2020 Tomato Grafting Project
Documentation and paper in progress
2019In January of 2019, our club, The Rogue Gardeners of Josephine County, partnered with the Grange Co-Op to create , maintain and harvest a garden where all the fruit gets donated to a local Food Kitchen. The garden would be part of our Plant-A-Row project. Our garden produced 1,472 pounds of tomatoes the first year. This was done with limited resources and very little soil prep on a vacant lot the Grange Co-Op owned. Due to its success everyone involved agreed to continue the garden in 2020.
A couple of members of our club had experimented with Tomato Grafting in the past with various results based on the member's knowledge of grafting, time and patience. David James had the most success with grafting and recommended we implement it at the garden. In November of 2019, David prepared a Plot Plan for the new garden containing four test groups.
1, Big Beef
2, Big Beef scion with an Estimno root stock
3, Big Beef scion with an Maxifort root stock
4, Big Beef scion with an DRO141TX root stock
Each group will contain 16 plants
All plants. including root stocks, will be started by seeds in Davis's greenhouseBig Beef F1 - AAS winner (All American Selections), large fruit 10-12 oz, disease resistance (alternaria, verticilium wilt, mosaic virus), Indeterminant
Estamino - Strong and vigorous with less vegetative growth, produces flowers into fall, long season production. Exceptional disease resistance
Maxifort - Good vigor, long harvest and excellent disease resistance
DRO141TX - More energy goes into fruit production than vegetative growth, tolerates high growing temperatures, long season production, excellent disease resistance
**** Note disease resistance of root stock is not passed on to the scion (grafted plant). Root diseases are primary benefit.Goal of Experiment: To compare production of each group in both total lbs and length of harvest.
All data will be recorded in the Tomato Grafting Chart
We had a Soil Test performed in September 2019 and and added the recommended amendments on November 9th 2019.
1, Bone Meal = 30 Cups
2, Kelp Meal = 30 Cups
3, Triple 13 = 40 Cups
4, Dolomite = 50 Pounds
5, Manure = 3.8 Cubic Yards
We rototilled the garden after applying the amendments on November 9, 2019 and planted a cover crop of Hemp on November 28, 2019
Seeding Process
Seeds were purchased from
plants were all on heat mats until transplanted
Grafting process video
The 70 degree angle cit method was used
grafted plants were placed in a dome environment sheltered from direct sunlight for 3 days.
plants were misted daily
Transplanting process
Journal
On April 24, 2020 we rotoitllled the cover crop into the soil. We let the remaining cover crop plant material dry in place, added Bone Meal, Kelp, triple 13 at 3 cups of each per 100 square feet. We also added xx pounds of dolomite.
On May 3, 2020 we rototilled it all into the soil.
On May 10, 2020.A 20 year weed cloth and T -Posts for each plant.
On May 10, 2020. we planted the 64 one gallon tomato plants.
On May 17, 2020 we installed the drip system and attached the cages to the T-Posts.
Irrigation consisted of an elevated xxxx poly water storage tank. The tank was about xxx feet above the garden and located xxxx feet from the first plant. The drip system consisted of a 1 inch poly line from the tank to a battery powered timer. The emitters were attached to a quarter inch poly line, rated at one gallons per hour and set to come on every other day for two hours. Plants received one gallon of water per watering cycle. We adjusted the amount of water if the weather required it.
On Thursday, May 28, I received 2 emails and a telephone call concerning the tomatoes being dry at the Grange. This was concerning as the temperatures suddenly spiked to the 90's and the roots of the plants were still developing. I went to the site around 3 and discovered the plants were wilting but not 'life threatening' . I did not turn on the irrigation water as I was afraid the water temperature in the black line (from the tank) was extremely hot and could burn the roots to plants which were extremely thirsty.
I went to the Grange store and purchased a moisture meter and immediately went back to the planting and recorded the moisture around the root zone. The meter read 1 – 4 with 1 being dry and 4 being moist. Over 95% of the plants read DRY (1 – 1.5) with the only few reading over 2.5 having two emitters.
The tank was ½ full of water with the irrigation line set up with a battery operated water timer set for two hours every other day (on at 6:30). I reset the timer to water for 4 hours, doubling the irrigation time to begin at 4:30 a.m. Friday morning.
I went back at Noon Friday to see the results. The plants had come back, did not seem to be harmed except for a little leaf burn. I retested the soil moisture and found most of the plants had readings of 2.5 and above. Which was adequate. Two plants registered DRY and were marked with pink flagging (driper was plugged). Those registering 2 and below were also flagged needing a new driper installed next to existing one.
Andrea came by and was going to return and hand water the two dry plants and possibly replace 3 faulty/clogged dripers.
I reset the water timer to water every two days for 4 hours until the soil is replenished. The scheduled rain for Saturday will also help the cause. I set the timers to be watered separately (back row / front row) so we can get a little better pressure. Adding a large pipe (pvc/poly) from the tank to the water timer will also bring the pressure up. I will continue to monitor the watering trying to come up with a scheduled watering based on the plants demands for water at the time. For right now 4 hours every two days will be done. Once the soil becomes more saturated I think watering frequency can be expanded 3 – 4 days.
Good to discover this now and hopefully we can remedy the end rot problem we experienced last year with just a deeper and more thorough watering.
I have the actual results of all the plants from moisture meter, just don't know how to formulate it into columns, arg!!!
I turned of the timer at the Grange this morning with the projected rain coming I wanted to see how balance the soil moisture will be once it is over and then help to determine water frequency and distribution. I'll keep in touch as we progress through this rainy period,
On 6/7/2020 went to the Grange garden around 11 this a.m., wanted to see how things were after an overnight watering and having the watering split between the back row and the front (4 hours each) It is now set to water next on Thursday early a.m. for 4 hours, every 2 days and maybe down the road every 3 days. Overall, things were doing well, good moisture reading, even some of the drip (flagged) plants had recovered from drying out. I'll check it Thursday afternoon and see how that did. Things to do: The moisture meter is a good tool which tells you right then and there if a problem exists with water flow coming out of a dripper. There are a few plants which are marked with pink flagging that need to have another dripper installed next to the existing one. Existing driper is clogged. I would rather see them install a new one next to the old one rather than just pull out the old one and replace it. If we do this next year, the dripers should be Toro brand which can be cleaned. I think there are about 5 or 6 plants that need it. Would think that Grange could do it or at least furnish the dripers. Need one more cage at the end of the BB/Dro group, would be nice to have the same size as the others. Grange??? Weed eating around the area or mowing would sure pretty it up and also attract less pests to the tomato planting Could either John or Andrea take a photo of the 'burned' leaves on the BB/Maxifort group. Especially the plants in the front row have great symptoms appearing as a 'leaf spot disease' but it really is from the wilt down last week. The only plants in the group that showed the symptom. Does it mean they are less drought tolerant?? How big is the water tank we are draining from?? Want to have the info so I can calculate how much fertilizer to add when it's time. Probably won't use a miracle grow but rather something that the grange has (probably used by marijuana/hemp growers) 20 - 10 20 or 20- 20 -20. Also wondering how much total water is used when a complete watering is performed. 4 hours both front and back row. Hopefully we can end the blossom end rot problem with watering and feeding.
Hi kids, looked at tomatoes yesterday. Looking good, reduced heat helped, they seem to be back to /normal' The photos represent Maxiford/Big Beef group (symptoms of the wilt down). Only this group showed the symptoms. Interesting to note differences
Happy Sunday all,
On 6/7/2020 I went to the Grange on Friday to check on the garden. The plants were much happier than the week before. Much more hydrated and getting full. In my observations the DRO's, which are the farthest from the water tank, looked the most robust and had the most fruit, that was interesting to me. The tallest plant was 38". I put a cage on the DRO that was missing one. If you enlarge the pictures you can see by the white tags which varietal they are. I pulled any suckers below the graft and tucked in the leaves that I could.
The estamino's and the maxiforts are doing better too. The average height for these varietals are 35".
The control group has the least amount of fruit but in general are doing ok. I'm sure with the overnight rain we will see an explosion of growth this coming week. I'll keep you posted.
June 15 - This weeks observations.
DRO tallest plant is 41". Two plants have no fruit yet. To me these plants seem to be the most robust.
Maxifort tallest plant 40" All but 1 have fruit.
Control group tallest plant 39" All but 1 have fruit. This group is the scrawniest.
Estamino tallest plant 41" . We lost a plant in the first week but all plants have fruit. And this group has the most fruit.
I tucked in leaves and pulled the shoots from below the graft. Even with all the rain they still seem a little dry to me. See attached pictures.
Increased water seems to be doing the trick. Four hours every other day with front and back being watered at separate times. Issaic and I have been communicating. We hit the tomatoes with two back to back doses of 20-20-20 (with trace minerals) at a rate of 1 lb per 100 gallons of water and it's really brought the color back. Any ideas about the flowers in between. Ornamental sunflowers would be nice if they could be found in gal (something that grows around 4' high, tall marigold would also do but need to have something that is already established and would have to be babied a little (watered daily) until established. A multicolor sunflower would do nicely. Grange didn't have any (only one that grew 12"). weeded the front early in the week so the plot stands out better. We're starting to see some of the differences of the varieties, especially as the non-grafted group matures along. At this point I think . Getting interesting how some groups are producing more fruit than others. It was good that all set fruit were taken off on planting day, they all got off to the same start. Might be interesting to try to get an average of how many set fruit over 2" each group there are in each fruit (average per plant) as summer begins. Issaic replaced the drippers. This should get more interesting as the growing season really gets under way with long days. In another month we should be seeing some interesting results. Another thing to do might be to release the little plastic ties down near the base of the plants that were attached to the bamboo stakes.
6/26/2020
Observations from 6/25/20. 1. DRO look like the most robust in the bunch. tallest plant 50" shortest 43" 2. Maxifort tallest 34" shortest 31" much scrawnier than the DRO. 3. Estamino has the tallest plants 51" tallest and 45 " shortest. Robust plants. 4. Control group. tallest 48" shortest 34". These plants are the least robust. I pulled any suckers below the grafts, released the plastic ties that were attached to the stakes,and tucked in the leaves. All of the plants have fruit. Next week I will get look to see which group is producing the most fruit. The rain, fertilizer, and heat are working. Looking back on last years crop there was much more fruit but we had lost a lot to the "blight".
Just a quick observation. I went to the Grange on Friday, 7/10/20, morning. I said WOW to myself when I turned the corner and saw how lush they looked compared to those first two week.
1. Estamino largest fruit is 3x3. Tallest plant is 61". In my opinion these tomatoes were the least ripe.
2. Control group. These tomatoes were 2x2. They had the least amount of fruit and 2 tomatoes had been attacked by pests. Tallest plant is 60" Plants are not as full and robust as the others.
3. Maxifort tomatoes are 2x2. These tomatoes are the most ripe of the 4 groups. Tallest plant 62".
4. DRO These plants appeared to have the most ripe fruit, that is interesting to me. These are also the plants farthest from the gravity fed water tank/drip system, etc. Which then prompts more questions for next year? Position of plants, fruit size, ect? Ahhh next year. Tallest plant 60".Fruit size 2x2.
I'll go by tomorrow morning and see if the weather over the weekend hurried up ripening. I would say we are about 2-3 weeks out on any big harvesting. But I am happy to pick, weigh, measure, and drop off to the ROC in the meantime.
I will send pictures of each group as well as pictures from the street.
August 28th, Estamino had the largest size fruit and average weight per plant. DRO had the most end rt and fruit was the smallest.
September 4th, Estamino had the largest size fruit and average weight per plant. DRO had the most end rt and fruit was the smallest. All plants have a lot of small green fruit left that have slowed down due to the excessive heat. Estamino has the largest non ripen fruit of all groups.Does not seem to have a consistent amount of water for each plant. We are scheduled to replace the drip system next year.
September 18th, Estamino had a lot of end rot, biggest and best looking fruit with a lot more to come. Maxifort had some end rot with nice size fruit. DRO had very little end rot with a small harvest and not much fruit left to harvest. Control group had very little end rot with more fruit to come.
October 2nd, Lots of fruit however 40% was thrown away because of extreme end rot or splitting. Water was turned off with prediction of rain.
October 9th, Water has been off for 7 days. End rot and fruit splitting was eliminated. All tomatoes were 2 to 3 inches in diameter or less with the exception of Estamino which were in the 4 to 6 inch category. Plan is to have one more harvest in 10 days. It will be small but put us over the one ton goal.
October 16th, Plants continue to produce fruit all be it small fruit. Maxiford redounded with some very nice 5 and 6 inch fruit. Less then a dozen fruit that has any problems. We scheduled one last harvest for October 23.
October 23rd, Plants continue to produce with no end rot or fruit splitting. We may harvest one last time when we take down the garden if fruit does not freeze on the 25th.
Results
Abstract: Big beef tomatoes have a disease resistance root stock. The grange tomato project compares 3 different grafted tomato starts, scion's, along with one control group. The project began with four separate growing sections with 16 plants in each group. The goal of the project is to compare production of each tomato group in both total pounds and length of harvest. Challenges included a gravity feed drip water system, fertilizer applications, lack of minimal rainfall, Covid, and wildfire smoke.
Tomato seeds were sown 2/7/20. They had a 3 day germination with a heat mat @ 80 degrees and overhead light. The starts were transplanted 2/12/20. There were a total of 64 plants. Four groups of 16.The plants were put in the ground at the grange on 5/17/20. There were 12 harvests in all producing over one ton of tomatoes.
They were planted from east to west, east being the closest to the water supply. The Estamino group was first, then the control group, Maxifort, and DRO141TX in the western most position.
We lost 2 Estiminos and 1 plant in the control group to disease before any fruit was produced. We also had water supply issues, which may have contributed to the loss of the 3 plants early on. We ended up adding cal/mag to the water tank 8/7/20.
As a result there was quite a bit of end rot in all varietals. I would guestimate we lost at least 25% of the fruit. The end rot fruit was not weighed or measured. The North facing sides of the plants appeared to show the least amount of end rot.
The first harvest was 7/15/20 for a total of 44 pounds. The final harvest was 10/16/20. Even with 2 less plants than the other varietals the Estamino variety clearly delivered the largest fruits 4"x4". They held strong to their ability of strong vegetative growth and long season production. These plants produced 682 pounds of tomatoes.
The control group was the Big Beef F1 which is known for its large fruit and disease resistance produced 608 pounds with 15 plants. These plants were smaller in stature and has less end rot than the other 3 groups.
The Maxifort group with 16 plants produced 435 pounds of tomatoes. This varietal had the second largest fruit sizes with many being 3"x3".
The DRO141TX were the plants that were the furthest down the line from the water supply. This varietal is known for tolerating high growing temperatures as well as long season production. This group produced a total of 536 pounds.
We were fortunate to have an extremely long growing season. We stopped watering 10/2/20 to force the ripening of the remaining fruit.
In conclusion the club was able to provide over a ton fresh tomatoes to those in our community less fortunate than ourselves.
Future changes
The plan for next year is similar but we will only use two rootstocks: Estamino and a variety from territorial called Submarine. With the scion, half Big Beef and the other half 'Summer Girl' which is an improvement over 'Early Girl'. The idea is to have an earlier crop of fruit. Always liked Early Girl and Johnny's offer Summer Girl so why not try. Having pressurized water and trellising the plants will increase production. If we do get the pressurized water we can consider increasing the garden by 50% and add a small fruit orchard.