I some at a garden centre the other day, they supposedly produce more fruits as their grafted root system is a lot bigger.
The stem above the graft was trying to produce roots though, would it be wise to plant them deeper and encourage more roots?
I forgot to look at the price though. but I bet they were pricey.
How would you do this yourself, is it easy, and what rootstock would you use?
The ones I saw the other day at Van Hage were £4.49 per plant, thing is you'll get some nutters actually buying them. :(
Grafted tomato plants are fairly widely available here in SW France, where toms are generally grown outside and therefore vulnerable to blight, in an area like ours where it is often both damp and warm in the summer. They are expensive, but are supposed to be much more resistant to blight and they do produce an enormous crop. I tried a couple of plants last year and they were very successful. The plants I bought were really healthy and strong, much more stocky than ordinary toms. I was advised to keep three or four side-shoots from low down, and to grow those up separate canes, so we effectively ended up with five plants for each one, which made the price more reasonable. I would certainly try them again.
Used to graft my own, the rootstocks back then were for vigour in poor soils and they did that....Solves some of the growth faults in classic beefsteaks too... been thinking about trying it again, if only to see if I can get a Black Krim to behave itself.....
chrisc
Quote from: Peanuts on April 16, 2011, 19:18:20
I was advised to keep three or four side-shoots from low down, and to grow those up separate canes, so we effectively ended up with five plants for each one, which made the price more reasonable.
If the sideshoots are from above the graft they will be the normal fruiting variety of the main plant and not benefit from the advantages of the rootstock, if from below the graft then they be of the rootstock variety (like suckers on an apple tree).
Rooting sideshoots as cuttings is a good idea, I always do this by buying in the variety I want early in the season, then multiply by rooting the sideshoots. I usually get 7 or 8 plants as well as the original. Buying in saves the cost of heating to raise them.
My father-in-law used to plant two tom seeds close together, as they grew he bound the stems together ( he may have cut the stem also ), i presume with raffia , as they grew the stems merge to one, he then cut the weakest plant off above the graft, seemed to work well , I've not tried. it.
Common place in NZ...took me some time that tomatoes here weren't grafted! They're called supertoms in NZ, you pay more but I used to get a lot of tomatoes off one plant when I grew them as a student.