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Old May 9, 2019   #106
strawbaleking
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Thanks for responding!
Yes, I was bottom watering almost always. I did repot. I thought the roots didn't seem that aggressive at all when I did that. And when the problem started, I checked the roots then and it seemed like they should have been almost rootbound but were nowhere near that still at this point due to all the rain outside - couldn't plant. I had tomatoes growing for the last few months 'practice' and they seemed to have more root material (And none got sick either). Esp the ones I tried in DE. I didn't use the DE on this final big round, don't know why.
As for the vigourousness of "use" of the ferts, the biggest plants are the ones (in general) did fare better whether using RST or Estimino. But my huge Earl Fauxs all went down on both rootstock. In fact all my potato leaved ones pretty much shriveled up but not reg leaved.
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Old May 14, 2019   #107
xellos99
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I will be attempting grafting for the 1st time next year, I figured I already have large high dome propagator with heating control so costs will be minimal.

I was totally unable to get the rootstock I wanted called Maxifort and after a ton of research and a little luck I found out that one of the rootstock I could get easily was SuperNatural.

At least I think it is supernatural. They appear to market it to home gardeners now under the name Submarine.
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Old May 14, 2019   #108
b54red
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Quote:
Originally Posted by strawbaleking View Post
Thanks for responding!
Yes, I was bottom watering almost always. I did repot. I thought the roots didn't seem that aggressive at all when I did that. And when the problem started, I checked the roots then and it seemed like they should have been almost rootbound but were nowhere near that still at this point due to all the rain outside - couldn't plant. I had tomatoes growing for the last few months 'practice' and they seemed to have more root material (And none got sick either). Esp the ones I tried in DE. I didn't use the DE on this final big round, don't know why.
As for the vigourousness of "use" of the ferts, the biggest plants are the ones (in general) did fare better whether using RST or Estimino. But my huge Earl Fauxs all went down on both rootstock. In fact all my potato leaved ones pretty much shriveled up but not reg leaved.
There are a couple of things that could be going on. You may be watering them too much. Don't water them until after they are out of the healing chamber or at least until 5 full days and nights have passed. You also don't need to bottom water once the seedlings are grafted. After the initial watering with dilute fertilizer after coming out of the healing chambers watch for new growth at the top and keep any side shoots that come out along the root stock pinched off. Keep them in a well lighted but shady place like a porch or under a tree until you see new growth showing on the scion. At that point gradually introduce them to direct sunlight outside. Allow them to dry out enough that they show some signs of wilting before watering each time so they will develop a much more vigorous root system. Once out hardening off remove suckers and some of the lowest leaves as they grow and feed them once or twice a week with diluted liquid fertilizer.

Your problem with potato leaf plants is probably due to leaving too many leaves and stems on the scion when grafting. Since the leaves are so much larger and heavier you need to remove most of them so the weight of them will not pull down the scion and cause the graft to separate. This is especially a problem when the clip is not tight. It is also a good idea to remove a good bit of the root off the root stock so that it will not pull up too much water while trying to heal. I don't worry about this as much during the early grafting in late winter when the low temps keep the plant from wilting and a larger top doesn't hurt too much but once the spring warm up gets here I work with less top and less root for higher success.

I don't know why or if giving them kelp fertilizer could have caused a problem unless the graft union was not healed. That is why you don't want to water the plants when they are healing in the healing chamber. If you do water too soon it can result in total failure of the graft as the root stock will suck up too much water and it will cause separation in the unhealed graft. It is also good to make sure the scions are well watered before the grafting but the root stock should be a bit dry. I try not to water the root stock for three days or so before grafting unless they are wilting and then I do it very lightly: just enough for them to perk up a bit.

I have not noticed a difference in success rates from one root stock variety to the other. I would guess there might have been a size difference due to the different growth rates of the two root stocks you used. I have used them both and several others and as long as I match up the stem sizes well and don't use too large a seedling or too small a seedling my success rate doesn't show much variation between root stocks. This year I am only using RST-04-106-T for all my grafts because it is so good at reducing the affects of fusarium wilt and bacterial wilt. I also like it better because it seems a bit less vegetative than the others I have tried and I already have to prune enough.

Of course the problems you have had could just be one of those mysteries that happen with grafting. I have grafted using the same technique for years now and can not explain why one batch will have near 100% success and do everything the same the very next day and have losses of over 50%. There seems to be as much art in grafting as science.

Bill
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Old October 8, 2019   #109
rick9748
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Thank you for your time.
Very well done!
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