air movement. Iā€™ve been keeping a fan going which dries them out a bit faster than normal and I think Iā€™watering every other day or maybe every 2.5 days (alternating mornings once then evenings the next time). Iā€™ve had a few get a little wilty, but as youā€™ve seen they do come back if you donā€™t let them get too dried out.

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