Grafting for organic low-tech greenhouse tomatoes

Farmer: R. Victor & Nathan Klassen

Farm: Nith Valley Organics

Region: West

Publish Date: August 11, 2021

Article Type: Research Project

Research Priorities: Seed Production, Selection & Breeding 

As a follow-up to their 2019 multi-farm trial, we compared 5 large tomato varieties and 4 cherry tomato varieties grown by grafting onto four different rootstocks and an ungrafted control.

In a Nutshell

  • The best choice of rootstock was specific to the scion, with some rootstocks producing no improvement
    or even reducing yield for some varieties of scion.
  • Compared to ungrafted plants, Caiman F1 large tomatoes had great yield and profitability when grafted DR0141TX rootstock.
  • Preliminary data suggest that only Sakura cherry tomato may benefit from grafting on Fortanimo or Estanimo, but more replicates are needed to be confident.
  • Preliminary data suggest that grafting “heirloom- like” hybrid varieties tested does not confer a yield advantage, but that open pollinated Striped German maybe benefit from being grafted onto Fortanimo.