Here is the grafted seedling, perky and with the grafting clips removed. Stay tuned for updates! If all goes well, we will have some great heirloom tomatoes this summer.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Healed Graft
Here is the grafted seedling, perky and with the grafting clips removed. Stay tuned for updates! If all goes well, we will have some great heirloom tomatoes this summer.
Clipped Graft Ready to Fall Off
Here is one of the grafts that has healed. Be patient and don't try to remove the clips too soon. The graft is very fragile, and it is easy to tear the rootstock and scion apart if the graft has not healed strongly enough.
Wilted Seedlings
The video says to keep seedlings in the high humidity healing chamber for about 7 days. If the plants wilt after loosening the lid, put the lid back on the healing chamber and put the chamber in the dark again overnight. The plants will be perky again by morning. Then leave the plants in the sealed chamber for 2-3 more days before allowing air circulation.
Chamber of Darkness
Newly grafted plants must be kept in total darkness for 24-48 hours. I just put the container inside a black trash bag.
Plants Inside Healing Chamber
Healing chamber is just a clear plastic container with a clear lid that I purchased at Target. You need something that will allow light through, but with a tight-fitting lid so that the chamber stays moist.
Tomato Grafting
I've been trying to grow heirloom tomatoes for a number of years now with not much success. Apparently our soil is diseased, so the plants produce about three tomatoes at best. A lot of them die before they ever produce any fruit. My husband came across an article about grafting heirloom tomato tops onto disease resistant rootstock. It's been a lot of work, but I now have some healed plants and more on the way. It will still be a couple of weeks before I can plant them in the ground. Here is a link to a terrific video on how to graft tomatoes the tube method. http://cals.arizona.edu/grafting/content/tube-method-tomato-video
The next several posts are photos of the process.
The next several posts are photos of the process.
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