Tomato Grafting

           Spring Ledge tomatoes are the crop that signals the beginning of summer in New London.  

           We begin picking tomatoes from our greenhouses in early June, about the same time it is safe to plant your tomato plants outdoors. 

            To successfully grow tomatoes in the same greenhouses year after year we have learned many tricks, one of which is grafting.  

            To combat root diseases, lengthen plant life and increase plant vigor we now graft most of our greenhouse tomatoes. Right now we are grafting the first seedlings which were started in mid January.  

To graft tomatoes we start with two plants. The plant on the left is the variety 'Trust', which has good fruit quality and flavor. The plant on the right is the variety 'Maxifort' which is grown for its disease resistance and plant vigor, both of which will help extend harvest.           These plants were seeded about a month ago and the stems are 1/8 inch thick. It is important to match stem diameter for a good bond to occur.
Using a razor blade, the roots are cut from the 'Trust' plant and discarded. The top is then cut from the 'Maxifort' plant and discarded. The cuts are made straight across the stems.
The two remaining parts are now pushed into a rubber tube which will hold the pieces together.
The new plant are transplanted into 6-packs, where they are placed in a mist chamber. The mist will keep the top part of the plant alive until the graft union can take over. The graft will take within 2 weeks and the plants can then be put out into the greenhouse. They will be ready for transplanting into the the tomato house, their final home, in about a month.
We repeat this process over 750 times and plant the tomatoes into our compost-enriched soil.  The roots grow disease-free eliminating the need for fungicide drenches.             The end result is a super-tomato which tastes great and will produce well for us.

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