Well I have to get outside and start watering my plants.....I was wondering though, transplanting a plant from a 4 inch pot they at times have blossoms or some even peppers started....Should I trim those off so the plants efforts will go into growing to get a more sizeable plant then it puts out peppers? On some here I have this little plant with a nearly full size pepper on it. Some small plants have multiple blossoms and shouldn't that energy go into growing?
Thanks guys.....I'm off to water and talk to my plants....Soon I will take and post some pictures.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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I have that happen too. I have come to the conclusion, that it is best to pot up peppers earlier. Once they start to flower and fruit, even if you transplant them out, they don't do much more growing. Peppers are slow in the beginning since they don't really grow much, but in actuality the root system is the part that is expanding, so it is important that the roots have ample room to grow. People do pinch the tops, but I think moving them up and giving the roots room to grow is a better strategy. To delay blooming, give the starts a higher nitrogen fertilizer and switch to a high P and K fertilizer to promote fruiting. Transplant after the plants have reached the right stage, when they have between 5-8 leaves. The root system should not be potbound.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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Well thank you for the post. But my comment was more like this, I just transplanted peppers from 4 inch pots so the plant is fairly small right. Yet it is blooming or has peppers started. So should I remove both those blooms and started fruit so the energy will go more towards getting bigger?
Also I bought a few Mad Hatters in 6 inch pots. I transplanted them into #7 size pot so plenty of room. The plants have gotten big but not a single bloom on them. I am just now starting to see buds. These were transplanted in early June. I have approximate dates in all my plants. so I know about when I transplanted them.
So.....Say I have a Jalapeno plant thats like 6 or 7 inches tall and it has 2 or 3 buds on it, do I nip those off so it will put its energy into growing? And yes I did read that nitrogen encourages plant growth. I read when the plant is fully grown you want to stop with the nitrogen and switch to a fertilizer that promotes fruit growth.
Also I bought a few Mad Hatters in 6 inch pots. I transplanted them into #7 size pot so plenty of room. The plants have gotten big but not a single bloom on them. I am just now starting to see buds. These were transplanted in early June. I have approximate dates in all my plants. so I know about when I transplanted them.
So.....Say I have a Jalapeno plant thats like 6 or 7 inches tall and it has 2 or 3 buds on it, do I nip those off so it will put its energy into growing? And yes I did read that nitrogen encourages plant growth. I read when the plant is fully grown you want to stop with the nitrogen and switch to a fertilizer that promotes fruit growth.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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okay what about threatening it with pruning sheers? Wait though I read if you fertilize a plant with a nitrogen based fertilizer you will get more growth then fruit. The article said when you want fruit don't use a nitrogen based fertilizer.. And this is something I did not think of before making this post it just came to me now. I must be getting old.
I used to try to plant the ones that flowered small, out, but I found that they just produced one or two fruit and never grew much afterward. Now, if they do that, I cull them. To get more fruit, I need the plants to stay in growth mode longer. I don't have a shortage of pepper replacements. This does not happen with hot peppers as much, but bell peppers don't seem to want to do much growing after they start to flower. To get perennial hot peppers to produce more, I will prune them to get a new flush of growth. It just doesn't work well with bell peppers that start to flower when they are very small. Usually, they flower in starter pots, because they were not up potted soon enough. If you catch it early and pinch off the flowers and up pot with nitrogen fertilizer, they can grow a little more. Once the fruit starts to form, even transplanting doesn't always help and they just stay small.
There is also pepper load to consider. If the fruit is large, fewer can be supported by the plant. Habanero has a pepper load of 20, tabasco has a pepper load of 200. The plants can support more smaller peppers than larger ones. The smaller peppers will not support a lot of fruit if the plant is small. Perennial peppers do respond well to pruning, but annuals have a finite lifespan, once they start flowering they don't grow very much. It may partially be because of my climate, there are a lot of diseases and humidity and peppers are happier in a drier climate. Peppers are short lived perennials, but some like bells and jalapenos are annuals for me. I do not have the ideal climate for bell peppers. The average temperature is 85-88 degrees and bells like it between 70-80 degrees. I have clay soil and it rains frequently at night. Bull horn peppers and hot peppers have a better heat tolerance and fewer issues with diseases because they have smaller leaves.
There is also pepper load to consider. If the fruit is large, fewer can be supported by the plant. Habanero has a pepper load of 20, tabasco has a pepper load of 200. The plants can support more smaller peppers than larger ones. The smaller peppers will not support a lot of fruit if the plant is small. Perennial peppers do respond well to pruning, but annuals have a finite lifespan, once they start flowering they don't grow very much. It may partially be because of my climate, there are a lot of diseases and humidity and peppers are happier in a drier climate. Peppers are short lived perennials, but some like bells and jalapenos are annuals for me. I do not have the ideal climate for bell peppers. The average temperature is 85-88 degrees and bells like it between 70-80 degrees. I have clay soil and it rains frequently at night. Bull horn peppers and hot peppers have a better heat tolerance and fewer issues with diseases because they have smaller leaves.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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Okay...That clears some things up for me, thank you. Each year is a learning thing for me and each year I will or should yield more peppers. I mark my pots for certain things soils I use and such, which ones I put fertilizer pellets in and try to get an idea of what works. I give the peppers to people I know and some I don't. So it's not survival or anything. But I do enjoy the ones I eat. And I like hanging out here with you guys. Kind of a slow forum but that's okay.
So, get the plants transplanted asap.... This year I didn't have my soil ready so I was mixing it as I went and that was a LOT more work. I am thinking though for next year, from what I read, I should be able to just reuse the pots an soil. One time should be fine from what I understand. I know you do not want to make it a habit of replanting the same thing in the same soil but once should not hurt right?
And I will continue to up size my pots. For peppers a #7 size deep pot should be good or a 5 gallon bucket. So next year I will have to buy some soil to accommodate that but I won't be buying nearly as much as I went through this year to increase from 200 plants to 300. I think 320 plants is my max and that's a lot of peppers.
So, get the plants transplanted asap.... This year I didn't have my soil ready so I was mixing it as I went and that was a LOT more work. I am thinking though for next year, from what I read, I should be able to just reuse the pots an soil. One time should be fine from what I understand. I know you do not want to make it a habit of replanting the same thing in the same soil but once should not hurt right?
And I will continue to up size my pots. For peppers a #7 size deep pot should be good or a 5 gallon bucket. So next year I will have to buy some soil to accommodate that but I won't be buying nearly as much as I went through this year to increase from 200 plants to 300. I think 320 plants is my max and that's a lot of peppers.
There are caveats to reusing soil. You need to use soil that had no issues. Weeds will be a problem with reused soil especially if it is not sterilized before reusing. It is better to mix the old soil with some new soil to dilute it. You don't know how much left over fertilizer you have unless you test it. You may have to add micros and minerals which get used up. New media can provide that or you may need to add micros separately. I cannot use the same fertilizer formula for reused media. I did test my potting soil, to try to work out what fertilizers I had to add or avoid, when reusing media. What was recommended was to add the old soil to the compost or your in ground garden beds instead and use that as part of your soil mix the next year. I cannot do that since I don't have a compost pile and I cannot add it to the main garden, so most of the extra mix becomes fill in my yard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zypyLKtSOag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaZ68X87OgU
https://www.growveg.com/guides/nifty-th ... ting-soil/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zypyLKtSOag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaZ68X87OgU
https://www.growveg.com/guides/nifty-th ... ting-soil/
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ApertureF11Sniper
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I think this gets more technical then I care to be, like testing soil. Also I just remembered this from last year. I had gotten this pepper in a 6 inch pot and it was big. There was a stake stapled to the side of the pot and it was growing up that stake. It had 4 or 5 peppers on it. This was a big plant. Well after I transplanted it, it took off huge with growth.....
My plants are looking good. About 15 out of the 320 are looking really bad but not dead so we'll see if they bounce back. I had a really big Trident with 3 big peppers and that all died back to the base. I was going to dump it but I saw these small green leaves growing out of the base of it and now those leaves are getting bigger. So I will see what happens.
We'll see if I can't take a few pictures to post.....Every year I learn a little more and every year I have more peppers. I think 320 plants will be my max....We have a short growing window here.
My plants are looking good. About 15 out of the 320 are looking really bad but not dead so we'll see if they bounce back. I had a really big Trident with 3 big peppers and that all died back to the base. I was going to dump it but I saw these small green leaves growing out of the base of it and now those leaves are getting bigger. So I will see what happens.
We'll see if I can't take a few pictures to post.....Every year I learn a little more and every year I have more peppers. I think 320 plants will be my max....We have a short growing window here.
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applestar
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I’m joining this discussion late. But just on removing blossoms — I’m now hearing two sides of the remove/don’t remove recommendations.
New one that I heard was that if you live in short season area, removing those critical first blossoms can delay first harvest by a couple of critical weeks, and this cannot be afforded when first frost comes in early September, etc.
But especially where harvesting can be expected until much later like November/December, consensus is unanimously to remove early blossoms.
Now specifically according to Japanese pruning guides, you should remove the first FRUIT that has set at where the main trunk starts to grow a strong sucker branch/fork. All other suckers below the first main trunk blossom should be removed and should not be allowed to bloom/fruit.
Thereafter first blossom/fruit on the next set of V branchings are also better to be removed. (So remove at least 3 or 4 total first blossoms/fruits.)
There seems to be variation of whether these should be removed as blossoms or after they set fruits but are still very small (marble size to walnut size) but the emphasis is on allowing the plant to grow bigger and sturdier — They are saying every blossom/fruit will divert energy and slow down upper growth.
Also recommendation is to thin/cull the number of fruits in upper branches if plant is still small.
…I’ve been trying to implement these pruning techniques to see if they improve my pepper results.
New one that I heard was that if you live in short season area, removing those critical first blossoms can delay first harvest by a couple of critical weeks, and this cannot be afforded when first frost comes in early September, etc.
But especially where harvesting can be expected until much later like November/December, consensus is unanimously to remove early blossoms.
Now specifically according to Japanese pruning guides, you should remove the first FRUIT that has set at where the main trunk starts to grow a strong sucker branch/fork. All other suckers below the first main trunk blossom should be removed and should not be allowed to bloom/fruit.
Thereafter first blossom/fruit on the next set of V branchings are also better to be removed. (So remove at least 3 or 4 total first blossoms/fruits.)
There seems to be variation of whether these should be removed as blossoms or after they set fruits but are still very small (marble size to walnut size) but the emphasis is on allowing the plant to grow bigger and sturdier — They are saying every blossom/fruit will divert energy and slow down upper growth.
Also recommendation is to thin/cull the number of fruits in upper branches if plant is still small.
…I’ve been trying to implement these pruning techniques to see if they improve my pepper results.
I just learned that all peppers are technically perennial, even the anuum species. For me all bell peppers are annuals and they don't like high temperatures or high humidity. I get a lot of bacterial spot, mite, and mildew issues. If this happens when the peppers are small, they have not been very productive, so now I cull the peppers with issues early on. I even cull the longer lived peppers if they have bacterial spot, because it will be a chronic problem and can spread to other plants.
I have found some luck choosing cultivars with good resistance. I still don't get very large pepper plants but I can get a few large fruit. They are still less productive than hot peppers.
One of the problems I have had has been that peppers do grow slowly in the beginning, but while the top is not really growing the roots are expanding and I probably should pot them up much sooner. When I have neglected my pepper starts because they are small, I found in retrospect , some of my small 6 inch blooming peppers were already almost 3 months old, so they were not just small, they were stunted. When I transplanted those out, the plants did not grow much, so I missed my window of opportunity. I should have potted them up sooner. I don't usually do weekly water soluble fertilizer, but maybe I needed to do that to optimize growth before they reached a mature age.
The same thing happened with eggplant. I have a compot with purple eggplant that are two months old and half inch tall. Even though those are definitely perennial for me, I will probably start over, because they have been set back for too long.
The Japanese method is fascinating, but the plants he is disbudding are many times larger than mine. I would have to just top my pepper, to do that. I have done that, it sets things further back but the top does grow back stronger.
I have three peppers now. All of them I started as an organic experiment. All of them are smaller than they should be. I have switched back to conventional fertilizer. I probably should also pot them bigger. I think they are in a #5 tall nursery pot. Normally, I would keep this variety of pepper in an 18 gallon pot. This particular super chile can live at least 8 years for me. It would be worthwhile trying to see if it will grow larger if it is in a bigger pot. If I trim the roots, I can stimulate more root growth. I have had this variety get over 5 ft tall and wide in the ground and in the 18 gallon containers.
I have found some luck choosing cultivars with good resistance. I still don't get very large pepper plants but I can get a few large fruit. They are still less productive than hot peppers.
One of the problems I have had has been that peppers do grow slowly in the beginning, but while the top is not really growing the roots are expanding and I probably should pot them up much sooner. When I have neglected my pepper starts because they are small, I found in retrospect , some of my small 6 inch blooming peppers were already almost 3 months old, so they were not just small, they were stunted. When I transplanted those out, the plants did not grow much, so I missed my window of opportunity. I should have potted them up sooner. I don't usually do weekly water soluble fertilizer, but maybe I needed to do that to optimize growth before they reached a mature age.
The same thing happened with eggplant. I have a compot with purple eggplant that are two months old and half inch tall. Even though those are definitely perennial for me, I will probably start over, because they have been set back for too long.
The Japanese method is fascinating, but the plants he is disbudding are many times larger than mine. I would have to just top my pepper, to do that. I have done that, it sets things further back but the top does grow back stronger.
I have three peppers now. All of them I started as an organic experiment. All of them are smaller than they should be. I have switched back to conventional fertilizer. I probably should also pot them bigger. I think they are in a #5 tall nursery pot. Normally, I would keep this variety of pepper in an 18 gallon pot. This particular super chile can live at least 8 years for me. It would be worthwhile trying to see if it will grow larger if it is in a bigger pot. If I trim the roots, I can stimulate more root growth. I have had this variety get over 5 ft tall and wide in the ground and in the 18 gallon containers.
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applestar
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@imafan, in the past couple of years, I feel like all mainstream Japanese nursery suppliers have switched to grafted vegetsble seedlings.
Some of the market gardeners and farmers buy or grow rootstock seedlings and graft their own, and hobby gardeners are advised to buy grafted seedlings for disease resistance and vitality.
All cultivation guide videos include instructions regarding planting depth of grafted seedlings, and recognizing suckers from rootstock for each veg.
I infer that most widely available seedlings sold for home gardeners are grafted.
Ah, that may be part of the problem. I grow my peppers from seeds and starts sold here are also seedlings. I don't think I have ever seen a grafted tomato or pepper anywhere. The only plants sold here that are regularly grafted are fruit trees and roses. I have started basil and tomatoes from cuttings and peppers are possible but so much easier to start more from seed.
I buy seeds from the mainland catalogs. The truth is that the U.H. has been underfunded for years and except for tropical corn, most of the other vegetable cultivars of tomatoes, peppers, and basil were developed in the 80's and are not resistant to modern diseases like TYLCV or spotted wilt. There are only two peppers in the UH seed lineup. Wailua pepper which is a jalapeno, I can keep that one alive with a lot of effort for a couple of years. and Kaala bell pepper which has good disease resistance, but is 1/3 the size of a normal bell. Not worth growing. UH basil is resistant to fusarium but no sweet basil is resistant to downy mildew. They did come out with a new eggplant, but it is not as productive as Waimanalo Long. Poamoho is a good pole bean resistant to rust, nematodes and fungi. They are just not resistant to birds. They have recently discontinued a lot of their seeds.
They do research on the suitability of mainland seeds that might be adaptable for our climate. And also research on the adaptability of mainland cultivars to our climate.
When I order seeds, I look for specific disease resistance. However, since we are an outlier in many ways, seeds may have resistance to some diseases but not others and may have no heat tolerance at all. Most of the temperate vegetables don't really like our hot humid summers, which is why, like Florida, it is best for me to grow temperate crops in the fall. Peppers are odd. They need heat to germinate, but for the most part they do not like the sustained heat and humidity in summer. I don't get as hot as you do, but your heat waves are brief and your day and night temperatures have a wide variation. My day length only varies by 2 hours throughout the year, but the longest day is just short of 14 hours so I grow giant varieties, knowing they will never be giants because of the shorter days. My day and night temperatures, especially in the hottest times of summer may not vary much at al, 5-15 degree variation between day and night temps.
The days are short, so plants don't really grow that fast. Anything that delays growth and speeds maturation, shortens lifespan. My plant starts need to be transplanted based on age not so much on size because I don't get very large plants in 4 inch starters and that is partly because usually I only add osmocote to the potting mix and I don't regularly supplement with water soluble fertilizer. I may be just missing the time to transplant because they grow so slowly. I don't have a problem with faster growing starts like cucurbits or tomatoes. It is relatively easy to see them outgrowing their pots. They grow fast even without supplements.
I buy seeds from the mainland catalogs. The truth is that the U.H. has been underfunded for years and except for tropical corn, most of the other vegetable cultivars of tomatoes, peppers, and basil were developed in the 80's and are not resistant to modern diseases like TYLCV or spotted wilt. There are only two peppers in the UH seed lineup. Wailua pepper which is a jalapeno, I can keep that one alive with a lot of effort for a couple of years. and Kaala bell pepper which has good disease resistance, but is 1/3 the size of a normal bell. Not worth growing. UH basil is resistant to fusarium but no sweet basil is resistant to downy mildew. They did come out with a new eggplant, but it is not as productive as Waimanalo Long. Poamoho is a good pole bean resistant to rust, nematodes and fungi. They are just not resistant to birds. They have recently discontinued a lot of their seeds.
They do research on the suitability of mainland seeds that might be adaptable for our climate. And also research on the adaptability of mainland cultivars to our climate.
When I order seeds, I look for specific disease resistance. However, since we are an outlier in many ways, seeds may have resistance to some diseases but not others and may have no heat tolerance at all. Most of the temperate vegetables don't really like our hot humid summers, which is why, like Florida, it is best for me to grow temperate crops in the fall. Peppers are odd. They need heat to germinate, but for the most part they do not like the sustained heat and humidity in summer. I don't get as hot as you do, but your heat waves are brief and your day and night temperatures have a wide variation. My day length only varies by 2 hours throughout the year, but the longest day is just short of 14 hours so I grow giant varieties, knowing they will never be giants because of the shorter days. My day and night temperatures, especially in the hottest times of summer may not vary much at al, 5-15 degree variation between day and night temps.
The days are short, so plants don't really grow that fast. Anything that delays growth and speeds maturation, shortens lifespan. My plant starts need to be transplanted based on age not so much on size because I don't get very large plants in 4 inch starters and that is partly because usually I only add osmocote to the potting mix and I don't regularly supplement with water soluble fertilizer. I may be just missing the time to transplant because they grow so slowly. I don't have a problem with faster growing starts like cucurbits or tomatoes. It is relatively easy to see them outgrowing their pots. They grow fast even without supplements.
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applestar
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I’ve been intrigued ever since this whole grafted seedling technique started being mentioned. I guess I watched it become more firmly established in Johnny’s Selected Seeds as they began to offer rootstock seeds for tomatoes, and then seedlings being offered by other seed catalogs that had already established offering live starts like Burpee as well as the more expensive nursery catalogs that were maybe better equipped to ship live plants by mail.
…In the mean while, Japanese (and probably Korean and Chinese, maybe Asian in general?) ag industries seemed to have jumped in with both feet…
…and probably because of all this…
I watched a new product called “grafting clips” appear, expensive at first but the prices started to come down— even finally bought a set of two sizes because I really wanted to try with tomatoes and melons — but the couple of times I tried in the past few years, I was overwhelmed by other stuff and couldn’t manage the necessary timing for growing the root stock and desired varieties— they are not necessarily started at the same time, which would make it easier.
Then I developed numbness in my fingers. Micro manipulation and steady hands are becoming a bit more of a challenge for me.
There is another technique that doesn’t require you to completely sever and match up the cut ends/surfaces of the seedlings, which is supposed to be easier for home gardeners. I might still try to do that next year.
It’s the rush of seed starting and then scheduling as gardening season begins — time management — that’s my biggest roadblock so far.
…and no… I don’t think I would consider buying the seedling plants — this looks too interesting not to experiment with.
I’m currently trying to nail down the basic growing techniques because otherwise, I won’t be able to have a baseline to compare with grafted plants.
But maybe that’s backwards? The whole point is that it should make gardening easier to grow the purchased grafted plants…. haha
…In the mean while, Japanese (and probably Korean and Chinese, maybe Asian in general?) ag industries seemed to have jumped in with both feet…
…and probably because of all this…
I watched a new product called “grafting clips” appear, expensive at first but the prices started to come down— even finally bought a set of two sizes because I really wanted to try with tomatoes and melons — but the couple of times I tried in the past few years, I was overwhelmed by other stuff and couldn’t manage the necessary timing for growing the root stock and desired varieties— they are not necessarily started at the same time, which would make it easier.
Then I developed numbness in my fingers. Micro manipulation and steady hands are becoming a bit more of a challenge for me.
There is another technique that doesn’t require you to completely sever and match up the cut ends/surfaces of the seedlings, which is supposed to be easier for home gardeners. I might still try to do that next year.
It’s the rush of seed starting and then scheduling as gardening season begins — time management — that’s my biggest roadblock so far.
…and no… I don’t think I would consider buying the seedling plants — this looks too interesting not to experiment with.
I’m currently trying to nail down the basic growing techniques because otherwise, I won’t be able to have a baseline to compare with grafted plants.
But maybe that’s backwards? The whole point is that it should make gardening easier to grow the purchased grafted plants…. haha
I have seen grafting clips and recently in catalogs, I have noticed the tomato rootstock. I am in a grafting hui, but I don't do a lot of grafting. I have a weak wrist so It is hard for me to get a straight non wavy cut. So far, I have a 100% failure rate. I know the technique, but the execution is lacking. I mainly work on growing rootstock. I also grow some citrus from cuttings. Meyer lemons, calamondin, Persian limes, kaffir limes, will grow from cuttings. I also grow some of the harder to grow from seed plants like bay leaves, rosemary, and lavender from cuttings.
Rootstock here needs to have resistance to trestiza virus and nematodes. Phythophthora would be good, but it is not necessary. Most citrus rootstock is trestiza and nematode resistant but not phythophthora or pithium resistant. I get away from that by planting in containers of cinders.
I don't have a lot of soil borne diseases for tomatoes or peppers that cannot be resolved by selecting resistant cultivars or growing them in sterile media. Viruses like spotted wilt, TYLCV, PRV, Maize mosaic virus are all vector borne, so having resistant rootstock does not matter if the scions are not resistant as well. basil downy mildew, and some of the viruses like TYLCV, maize mosaic virus, PRV, CMV, Tomato spotted wilt have many asymptomatic hosts, and I have not winter kill, so the viruses survive in the asymptomatic hosts.
My TYLCV resistant Sun King, is showing signs of TYLCV even though it is a resistant plant and I don't even see that many white flies around. I will have to cull it. It turns out that of the known asymptomatic hosts, I have a few of them around, cabbages, hibiscus, beans, peppers, okra, eggplant, weeds, and cucurbits. So, there is no getting away from it. It is the same with basil downy mildew. Not only do the DMR resistant basil taste more like Thai basil, except for Pasaro (so far), Obsession, Devotion, Eleanor, all got downy basil mildew, they just can survive it. It is the reason why I grow only the truly asymptomatic varieties. The African and tulsi basil which never really express basil downy mildew, but I suspect are asymptomatic hosts just the same. I don't really want to spend $50 to have them tested to confirm it. It is just easier not to grow sweet basil and hope somebody comes up with a GMO sweet basil someday that will be resistant and still taste like sweet basil. It's been 11 years, and crossbreeding to Thai basil just makes the basils look like sweet basil, but taste like Thai basil. Thai basil is not totally resistant to downy mildew either.
As for the peppers, only the hot peppers tolerate the heat and humidity, especially if they have small leaves. The larger leaves have more issues with mildew. They can still get black spot, which is why I cull the plants, because it becomes a chronic problem and the spores will infect other plants. Black spot can be seed transmitted. Most bell peppers don't produce well in summer. To grow them through the rainy season, I need to look for phythophthora, black spot, and fungal resistance. It think this is more to do with the differences of growing in a temperate vs a tropical or sub tropical climate. The most productive bell pepper months for me are May and June, but it is also the time when pests and diseases are peaking as well.
However, I could try grafting some of the softer plants for practice. It may improve my technique. Cleft grafts are easier than whips. I might try some T budding, or at least practicing the technique. The softer wood and faster growth may increase my success rate. I would have more material to practice on. Citrus is not that easy a plant to graft.
Rootstock here needs to have resistance to trestiza virus and nematodes. Phythophthora would be good, but it is not necessary. Most citrus rootstock is trestiza and nematode resistant but not phythophthora or pithium resistant. I get away from that by planting in containers of cinders.
I don't have a lot of soil borne diseases for tomatoes or peppers that cannot be resolved by selecting resistant cultivars or growing them in sterile media. Viruses like spotted wilt, TYLCV, PRV, Maize mosaic virus are all vector borne, so having resistant rootstock does not matter if the scions are not resistant as well. basil downy mildew, and some of the viruses like TYLCV, maize mosaic virus, PRV, CMV, Tomato spotted wilt have many asymptomatic hosts, and I have not winter kill, so the viruses survive in the asymptomatic hosts.
My TYLCV resistant Sun King, is showing signs of TYLCV even though it is a resistant plant and I don't even see that many white flies around. I will have to cull it. It turns out that of the known asymptomatic hosts, I have a few of them around, cabbages, hibiscus, beans, peppers, okra, eggplant, weeds, and cucurbits. So, there is no getting away from it. It is the same with basil downy mildew. Not only do the DMR resistant basil taste more like Thai basil, except for Pasaro (so far), Obsession, Devotion, Eleanor, all got downy basil mildew, they just can survive it. It is the reason why I grow only the truly asymptomatic varieties. The African and tulsi basil which never really express basil downy mildew, but I suspect are asymptomatic hosts just the same. I don't really want to spend $50 to have them tested to confirm it. It is just easier not to grow sweet basil and hope somebody comes up with a GMO sweet basil someday that will be resistant and still taste like sweet basil. It's been 11 years, and crossbreeding to Thai basil just makes the basils look like sweet basil, but taste like Thai basil. Thai basil is not totally resistant to downy mildew either.
As for the peppers, only the hot peppers tolerate the heat and humidity, especially if they have small leaves. The larger leaves have more issues with mildew. They can still get black spot, which is why I cull the plants, because it becomes a chronic problem and the spores will infect other plants. Black spot can be seed transmitted. Most bell peppers don't produce well in summer. To grow them through the rainy season, I need to look for phythophthora, black spot, and fungal resistance. It think this is more to do with the differences of growing in a temperate vs a tropical or sub tropical climate. The most productive bell pepper months for me are May and June, but it is also the time when pests and diseases are peaking as well.
However, I could try grafting some of the softer plants for practice. It may improve my technique. Cleft grafts are easier than whips. I might try some T budding, or at least practicing the technique. The softer wood and faster growth may increase my success rate. I would have more material to practice on. Citrus is not that easy a plant to graft.
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applestar
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I think ones that do better in your garden would be the rootstock candidates for you.
I have to look for the reference, but the “easier” method I’m going to try involves growing somewhat lanky seedlings, then peeling a sliver of stem from both and attaching them to each other — either between soil-line and seedleaves or between seedleaves and first true leaves.
Once the join is set, you can either plant them together keeping both root systems and cutting off the unwanted top (which turbo-charges the root energy production) … or cut off one’s root system and the other’s top growth (for the resistance, etc. conferred by the “rootstock”)
I have to look for the reference, but the “easier” method I’m going to try involves growing somewhat lanky seedlings, then peeling a sliver of stem from both and attaching them to each other — either between soil-line and seedleaves or between seedleaves and first true leaves.
Once the join is set, you can either plant them together keeping both root systems and cutting off the unwanted top (which turbo-charges the root energy production) … or cut off one’s root system and the other’s top growth (for the resistance, etc. conferred by the “rootstock”)
So you are fusing them. I have never fused for grafting, but it is something that is done with bonsai. Except, I don't think I have actually fused bonsai by basically layering them together. I have just woven the branches together and over time they naturally will fuse. It is not done that often because ultimately it does shorten the life of the tree.
I think you are right, nothing stops the wild tomatoes, so they should make good rootstock. I have rootstock roses. They actually propagated themselves. They just get very tall, but rarely ever bloom.
I think you are right, nothing stops the wild tomatoes, so they should make good rootstock. I have rootstock roses. They actually propagated themselves. They just get very tall, but rarely ever bloom.