A Comparison of Growth and Yield in Grafted vs.
Non-grafted Beef Type Tomatoes
Dr. Patricia
Rorabaugh, Plant Sciences
The experiment
comparing the productivity of grafted and non-grafted tomatoes is the
second in a series in the University of Arizona’s CEAC Crop Production
Teaching Laboratory that has been completed with the help of PLS 217 and
394 student classes. The beef type tomato variety, Rapsodie (chosen
because of its excellent performance in previous trials at the UA/CEAC in
Tucson), was grown under various treatments: (1) from seed, (2) grafted to
a Maxi-Fort root stock and trained to a single stem, (3) grafted to
Maxi-Fort and trained to two stems, 4) grafted back to a Rapsodie root
stock and trained to a single stem and 5) Rapsodie from seed but trained
to two stems. Grafting has been used in the past primarily to
confer disease resistance to plants growing in soil by combining a good
producing scion (aerial portion of plant) to a disease resistant root
(root stock). Recently, however, greenhouse tomato growers have been
using grafting to combine a variety that produces a large number of good
quality fruit (scion) with a vigorous rootstock that more efficiently
transports water and nutrients. To our knowledge, these were the
first such side-by-side comparisons of these treatments and will hopefully
yield interesting data relevant to the industry.
Cooperators:
Dr. Merle Jensen, Dr. Roger Huber, Dr. Mary Olsen, Mr. Stephen Kania, PLS
217 & PLS 394 (383) Greenhouse Hydroponic Classes, and members of the
Campus Agricultural Center greenhouse staff
Completed June
2005 |
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