chino
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Grafting - Possible to Cross Different Tomatoes?

I would like to know if it is possible to cross different tomatoes, if yes, how to do it

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soil
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graft a top of a good fruiting variety with a root of a variety with good growth vigor.

TZ -OH6
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Probably best to do an online search for a grafting how-to for pictures. Usually the root stock is one of a few varieties resistant to nematodes and wilt diseases (maxifort is one of them). The root stock doesn't affect the fruit of the top. You can graft a tomato on top of a potato root stock but it doesn't improve productivity of either one.

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applestar
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Hah! Tomato grafted to potato... I remember reading that in grade school! I'd completely forgotten..... :lol:

garden5
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TZ -OH6 wrote:Probably best to do an online search for a grafting how-to for pictures. Usually the root stock is one of a few varieties resistant to nematodes and wilt diseases (maxifort is one of them). The root stock doesn't affect the fruit of the top. You can graft a tomato on top of a potato root stock but it doesn't improve productivity of either one.
[url=https://www.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtHnOYcI6B44&rct=j&q=grafting%20tomatoes&ei=GLCDTNvsGMSXnAe6oMTBAQ&usg=AFQjCNF_oD9pWg9j0z0V-WfmsGSCmgBTGg&cad=rja]Here[/url] is a video on grafting tomatoes.

TZ, wouldn't a more vigorous root system give more nutrients to a plant, thus making it bigger and yielding more toms (not trying to be argumentative, just trying to learn :wink:)?

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Sunrise_Anne
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Depending on what diseases your garden might have that are soil-borne, you can use any hybrid or OP tomato for a rootstock that has resistance to the diseases that might show up in your soil AND has a strong root system...

Early Blight fungus overwinters in plant residue and is soil-borne.

Fusarium wilt, caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum

Verticillium wilt, caused by the soilborne fungus Verticillium albo-atrum

Southern blight, also known as white mold and stem rot, is caused by the soil-borne fungus Sclerotium rolfsii

Bacterial wilt is caused by the soil-borne bacterium Pseuclomonas solanacearum

Tomato pith necrosis, caused by the soil-borne bacterium Pseudomonas corrugata

Bacterial speck can be soil-borne, surviving in either soil or host debris (overwintered disease tissue).

These links have information relating to other hybrid or OP tomatoes that can be used for rootstocks in addition to those cultivars developed specifically for rootstocks.

https://www.eecofarm.org/dp/node/80

https://www4.ncsu.edu/~clrivard/TubeGraftingTechnique.pdf

From the link directly above:
....typical hybrids or other modern varieties may be valuable as disease resistant rootstocks for heirloom cultivars.
I'm going to use Cherokee Purple next spring for one of my rootstocks and compare its success or not to Maxifort's succeess or not.

garden5,

I'm not able to access your link to the video. Is it this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHnOYcI6B44

If not, maybe you could post it again?

TZ -OH6
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Garden 5,
Yes, big varieties probably have very strong root systems and transfer that to the graft. Maxifort has multiple disease resistance and is a monster of a plant if left to grow. Maxifort roots transfer some of that vigor to the graft while some other grafting rootstocks do not.


Sunrise_Anne,
Why did you choose CP? As a control? (it has no resistances and is not a big plant).

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Sunrise_Anne
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TZ

I'll probably use Cherokee Purple because of results in this field trial, Investigation of Yield and Quality of Grafted Heirloom and Hybrid Tomatoes:

https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1136&context=theses

(Though not obvious from the URL, that's a PDF file.)

The field trial used only four tomatoes as interchangeable rootstocks and scions -- Mr. Stripey OP, Cherokee Purple OP, Maxifort (a hybrid rootstock not used for a scion), and Crista, a hybrid often grown in Kentucky where the trials were conducted. While I'll probably use Mr. Stripey as a rootstock along with Maxifort and CP to test against the dratted Early Blight in my garden, it's mostly from curiosity and to see if I can find a satisfactory OP tomato to use as a strong rootstock to challenge the soil-borne tomato diseases in my garden.

Cherokee Purple did best as a scion among the three used as scions, and was strong as a rootstock as well, though of course Maxifort was generally best because of the vigor of its root system. BTW, Cherokee Purple is noted for [url=https://www.southernexposure.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=49106&Category_Code=]its resistance to Septoria[/url], one of the pesky diseases along with Early Blight that shows up every year in my garden.

You can read the entire paper reporting on the field trials that were also testing whether grafted tomatoes did better on black or red plastic mulches, but if you want something relevant about Cherokee Purple right away, there's this from page 41:
The grafted combination Mister Stripey-Cherokee Purple produced the largest fruits in 2008. It is likely that since ‘Mister Stripey’ is a large beefsteak-type tomato and using it as a scion on ‘Cherokee Purple’ rootstock resulted in the increased size of the fruits. Since ‘Cherokee Purple’ is a robust plant, it has a vigorous root system this might have contributed to the largest fruit size....Additionally, ‘Cherokee Purple’ and ‘Mister Stripey’ were observed to have aggressive root systems that would enable them withstand fierce competition.
I assume the competition mentioned is competition against other tomatoes, not sure.

I don't think researchers know for certain why so many grafted tomatoes do so well, but almost all agree that a strong root system in the rootstock is one of the keys. Tomato grafting is a very complex subject that I have done extensive research in. Some researchers wonder if the strong rootstocks used in grafting are able to keep ahead of diseases in vigor before they can take hold! :D

I'm also playing around with the idea of using Matt's Wild Cherry as a rootstock since it is so tolerant of Early Blight, which eventually wipes out my tomato plants along with Septoria and Georgia's heat by the middle of July.

IOW, I'm looking for any tomato plants, hybrids or OPs, that have strong root systems and tolerances to the soil-borne diseases that might show up in my garden.

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Here is a link to one of the best tomato resistance charts I have found its great for breeding and crossing and also handy for choosing rootstock for grafting.

[url]https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Tables/TomatoTable.html[/url]

Also just wanted to state that the original post title is a bit misleading as grafting is not breeding, the scions from the graft do not gain any genetic properties. Any seeds from the grafting when planted will only have the traits of the scion and will breed true. lets take the Mr. Stripey and CP as an example if CP is the rootstock an Mr.S is the scion then any fruit or seed from Mr.S when planted will still produce Mr.S plants.

There is vigor when grafting compatible rootstock and scions .

Also keep in mind that if the reason for the graft is improved resistance to soil born diseases that you must try and limit any soil coming in contact with the scion as it does not have the genetic resistance. So make sure to prune any low branches and make sure that the graft junction is above the soil level.

If you are wanting to try grafting but do not want to invest in clips etc... there is a method called glue grafting that is fairly easy and has a better success rate. You can also do tube grafting, for that do not waste money on buying tubes most people just use aquarium tubing to do this type of grafts

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Sunrise_Anne
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Stepheninky

Have you ever grafted any tomato plants using Crazy Glue as is recommended by some as being the glue-graft method?

I doubt that it would work except to hold the very young scion and rootstock together in the beginning. The stem expands as the grafted plant grows, and a Crazy Glue bond around the outside perimeter of the graft would eventually constrict and choke the stem.

Stepheninky
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Here is a video quick of it from OSU (Ohio State University)

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fd6tBQTTAg[/url]

It is very new method and how to do it has only been released this summer so no I have not preformed it as of yet.

I ideal is that by using the super or crazy glue the fusion of the scion and rootstock happen very fast, this prevents the chance of infection and speeds up the bonding of the two with less scaring.

My understanding also is that the super glue wears off basically just like it does when you get it on your fingers. Plus glue does have flex its not hard like steel so no I do not think it will strangle the junction.

in a normal graft junction the clips can be removed usually in about a week, so considering that the glue method requires less cutting and seals in the wound I would think the healing time would be a little quicker.

I first became interested in the method when I saw it mentioned by a research professor as being very simple and easy procedure that one of his students developed at OSU.

Though there are other methods to grafting here is a video for a couple of additional ways to graft

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHnOYcI6B44[/url]

Hope that helps a bit

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Sunrise_Anne
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Stepheninky

Yes, I saw the first YouTube link. If it works, that's great! I think I'll be a chicken and wait for others who've done it to discuss the pros and cons. I want to be confident that I can manage the after-care of grafted plants before trying a glue-graft! Sure as shooting, I'd probably glue the two stems to my fingers anyway! :-)

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applestar
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I checked out the video too. Wow, that's going to need steady hands! it doesn't seem like it in the video close up, but those are SEEDLINGS :shock:

No caffeine for at least a week before the attempt! 72 hours for the caffeine to leave the system, and another 72 for the withdrawal symptoms to abate. :lol:



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