for The Register-Guard<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4\/21\/2011<\/p>\n Collin Andrew\/Special Publications (top), and Log House Plants<\/p>\n Rising above the competition: Two-vine \u2018Big Beef\u2019 tomato at right, grafted onto hardy rootstock from Holland, dwarfs two-vine \u2018Big Beef\u2019 tomato, left, growing on its own root. Photo was taken last October at Log House Plant\u2019s family-style garden above Dorena Lake.<\/p>\n Log House Plants uses the Japanese style of vegetable grafting to make one tomato plant out of two. Working meticulously \u2014 the splice must be a perfect fit to work \u2014 grafters cut a stem of one popular tomato varietal into the rootstock of another plant prized for its vigor.<\/p>\n The graft, at a 45- degree angle, is held in place by a tiny plastic clip until the plants fuse together and heal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If grafted tomatoes end up yielding superior bounty by season\u2019s end, it\u2019s because they\u2019re working on a buddy system new to home gardeners.<\/p>\n This spring, Log House Plants near Cottage Grove became the first wholesale nursery in the United States to graft tomatoes for its retail accounts, say owners Alice Doyle and Greg Lee.<\/p>\n Inspired by commercial techniques long used in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and especially Greece, grafters at Log House Plants work like surgeons to splice the tip, or scion, of one plant into the rootstock of another.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen their tissues heal, they fuse into one super plant with the best qualities of each,\u201d states Doyle in introducing the nursery\u2019s brand-new \u201cSuperNaturals Mighty \u2019Mato\u201d grafted line.<\/p>\n The tomato twosome gets its hardy side from the rootstock, but taste and overall fruit quality from the grafted-in scion, whether it\u2019s \u2018Big Beef,\u2019 \u2018Brandywine,\u2019 \u2018Sun Gold\u2019 or some other varietal.<\/p>\n In homestyle test gardens at Log House Plants above Dorena Lake last summer and fall, Doyle and Lee planted grafted tomatoes right next to regular tomato plants.<\/p>\n No contest: The grafted varietals literally towered over the competition on their rope trellises, bearing fatter fruit and more of it.<\/p>\n And taste?<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t notice any difference between grafted tomatoes and nongrafted,\u201d says Josh Kirschenbaum, product developer for Territorial Seed Co., which has exclusive mail-order rights to Mighty \u2019Mato this year.<\/p>\n Doyle allows that grafted tomatoes cost more, \u201cbut it\u2019s worth it for what you get: a lot more yield. I won\u2019t say you get twice as much or three times as much, because that depends on soil and sun and care by the gardener. But as you can see, there\u2019s a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n Strong early demand<\/p>\n Most local garden outlets are stocking Mighty \u2019Mato (see list of retailers at www.loghouseplants.com). Jerry\u2019s Home Improvement Centers already have some plants, and other home-garden centers will receive shipments next week.<\/p>\n Jerry\u2019s prices are $12.99 for a gallon-pot tomato with one grafted variety, or $19.99 for a gallon pot with two grafts.<\/p>\n Territorial already has sold out its 2-inch pots of double-grafted tomatoes at a price of $6.95 each.<\/p>\n But Doyle says her wholesale nursery has produced \u201cthousands and thousands\u201d of grafted and double-grafted tomatoes since March. Plants with a single graft include \u2018Brandywine,\u2019 \u2018San Marzano Gigante 3,\u2019 \u2018Japanese Black Trifele\u2019 and \u2018Big Beef.\u2019<\/p>\n Plants grafted with two varietals include \u2018Brandywine\u2019\/\u2018Super Marzano,\u2019 \u2018Golden San Marzano\u2019\/\u2018Viva Italia,\u2019 \u2018Sun Gold\u2019\/\u2018Sweet Million,\u2019 and \u2018Koralik\u2019\/\u2018Legend.\u2019<\/p>\n Growing market<\/p>\n Eventually Doyle and Lee will add other veggies \u2014 peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers and melons \u2014 to their \u201cSuperNaturals\u201d grafted line.<\/p>\n Grafting may be an old trick for some store-bought produce, but Doyle began pondering its home-garden potential about 10 years ago.<\/p>\n She noted that commercial growers in Crete, plagued by soilbound nematodes, struggled to grow tomatoes without first sterilizing the ground. Yet they could grow tomatoes grafted to disease-resistant rootstock without using harsh sterilizing chemicals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really an environmental movement that is funded by the economics of what people save (through greater yield),\u201d says Doyle. \u201cYou also save wear and tear on the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Dicey procedure<\/p>\n Log House Plants grows the rootstock for its grafted tomatoes from Holland seed. Workers splice scion to rootstock at a meticulous 45-degree angle. \u201cIt takes the eye of an artist to do it, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Doyle says.<\/p>\n Tiny plastic clips from Japan secure the grafted plant stems while they fuse and heal for three days in a dark room maintained at 75 degrees F and a humidity of 85 to 95 percent. \u201cYou\u2019re helping them remap and reconnect their vascular tissues in the dark without stress,\u201d Doyle says.<\/p>\n After fused and \u201cweaned\u201d back into the light, the grafted plants are twice the tomato they once were.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not clear\u201d if grafted plants will prove resistant to early and late blight, Doyle allows, but she\u2019s hopeful. \u201cYou just have a healthier plant\u201d because of the rootstock\u2019s exceptional mass for uptaking water and nutrients, she says.<\/p>\n Grafted vegetables already have been found to resist soilbound pestilences such as various wilts, tomato mosaic virus and root-knot nematodes.<\/p>\n Proof\u2019s in the puddin\u2019, Doyle contends. \u201cThis is October 12,\u201d she said during a tour of her garden last fall, \u201cand we\u2019ve been eating like crazy off this (\u2018Big Beef\u2019) plant. And this isn\u2019t a photo-shoot garden. It\u2019s a family garden.\u201d<\/p>\n Staff writer Kelly Fenley can be contacted at sp.feedback@registerguard.com.<\/p>\n Planting tips<\/p>\n Graft must be above ground<\/p>\n Unlike \u201cregular\u201d tomato starts \u2014 those on their own rootstock \u2014 grafted plants should be planted as they come in the pot. Burying the grafted part of the plant below ground will cause the upper part of the plant to take root, negating the benefit of the graft.<\/p>\n Other tips for grafted tomatoes:<\/p>\n Trellis the plants, such as with rope or twine, or plant them inside large, square, 3-foot-tall steel cages.<\/p>\n Root tips, and the hairs on root tips, gather water and nutrients for plants. Crowding the roots of grafted plants inside a container will diminish returns.<\/p>\n Space cages for grafted plants at least 2 feet apart.<\/p>\n As with other tomatoes, plant in May and early June.<\/p>\n Fertilize and water grafted plants as with other tomatoes.<\/p>\n Information<\/p>\n Visit www.loghouseplants.com; www.graftedvegetables.com; www.territorialseed.com.<\/p>\n Plant sale<\/p>\n Grafted tomatoes from Log House Plants will be at the Lane County Master Gardener Fair & Plant Sale on Saturday, April 23, from11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Eugene Water & Electric Board\u2019s River Edge Plaza, 500 E. Fourth Ave., Eugene.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Teaming tomatoes Grafters at Log House Plants in Cottage Grove believe two tomato varieties are better than one for forming a single, vigorous and prolific plant. By Kelly Fenley for The Register-Guard 4\/21\/2011 Collin Andrew\/Special Publications (top), and Log House Plants Rising above the competition: Two-vine \u2018Big Beef\u2019 tomato at right, grafted onto hardy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3109,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4055"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4611,"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4055\/revisions\/4611"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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