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On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

I was curious if anyone was growing grafted plants this year and, if so, how they did. Most of what I have been reading is saying that some diseases can be avoided by grafting but that the tomatoes from grafted plants are no bigger than ungrafted.

8/21/2019 8:31:19 AM

Wixom MI.

I know materdoc grafts some plants and i do about one a year. I think that it has promice but last year i had a nice megazac going but then the tomato started pulling from the stem and then rotted. This year i grafted a big zac because i cant grow a bigzac and the plant grew much better for me and a have 2 tomatoes on it about 3.5 lbs each. I hope to give it a better try next year because i think it has some potential.

8/21/2019 8:57:55 AM

Bloomington, IN USA

I have been grafting my tomatoes for 5 years, both eaters and Giants.
I can say with a high degree of certainty that for my heirlooms, the total harvest in weight is doubled & the average fruit is around 1/3 larger.
With the Giants, it is not that certain because the size of the fruit primarily is dependent upon the size of the blossom.
To add more complexity, 2 years ago I grafted a Giant upon 2 rootstocks & that plant gave me my largest fruit that year.
Grafting is helpful for avoiding root diseases & the rootstock produces a much larger root system.
But Fusarium, Early Blight, Anthracnose, Late Blight & Bacterial Speck and Spot are very common & are all foliage diseases for which grafting is not the answer.

8/21/2019 10:17:17 PM