grafted veg in containers?

[bazzaboy]

The commercial practice of grafted tomatoes now seems to be spreading to all greenhouse crops including aubergine, cucumber, sweet and chilli peppers, melons etc along with claims of heavier, earlier, better cropping etc..... On-line companies are already offering an ever-expanding range for delivery in May (and presumably produce the grafted items to order).

I'd be inclined to try them if I can avoid expensive mistakes, but am confused by instructions which clearly state "grafted veg are not suitable for growbags, ring culture or containers but need planting directly into soil" but then show a pic of a heavily laden aubergine in a pot!

I don't have greenhouse facilities where I can plant directly into soil so my question is has anyone successfully grown a range of grafted veg in containers?

And secondarily, Was it worth the effort and extra expense (works out about £3-£4 per seed! )

Holy Mackerel, Batman!

[Alison]

I think that there was a thread about this either last year or the one before but I can't find it as I'm rubbish with searching. And when I say about this, I mean the viability of grafted veggies and how worth while they are. I'm guessing but I'm suspecting that they are grafted onto a vigorous root stock and therefore need more space that a pot could provide easily but guess you would be OK if you kept up with the watering / feeding. Other people may well have other opinions but personally I'd not buy them but then again, I think the range available is quite limited in comparison to the variety of seeds you can buy and I'm far too tight to spend that much on a single plant and have my suspicions that it's another example of the suppliers trying to con us into spending more.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I was given a grafted tomato a few years ago.

It was grown in a 18" pot and did very well and there was certainly a very noticeable increase in yield from the plant. However it would nowhere near equate to the yield from 10 Sungold which I buy at £2-99p for the seed.

I think if someone had limited floor space and could only grow one or two plants then it would be worth it otherwise I think not.

Potty

[Paulieb]

Last year I got 1 grafted tomato from my local GC, 'just to see for myself how it would perform'.

At the time of planting I read similar info to you about pot size so chucked it in a 30 litre bucket (that I generally use for spuds normally).

It was extremely vigorous, bore lots of fruit, more than I would have expected. However, in terms of comparison as I didn't plant normal toms in the same size tub its a none starter really. IMO I think flavour was good but not excellent which was prob down to the variety.

I won't be bothering this year with toms. Perhaps will get a grafted aubergine if anything as I struggle getting them to ripen.

In terms of toms I'll stick to varieties which I've tried and I know I like, Amish paste, sungold, and goldkrone.

I did look at seeds for rootstocks but they're something like £1 each. The roots grow big so I suppose you'd be losing out on some of the benefits of the vigor by putting it in a smaller pot.

[TrialAndError]

I tried it once a couple of years ago with a couple of tomatoes but they succumbed to blight and that was £6.00 wasted!

On the other hand, over 50% of commercially grown tomatoes are grafted and other veg grown that way are quckly catching on in the commercial world - especially aubegines and chillis apparently. Don't know what that means for us amateurs.

[bazzaboy]

Many thanks for these comments, particularly the link between the increased vigour of the new rootstock and the size of any container… - that makes total sense. (Incidentally, the company that pictured the heavily-laden aubergine in a pot have now replied that a 30cm diameter pot should cope with the new vigorous rootstock.)

Also thanks for points raised about limited varieties (mainly commercial of course), though in fairness some companies are now offering the rootstock for you to graft any variety (of tomatoes) yourself including rarer “heritage” and “heirloom” varieties (e.g. see Tomato Plants and Seeds Online - Heirloom Tomatoes - Home ) I have the instructions on HOW to do it and the seeds for the rootstock but have yet to successfully marry the two bits of information!

I have no idea if the same (tomato) rootstock can be used on non-tomato seedlings…. Probably not, anybody know? Or know of suppliers of other vigorous rootstocks for DIY attempts?

If it becomes easier, cheaper and more widely applied I suspect we'll all be doing it...

[Paulieb]

I have no idea if the same (tomato) rootstock can be used on non-tomato seedlings…. Probably not, anybody know? Or know of suppliers of other vigorous rootstocks for DIY attempts?

You can graft a tomato on top of a potato (see the newly advertised plant available to order with a certain big company), as they are both Solanum. Chillis/peppers are Capsicum so in theory not compatible, but I thought I read once that it works but with low success rate!?!

So aubergines (Solanum melongena) would technically match with potatoes or tomatoes. Though I don't know what rootstocks are used for Aubergine grafts.

If it becomes easier, cheaper and more widely applied I suspect we'll all be doing it...

On my horticulture course we had a go last May mainly to practise the technique. We just grafted toms to toms and chillis to peppers. I dropped the only one I kept (after a week) but I thought it had started to grow together.

Its quite a fiddly operation as you normally do it on small plants (10-15cm tall). You also need clean conditions and sterile equipment (knife & gloves) ideally! Try to find a video on u toob.

Good fun though! And you've got the interest and excitement of growing a new plant!

[bazzaboy]

Try to find a video on u toob.

Yes, there are several, very useful. One of the more bizarre videos shows a machine doing it!
Automated Grafting Tomatoes - YouTube