Garden And Gardener

Everything for the Gardener and their Garden

Grafted tomatoes

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Suttons Seeds and Plants

Grafted tomatoes

Grafted tomatoes

Most gardeners are familiar with the idea of grafted fruit trees – where the
root stock from a different tree is grafted onto the top of another tree to
give the right mix of height and yield. Roses are also commonly grafted!

You can now get Grafted Begtables and Fruit at Suttons

Define grafting – when the upper part of a plant (usually the fruit bearing
end) is attached to the roots of a different ones. It’s like playing mix and
match between fast growing plants and best tasting fruits. It also helps provide
tolerance or resistance to some diseases too.

Commercial growers have used grafting as a way of overcoming pest and disease
issues but as it also increases yield then it has sound commercial reasoning
behind it too.

It was used commercially in Japan in 1914 to overcome Fusarium infection in
the ground used to grow watermelons. They grafted the best watermelon fruiting
plant onto a rootstock that was resistant to Fusarium.
The most common form of grafting is called ‘Japanese Top Grafting’. This is
when an angle is cut when the plants are small and using rooting powder the
edges are them clipped together. Fast growth enables the plants to join and
wihtin a couple of weeks the clip can be taken off.

With trial and error good combinations have been found.

The advantages for the home or allotment gardener are earlier cropping and
increased length of cropping time. Grafted vegetables are better able to grow
in shorter day light hours and cooler weather giving them a head start on non
grafted forms.

A stronger root system makes for a stronger healthier plant that’s more able
to absorb nutrients and water.

Yields are increased up to one and a half times more fruit.

While their increased resistance to pests and diseases means that you can
plant direct into greenhouse soil so doing away with the need for growbags or
ring culture. And finally perhaps the best reason of all which is up to one
and a half times more produce from a grafted plant than a normally grown variety!

Suttons introduced grafted tomatoes last year and now have extended the range
to include Sweet and Chilli Peppers, Cucumbers, Melons and Aubergines.

 

Cucumber F1 Passandra Grafted Plants
Pepper F1 Chelsea Grafted Plants
Pepper F1 Ferrari Grafted Plants
Pepper F1 Mavis Grafted Plant
Pepper F1 Prego Grafted Plants
Pepper Grafted Plant Collection
Tomato Grafted Plant Collection
Tomato Grafted Santorange Plants