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On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Okay. I made my first graft yesterday. The leaves on the top of the plant after 24 hours are not wilted and so I think this first one is a go. I will be trying three more. The rootstock (bottom part of the new plant) is Maxifort and the top of the plant is one of my own, Super. It will be interesting to see how this plant does as compared to others, regular non-grafted plants. The Rootstock has been bred for vigor. So the new plant, made by grafting, should have a much better root system than a regular, non-grafted plant. And so maybe bigger tomatoes? We will see. Marv

5/28/2011 9:29:36 AM

Waynesboro, Virginia

Very very nice Marv. Good job, I can't wait to see what happens.I did 3 more cantaloupes this week...all with pumpkin root stock.

5/28/2011 9:52:37 AM

Alabama

Hi Marv, I signed up for the forum. Nice place! I been reading your book this week. Very good book! I got some of the seed started you sent to me. I would like to try grafting next year. Keep us posted on how it goes for you. Where did you get the Maxifort rootstock? I never heard of it. Or did you grow it from seed? Just so you know who this is.

Dwight

5/28/2011 8:50:10 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Hello Dwight. There recently has not been much action here. I guess everyone is busy with their pumpkins. Anyway, all of my first grafts appear to have taken after 48 hours. THey need to stay in their moisture chamber for 5 more days but so far so good. THis was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I made more grafts today and will do more tomorrow. Clearly they are easier to graft if you let the plants get three leaves on them. The stem is bigger and fits in the clamp well. Marv

5/29/2011 10:08:33 AM

Waynesboro, Virginia

Any wilting problems after the root swap? And are you "approach" grafting ?

5/29/2011 10:31:00 AM

Waynesboro, Virginia

LOL..yes, busy Marv.Putting new tomato steaks up today...10 foot 2x4's.

5/29/2011 10:34:32 AM

South East

marv, question: how long from bloom till finished fruit, how long do most giant species keep on growing, expanding?

5/29/2011 2:22:36 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

It depends a lot on the weather. Colder weather and no sun it takes longer. Also depends on variety. Marv

5/29/2011 2:54:14 PM

Hamilton Nj

marv, how big was your rootstock when u grafted your plant??? i tryed 10 grafts,everyone died thay lasted 2-3 days then died,they were 6 inches tall when i cut them to graft!!! is this too small????

ill tryagain next year,and as for the rootstock i got from jonnys i had 4 come up out of 15 have 10 left!!! thanks pizza

5/29/2011 9:01:39 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

At first it looked like this grafting thing was going to be pretty easy to do. But it is not. My first plants all died on day 3. I think they were too small when I grafted them and I was too inexperienced. They looked great until Day 3. The ones I made later are okay but it is too soon to tell. It seems to me that the plants need to have at least 3 leaves on them and by this I mean the last one is small. The plant needs to be big enough for the clip to be filled. I will see how my later grafts do and I did 2 more today. My Rootstock, which was Maxifort from Johhny's, germinated 100%. I thought it would be easy but it turns out it is not. Stay tuned. Marv

5/30/2011 9:19:38 AM

Marv, I followed the same procedure as you. (also the same rootstock from Johnny's 100% germ rate as well, clear clips at the 3 leaf size) I did 12 grafts initially, 8 took and those plants are in the ground showing enhanced vigor in a side X side with standard plants of the same variety (these were not giants).

My giant plants are now growing to the right size for the grafts, I too think this might be a step up in growing the big ones.

The "chamber" is the key I think, mine was kept at 85º with NO light and close to 100% moisuture. I tried opening the top a bit on day 4 to let some moisture out,,,not a good idea. I lost the first 2 plants that day. One of the others was lost after being out of the chamber 3 days,,,the other I broke when moving them to the greenhouse 8-(

5/30/2011 8:09:57 PM

Hamilton Nj

i used a 2 litre bottle of soda cleaned out for a chamber lol ,sprayed with water through the top to keep moist ,one i rotted from too much water the rest just died after 3 days dont think i was at 85 degrese??? pizza

6/1/2011 11:50:22 PM

Hamilton Nj

i also found the clear clips are way too small and the orange clips are too big,if my plants were a 1/4 inch thick the orange clips would work great,also tryed tubeing but fell off every try pizza

6/1/2011 11:53:02 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

I used the small clear clips. Some of my grafts look like they might survive. At least, after 5 days they have not wilted. The recommended temperature for grafting is said to be 75 to 85 degrees. My temperature is around 75. Only time will tell. Marv

6/3/2011 3:14:42 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

I do not want to put a jinx on them but three out of five of my attempted grafts appear to have made it. I am now acclimating them to the real world. They have been in their moisture chamber 24/7. We will see. Next year I will allow the plants to get a bit bigger before grafting and I will try to keep them around 75 to 80 degrees in my humidity chamber, which is essentially a stryofoam cooler box turned upside down and sitting on a tray of water with the plants inside in the dark. Marv

6/5/2011 3:01:22 PM

(rocky) Bonney Lake Wa.

Curious question. Would it work to say graft one of the first vines of one to the first vine of the other and then if it takes then you could snip one of the tops of one plant and let it grow. then you have a less of a plant loss as you could probably try it with a few vines if the the others dont work. I was thinking of doin this but wanted to know if A) has been done before. B)if so did what was the result. Thanks

6/8/2011 10:08:02 AM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

It is called side to side grafting. It is another way to do it. Marv

6/8/2011 4:55:36 PM