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Corbin, KY

How many days before should the scion seeds be planted before the rootstock seeds?

2/17/2014 12:51:28 PM

Lancaster Kentucky

I grafted some Maxifort root stock to some big zacs one time. I planted them all at the same time and it was hard to match the stems. I believe what I would do if I did it again would be to stagger a couple of the rootstock and the scions a day or 2 apart for a few day to make sure you have stems that match.

2/17/2014 3:16:28 PM

Hamilton Nj

i read u plant them 2 weeks before your tomato seeds and they will be pretty even stem size when u go to graft ,i believe u want the rootstock double the size of the tomato plant , but last time i killed all mine,lol im gona try the 2 week thing starting my rootstock (maxifort) on march 1sst. will post in my diary pizza

2/17/2014 5:12:00 PM

Nd

This may help.
www4.ncsu.edu/~clrivard/TubeGraftingTechnique.pdf
On page 6 there is a grafting time line.

2/17/2014 5:29:12 PM

Bloomington, IN USA

You want scion & rootstock to have the same diameter.
There is going to be some variability among the different rootstocks as far as speed of germination & rapidity of growth.
Pizza, if you seed your rootstock 2 wks ahead of the scions, they will be significantly larger.
But you can slow them down by keeping them cooler.
Or you can simply do the graft higher on the rootstock stem.
You can also graft onto a leaf petiole. It works.
In my experience with Colossus & RST-04-105 I find both are slower to germinate & slower growing compared to heirlooms.
I find that seeding them 5-7 days before the heirlooms works best for me.
I have had successful grafts with both but prefer RST.
I also have some Supernatural rootstock seed but not as much so I haven't experimented with it yet.
I have taken the tops of the rootstock & gotten additional plants by rooting them as cuttings.
And if you get suckers from the rootstock, you can root them too.
Colossus is from Johnny's.
RST-04-105 is from NE Seed.
Supernatural is from TGS. It is what is used in the commercially available "Mighty Mato" sold by a bunch of different places.

2/17/2014 9:45:10 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

The rootstocks grow at a slower pace than the indeterminate seeds we are using as the scion. Materdoc is giving you good info. I use Maxifort and start them one week before the scion seeds. This has worked for me. Marv

2/21/2014 12:25:15 PM

Hamilton Nj

thank you everyone

2/22/2014 5:13:46 PM