Grafted Tomatoes
An old-fashioned technique with a new use for home vegetable gardeners
Posted by: Kate Bryant on Jun 21, 2010 at 09:22AM
3 Comments
There’s a new craze in grafted tomato plants this spring: – read about it here.
Grafting is an old-fashioned horticultural technique: it’s basically splicing plants, just like audio tape used to be spliced. It allows you to grow the desirable plant you want on a more vigorous root stock so you get faster (or slower) growth, disease resistance, and better or more fruit or flowers.
Fruit trees are often grafted to keep the tree height in check or improve vigor or adaptability. Wine grapes are nearly always grafted onto tough Vitus labrusca rootstock. Some roses are grafted, as well as witch hazels and many other ornamental plants.
Grafting tomatoes is a great idea for gardeners with tiny spaces or just room for one or two containers but who want more than one type of fruit (for example, a red cherry tomato and a yellow pear tomato): you can get more than one variety on a single plant. It’s also said to increase productivity so it could be nice for people who want lots of, say, Brandywine tomatoes, not just three per plant per summer (typical for this sometimes touchy but exquisitely desirable heirloom tomato).
The rootstocks used on grafted tomatoes are also disease resistant so should you have disease issues in your soil, the grafted plants might do better for you.
Apparently, vegetable grafting has been going on in commercial settings for years, both in the US and Europe. Eggplants and peppers are probably coming up next – stay tuned. Meantime, grafted tomatoes are available now at retail nurseries where Log House Plants are sold. They cost several times more than regular plants but you’ll be in the vanguard this spring and will definitely have bragging rights! I’m dying to see photos of producing plants so be sure to send me a photo if you try these grafted plants.
And here’s a video showing how tomatoes are grafted, courtesy of Johnny’s Seeds via Log House Plants:
Tags: Vegetables Gardening Tips Container Gardening Edible Gardening
Wow! I’d like to try that.
when is the next class I really want to learn thanks
Yes, it looks really interesting. Joyce, off the top of my head, I don’t know anyone teaching classes. But if I wanted to learn, I’d start by contacting the community colleges with horticulture programs. Then I’d check with the Metro natural gardening program, Tilth, the Master Gardening Program for the county you live/work in, and make inquiries at Naomi’s Organic Farm Supply, Concentrates Inc and the Urban Farm Supply Store. Finally, I’d contact Alice at Log House Plants as a last resort. Obviously, she’s wholesaling this product so might be protective of her sources. But perhaps she’d be willing to share her contacts or even skills. Best of luck!