{"id":4932,"date":"2012-03-26T00:39:24","date_gmt":"2012-03-26T00:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/?page_id=4932"},"modified":"2020-02-12T14:55:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T21:55:15","slug":"meet-mighty-mato-and-friends","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/meet-mighty-mato-and-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Mighty \u2019Mato and Friends!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Meet Mighty \u2019Mato and Friends!<\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/images\/MightyMato-logo.png\" alt=\"mighty mato\" width=\"200\" height=\"121\" \/>In 2010, we introduced our new line of SuperNaturals Grafted Vegetables, starring Mighty \u2019Mato Grafted Tomatoes \u2013 favorite tomato varieties grown on special rootstock for enhanced vigor and productivity.\u00a0 Now the full line of SuperNaturals Grafted Vegetables is available including Mighty \u2019Mato, Mighty 2\u2019Mato (two varieties on one plant), Mighty Mini (dwarf tomatoes grafted on tame rootstock for containers), Mighty Veggie Eggplant, Mighty Veggie Peppers, Mighty Veggie Cucumbers and Mighty Melons.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VXK8kljUczk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While grafted vegetables have long been popular in Asia and Europe among commercial produce growers who face limited land area or depleted soils, we were the first to make these supervigorous, superproductive vegetables widely available to home gardeners in the U.S. \u00a0By grafting familiar heirloom or conventional tomato varieties like \u2018Brandywine\u2019 or \u2018Big Beef\u2019 onto special solanum rootstock, good varieties become super varieties. Side by side comparison trials have shown us that grafted vegetables can deliver more abundant crops, better heat and cold tolerance, a longer harvest, and improved pest and disease resistance when measured against non-grafted plants of the same variety.<\/p>\n<p>Our own trials as well as the dramatic success of the lucky gardeners who received preview plants that first season convinced us that it\u2019s time to take these amazing vegetables to a wider public.\u00a0 We have created SuperNaturals Grafted Vegetables LLC, a company to grow and distribute grafted vegetable liners.\u00a0 Our partners are the renowned horticulturalist, John Bagnasco, and Tim Wada of Plug Connection, the first organic vegetable liner grower in the U.S. We will be acting as the broker for SuperNaturals Grafted Vegetables, taking orders and offering technical advice on growing these superhero vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>Links for Gardeners:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#what\">What are Grafted Vegetables?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#method\">Grafting Method<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#history\">History of Grafting Vegetables<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#benefits\">Benefits of Grafted Vegetables<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#grow\">Growing Grafted Vegetables<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Broker Information for Wholesale Growers:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2020-MM-Broker-Pricing.pdf\">Branded Quart and Gallon branded pot ordering form<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2020-CREDIT-APPLICATION-FORM.pdf\">Credit Application<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.plugconnection.com\/resources\/knf_resources\/\">Ketchup \u2019n&#8217; Fries<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/MM-Broker-Pricing-Web.pdf\">Price Lists: Pricing Overview (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.plugconnection.com\/resources\/\">Resources and POP from Plug Connection<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/?page_id=4935\">Image Download Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/images\/Grafted_BigBeef.jpg\" alt=\"Log House Plants\" width=\"480\" height=\"323\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Pictured above: Nongrafted &#8216;Big Beef&#8217; vs grafted &#8216;Big Beef&#8217;<\/p>\n<h2 align=\"left\"><a id=\"what\" name=\"what\"><\/a>What are Grafted Vegetables?<\/h2>\n<p align=\"left\">Grafted vegetables are superhero vegetables: stronger, bigger, faster, more able to fend off foes than regular vegetable plants \u2013 and they deliver a more abundant harvest!\u00a0 Grafted vegetables are created by attaching the top part of one plant (the scion) to the root system of a separate plant (the rootstock).\u00a0 As their tissues heal, they fuse into one Super plant with the best qualities of each: the rootstock contributes vigor and disease resistance while the scion is chosen for exceptional fruit flavor or quality.\u00a0 The resulting plant is more vigorous and productive, going above and beyond the call of duty to bring big, beautiful, wholesome harvests to gardeners everywhere.<\/p>\n<h2 align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/images\/grafts-with-labels.jpg\" alt=\"grafts\" width=\"480\" height=\"357\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2 align=\"left\"><a id=\"method\" name=\"method\"><\/a>Grafting Method<\/h2>\n<p align=\"left\">After experimenting with several methods, we decided to use the Japanese top-grafting (or tube-grafting) method, a new technique that is fairly simple but must be performed in carefully controlled conditions to avoid stressing the vulnerable, freshly grafted plant.\u00a0 We have trialed a number of different rootstocks from Holland and beyond, according to which is best suited to the scion variety\u2019s growing habit and kind of fruit.\u00a0 When both rootstock and scion have reached the ideal size, we sever the seedlings, then use a special clip from Japan to attach the upper stem and leaves of the scion to the lower stem and roots of the rootstock.\u00a0 The stems must be the same diameter and shape so their vascular tissue can align, remap, and reorganize, allowing water and nutrients to flow up the stem.<\/p>\n<p>Once the scion and rootstock have been clipped together, we place them in a healing chamber which regulates temperature, humidity, and light to create the best conditions for the vascular tissue to grow together and the scar to heal over.\u00a0 Over the next week or two, we slowly reintroduce the seedlings to natural conditions.\u00a0 After another week or two in the greenhouse, they are ready to be transplanted into the garden.<\/p>\n<p>The graft is strong as nails once it is completely healed, but the plants must be handled carefully throughout the grafting process to avoid disturbing the graft union and ensure optimal conditions for the new plant to heal.<\/p>\n<h2 align=\"left\"><a id=\"history\" name=\"history\"><\/a>History of Grafting Vegetables<\/h2>\n<p align=\"left\">For centuries, grafting has been used in agriculture to enhance the health, yield, and fruit quality of woody species like fruit trees and grape vines.\u00a0 Large scale production of grafted vegetables emerged in Asia, where land has been intensively cultivated for many years.\u00a0 In the 1920s, growers there found that grafting watermelon plants onto squash or gourd rootstock significantly reduced the incidence of fusarium wilt.\u00a0 Today, 81% of Korean vegetables and 54% of all Japanese vegetables (95% of Japan\u2019s watermelons, oriental melons, greenhouse cucumbers, tomatoes and eggplants) are produced on grafted plants.\u00a0 Vegetable grafting is also popular throughout Europe, especially in Greece, Spain, France, Italy, and Morocco.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In the U.S., the technique\u2019s potential for improving plant health and fruit yield without harmful pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or soil fumigation\/steam sterilization is catching the attention of greenhouse produce growers and organic farmers, especially on the East Coast with its short growing season. Together, the environmental and economic benefits have made grafted vegetables a worldwide movement among commercial produce growers. In 2011, a billion vegetables were grafted around the world.<\/p>\n<h2 align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/images\/TomatoGraft8352-web.jpg\" alt=\"Log House Plants\" width=\"204\" height=\"306\" \/><a id=\"benefits\" name=\"benefits\"><\/a>Benefits of Grafted Vegetables<\/h2>\n<p align=\"left\">Advantages of grafted vegetables include enhanced plant vigor, better disease resistance, tolerance of environmental stresses, and heavier crops that are produced over an extended harvest period.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Disease resistance \u2013 This is probably the most important reason commercial growers initially turned to grafted vegetables.\u00a0 After Asian growers\u2019 success with grafted melons in the 1920s, tomato grafting emerged in the 1960s as a strategy to avoid soil-borne diseases like bacterial wilt, which can be hard to eradicate in a tomato crop because of its wide range of hosts and ability to persist for years in the soil.<\/p>\n<p>When a grower raises tomatoes and other solanums (potatoes, eggplant, peppers) in the same fields or in the ground in greenhouses year after year, a range of fungal, bacterial, viral, and nematode diseases can become established in the soil, leading to a poorer yield with each subsequent harvest. Grafting has been found effective against verticillium wilt (Verticillium albo-atrum, V. dahliae), fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum), Fusarium crown rot, corky root rot (Pyrenochaeta lycosersici), root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne), bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum), Tomato mosaic virus, and Tomato spotted wilt virus.<\/p>\n<p>Grafting may also help plants ward off three other big tomato problems: early blight (Alternaria solani), late blight (Phytophthora infestans), and blossom end-rot (a physiological disorder caused by low calcium levels).\u00a0 Tomato plants that are less vigorous to start with or weakened by nematodes are more susceptible to early blight, so super-vigorous grafted tomatoes with enhanced resistance to pests and disease should fare better.\u00a0 Blossom end rot is exacerbated by fluctuations in soil moisture or when plants are stressed by drought.\u00a0 Grafted tomatoes, with their superior root structures, allow continued uptake of moisture and nutrients even in less-than-optimal conditions.\u00a0 It\u2019s not clear whether grafted tomatoes are resistant to late blight (infamous for causing the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and still responsible for widespread losses of potato and tomato crops each year).\u00a0 The spores of the late blight fungus can\u2019t survive in soil but are carried through the air, bypassing grafted tomatoes\u2019 protective root system and landing directly on fruits or foliage.\u00a0 However, we expect that grafting would confer some level of protection because in general, the healthier and more vigorous the plant, the greater its ability to fight off a disease or pest. (See this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ag.ohio-state.edu\/~news\/story.php?id=5731\">article<\/a> from Ohio State University for recent research)<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/images\/tomatoes-talltalewagon400.jpg\" alt=\"Log House Plants\" width=\"400\" height=\"248\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Tolerance of environmental stresses &#8211; Grafted plants are also more tolerant of environmental stresses like salinity or temperature extremes.\u00a0 Regular tomatoes often react to heat (temperatures over 86 degrees Fahrenheit) by dropping their blossoms, but we\u2019re closely watching our grafted tomatoes to see if they can come through a heat wave with flowers intact. And with the ability to withstand hotter and cooler temperatures comes an added bonus \u2013 an extended growing season.\u00a0 Cool-season gardeners should be able to set out plants a little earlier in the spring and continue harvesting ripe fruits longer into the autumn, while warm-climate gardeners who sometimes get tomatoes to overwinter can increase their chances of winter and spring harvests with hardier grafted varieties.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Increased vigor and yield &#8211; Even for those growers and gardeners fortunate enough to have fresh soil and ideal growing conditions, grafting has its advantages.\u00a0 The vigorous rootstock increases the uptake of water and nutrients, for healthier and more beautiful plants and greater harvests without using chemical pesticides or fertilizers.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Overall, grafted vegetables lead to bigger harvests of better quality fruits over a longer period with fewer harmful inputs.\u00a0 All tomatoes can benefit from grafting, but heirlooms, which are generally less disease resistant, can increase yields dramatically when grafted on special rootstock.\u00a0 Organic farmers find that they can achieve better resistance to pests and disease without soil fumigation or chemical pesticides, as well as higher yields without chemical fertilizers.\u00a0 Greenhouse produce growers are turning to grafted vegetables because the plants thrive and produce even when crops can\u2019t be rotated frequently to fresh soil.<\/p>\n<h2 align=\"left\"><a id=\"grow\" name=\"grow\"><\/a>Growing Grafted Vegetables<\/h2>\n<p align=\"left\">Transplanting<\/p>\n<p>Handle carefully when planting to avoid bending or putting pressure on the graft. If your plant comes with a grafting clip, you can either remove it carefully or leave it on and it will slip off as the plant grows. Mighty \u2019Mato should be planted at the same level as in its original container so that the graft remains above the soil. If planted too deeply, Mighty \u2018Mato\u2019s adventitious roots will develop from the scion, negating the disease and nematode\u00a0resistance of the rootstock.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Fertilizing<\/p>\n<p>Avoid over-fertilizing your Mighty \u2018Mato because this will promote extra foliar development and delay fruit production (just feed it as you would a regular tomato).\u00a0With its large and vigorous root structure, Mighty &#8216;Mato is happiest planted in the ground, but if you decide to grow it in a container, use at least a 15-gallon size or a half wine barrel.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Pruning and Support<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/images\/tomatosucker1.jpg\" alt=\"tomato sucker\" width=\"250\" height=\"173\" \/>Pruning is crucial to contain and direct the plant\u2019s energy to fruit production. For all grafted tomatoes, remove any suckers (side shoots) that form below the graft. After that, how much you prune will depend on whether your grafted tomato is a determinate or indeterminate variety.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Pruning and staking determinate tomatoes &#8211; It\u2019s generally agreed that these tomatoes should be pruned very slightly if at all.\u00a0Because they are programmed to produce a certain amount of fruit and then stop, pruning them isn\u2019t necessary to encourage further growth or additional fruit set.\u00a0 In fact, removing blossoms or suckers always reduces the overall number of tomatoes.\u00a0However, to improve air circulation and keep the foliage away from soil-borne diseases, you may want to remove all of the bottom branches and foliage, 10 or 12 inches up the main stem.\u00a0 This is especially important in wetter or cooler climates. Some gardeners also recommend pinching off the first few sets of blossoms, until plants are well-established in the garden; and some suggest removing about half the total blossoms, believing that the fruits left to ripen will be larger and more intensely flavored.<\/p>\n<p>Determinate varieties usually grow only 3 or 4 feet tall, and many sources say supports aren\u2019t necessary for these bushier, sturdier plants.\u00a0 However, a short stake or cage will prop up the branches as they start to sag under the load of ripening fruit, holding them up off the ground and away from slugs and moisture that can cause rotting or spread disease.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Pruning and trellising indeterminate tomatoes &#8211; Opinions vary widely on how to prune indeterminate tomatoes.\u00a0 But without pruning, a supervigorous grafted tomato will just keep growing, producing a riot of foliage; by strategically removing some of this excess, you will allow plants to ripen larger, tastier, earlier tomatoes and keep foliage up off the ground, reducing losses to pests and disease.\u00a0 As with determinate tomatoes, you can improve air circulation by removing all branches and suckers (the little shoots that emerge where each branch meets the main stem) from the bottom 10 or 12 inches of the stem.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Our favorite way to grow a grafted tomato is to prune it to two laterals (the main stem plus the side shoot or sucker just below the first fruit cluster) which are then trained up a trellis into a V shape.<\/p>\n<p>We make our trellis from two eight-foot-tall poles, placed at either end of a garden row, joined at their tops by a crosspiece of wood (or a taut piece of string or wire) that parallels the ground.\u00a0 We anchor a wooden stake in the ground next to each tomato plant.\u00a0 Then, starting at one of the end poles, we run a string from the top of the trellis down at an angle to the first stake, then back up at an angle to the top of the trellis, repeating the process (and connecting the string to each stake) until we reach the top of the pole at the other end.\u00a0 This creates a repeating V-shape in the trellis, giving each plant\u2019s two vines its own rope to climb.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Throughout the summer, continue to pinch off all the suckers that appear on both leaders. If plants seem to be getting too dense and bushy, you can remove a branch of foliage here and there to encourage air circulation. But don\u2019t get carried away and prune too much \u2013 plants need leaves to manufacture the energy that creates sugar in the fruits; and tomatoes can be subject to sunscald if too much of the plant\u2019s leafy canopy is removed.\u00a0 Depending on your soil and climate, you may need to prune more or less \u2013 we look forward to hearing about regional differences in growing Mighty \u2019Mato!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet Mighty \u2019Mato and Friends! In 2010, we introduced our new line of SuperNaturals Grafted Vegetables, starring Mighty \u2019Mato Grafted Tomatoes \u2013 favorite tomato varieties grown on special rootstock for enhanced vigor and productivity.\u00a0 Now the full line of SuperNaturals Grafted Vegetables is available including Mighty \u2019Mato, Mighty 2\u2019Mato (two varieties on one plant), Mighty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4932"}],"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=4932"}],"version-history":[{"count":56,"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22816,"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4932\/revisions\/22816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loghouseplants.com\/plants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}