Results of grafted vegetables

[selfsufficient]

Hi Folks,

I bought some grafted veg last year and said I would post results.

I grew grafted gardeners delight alongside normal gardeners delight. The grafted plant produced 82 toms and the un grafted 40. However, the grafted cost 4 times the amount of an ungrafted plant - so only really worth it is you are short of space.
I also grew a grafted Lizzano tomato this produced a grand total of 235 toms. I didn't grow ungrafted cannot say what an ungrafted Lizzano would normal produce - perhaps someone on here that has grown them could add that info.
My grafted Aubergine scorpio produced 3 fruits - normally I get none, so that was a 3 fold improvement, but again not worth the £5 cost of the plant.
I finally grew a grafted cucumber Iznik, it disappointingly only produced one cucumber. Last year I grew an ungrafted Iznik that produced 10.
I have bought another grafted Lizzano this year and am growing ungrafted next to it. I have also ordered another variety of cucumber and tomato. I will report back again on the results. Anyone else on here had better results with the grafted that justifies the cost?

[Richard Eldritch]

Interesting cheers man. I like growing from seed myself.Somehow bought plants feels like cheating though that's silly I know and hypocritical as well....

[Bill HH]

Its not correct to say that having twice as many toms but having to pay 4 times the price for the plant is a bad deal, its the value of the extra 40 toms that counts.

[Alison]

Its not correct to say that having twice as many toms but having to pay 4 times the price for the plant is a bad deal, its the value of the extra 40 toms that counts.

I'd count it as a bad deal.


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[Scarlet]

I'm not tempted...the seed sowing is as much fun for me as picking the fruit, add the expense of the plant into it and it's a definite no no for me.

[Knight of Albion]

Grafted will produce a bigger crop.

We always used to grow grafted tomatoes back in father's day. As I recall they weren't all that expensive. Maybe you need to shop around or ask around. A good nurseryman doesn't need to advertise. Word of mouth and reputation will sell all he can produce.

Going all the way from seed to fruit certainly gives you a buzz. But that being said, the further north you are the shorter the growing season so buying in plants can give you the equivalent of an extra 4 - 6 weeks. But it's all a matter of choice.

I am with Bill though. I think it is worth it. I was in Tescos this morning. 6 orange (?) tomatoes, rock hard, imported from Spain - £1. And 4 or 5 'on the vine' tomatoes, good quality I must be fair and say, also at £1.
That works out at 16 - 25p per (commercially grown) tomato.
More than double home grown tomatoes, presumably organic ... that's a good deal.

[Alison]

I am with Bill though. I think it is worth it. I was in Tescos this morning. 6 orange (?) tomatoes, rock hard, imported from Spain - £1. And 4 or 5 'on the vine' tomatoes, good quality I must be fair and say, also at £1.
That works out at 16 - 25p per (commercially grown) tomato.
More than double home grown tomatoes, presumably organic ... that's a good deal.

I wasn't comparing with bought ones though (agree even rubbish home grown tend to be better than the bullets in the supermarket) but was comparing the cost of grafted (and the varieties are far more limited than the seed selection available) with the cost of an extra couple of plants. I grow in the polytunnel so have a fair bit of space and a decent cropping season, also grow a couple of types that will keep for months. Only finished eating the fresh fruits from last year about a month ago. They were Longkeeping from Real Seeds and they really are amazing, not very pretty but definitely live up to their name.


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[Bill HH]

If you have the room then maybe its a bad deal but if you don't say an average plant costs £1 and a grafted one £4 then that extra £3 gets you 40 tomatoes.

[poly]

I grew a grafted pepper and aubergine last year and had great results. The aubergine in particular produced a mass of fruit, at one count 16 fruits developing, I think that was called Scorpio F1. But the year before I had really naff results with a couple of grafted peppers and nearly didn't bother to try them again. I'm glad I did but still think the purchase price is painfully high.

[Knight of Albion]

If you have the room then maybe its a bad deal but if you don't say an average plant costs £1 and a grafted one £4 then that extra £3 gets you 40 tomatoes.

Yes, that was exactly the point I was alluding to. It does pay for itself in the long run.

And like I said shop or ask around for grafted ones. There can be quite a variation in price.

[solway cropper]

I can sort of see the point if you only have space to grow one or two plants but for most of us who actually enjoy growing from seed and trying all the different varieties the idea of buying-in expensive grafted plants is a non-starter.

[CurlyGreen]

I bought in one grafted tomato last year but can't remember what sort. A very normal supermarket type tomato. It was very productive, the fruit were pleasant enough, typical of in-season supermarket toms. So far so good but what might make me buy another one this year is that they were ready a couple of weeks ahead of my home sown Ailsa Craig at the same time as the cherries. However on the whole I'd rather grow from seed but it's handy to extend the season. My OH likes very normal tomatoes for his sandwiches and these were perfect for that.

Just a general observation, it came as a double stemmed plant and probably took up the space of two home sown plants. Give them plenty of space.

I've only ever managed to grow 0 aubergines so one year I will treat myself to a F1 Scorpio.

[KevinM67]

Has anyone ever tried to do the grafting process themselves?

[Kristen]

Anyone else on here had better results with the grafted that justifies the cost?

Seasoned gardening friends show have trialled grafted / non-grafted alongside each other tell me that they get better yield, and early cropping. That's a significant improvement in a small greenhouse. However, the reason they grow grafted, in a greenhouse border, is to avoid having to change the soil each season. So I think the cost needs to be balanced across all that, rather than just whether you get X-times as much crop.

Grafted plants are sold off "On Sale" for peanuts, so if I was buying plants I would wait until the early-buyers have paid the premium price and them mop up the rest.

I like growing from seed myself.Somehow bought plants feels like cheating though that's silly I know and hypocritical as well....

Graft your own then - its a decent challenge

Has anyone ever tried to do the grafting process themselves?

I have gardening friends who graft their own. I doubt it saves and money as they seem to sow a lot of both rootstock and scion, in order to get scion at just the right diameter to match the rootstock, and to get the timing right. Seed for rootstock is not particularly cheap.

the varieties are far more limited than the seed selection available

Bit like buying Turf rather than Grass Seed ... well, any veg plant in the Garden Centre is a limited range of varieties, compared to seed. Answer to that is to graft your own

[NatalieCooke]

I was thinking about grafting my own Tom's next year. I've watched a few you tube videos and looks quite easy. Any ideas which Tom's would work well together?