Has anyone done any grafting on tomatoes? I am giving it a try, but thought I would ask for any pointers if anyone had any....will take pictures as I go along...success or failure. Since I started this I was doing so with no previous experience and "winging it" so to speak. Checking out youtube vids and reading about it on a tomato growers forum. Here is the project thus far: Rootstock tomatoes a variety specifically grown for grafting. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) This is the scion. I am starting with celebrity for the experience and because this is what matched up in size to the rootstock. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) these are the grafting clips. They are silicone. one side is slit and the othe side is the pressure point to open the slit to insert the stem into. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) I pinched the tube so you could see the open side. This squeezes tightly to the stem once the pressure is released from the opposite side. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) The tomatoes are then cut with a very sharp knife or a razor blade. A razor is recommended, but my knife was brand new and had never been used, so I used what I had for a cutting instrument. Both the root stock and the scion are cut at a light angle. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) The clip is then squeezed and placed on the rootstock and the scion is slid gently into the top of the tube until it touches the rootstock section. I twisted it slightly to line up the edges, I also trimmed a few of the larger leaves off the scion so the plant wasn't trying to support unnecessary tissue. The first one is done. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) Once I had the 9 done that I could match up in size, I placed them in their "hospital" to regenerate. I misted the plants and the inside of the container, closed the lid and sat them on the floor underneath the bench. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) Day TWO..... ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) Looking fine so far. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am very pleased so far.None of them have wilted and I even found one of the boxes slightly tipped over and the tomatoes in that box were curved from growing up for the day. I must have nudged the boxes with the hose as I was watering this morning and didn't notice. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) Day 3: looks much like day 2. no wilting. Yay! day 8: I think this was a failure. Try again!
Barb, I bought rootstock seed and germinated it, (this is a special seed, not one that you could grow and eat the fruit), grafting clips (little silicone "tube like" structures) and the seed varieties I wanted to graft. I started the seeds about 6 weeks ago (they are sloooow to germinate and grow) and started the other tomatoes (kind of at the wrong time, but I am making it work). I am looking to make a tomato that has a stronger overall plant than the plant with its original root system. This rootstock material grows a huge root system allowing for more nutrient and water uptake and hopefully be a stronger more disease resistant plant. I grow a pink tomato that is an excellent tomato, but keels over way too fast in the garden every year, it gets the late blight and quits producing. so.... I am venturing out here into the unknown for me. Next I will try fruit tree grafting...