More Tomato Roots

It may seem that we're obsessed with the root systems of the tomato plants we grafted last Spring, but we've been very curious about the effect of the grafting on the root systems.

Healthy Plants

The vines were very healthy and vigorous and produced a good crop of tomatoes.  As far as I know, we didn't have any of the grafted plants succumb to bacterial wilt this year.

These roots are from one of the Stupice plants.

And this is one heck of a vigorous stem.

Yes, They Really Are Tomato Vines

And now it's goodbye to the tomatoes for this season.

Grafted Tomato Plants

Last March Cindy grafted some of her tomato seedlings onto tomato root stock (see:  Dr. Cindy and Dr. Kay Operate), to give the tomato plants a better chance to fend off Fusarium Wilt and other fungus and bacterial diseases that attack tomato plants.

Last year's experiment with one Box Car Willie tomato plant was a success, so of course this year Cindy decided to try several different varieties of tomato: Box Car Willie, Stupice and Sioux and several different root stocks.  The Sioux plant and one of the Box Car Willies didn't survive for long, and Cindy hasn't pulled out the Stupice plants yet, but the other two grafted Box Cars and the control did very well.  All three were planted in the same bed and all three produced tomatoes, although we didn't keep track of which plant produced the most fruit this year.

Since the tomatoes are now at the end of their productive season, Cindy tore the Box Car Willie plants out yesterday, so we were able to compare the root systems of all three of those plants.

A Tale of Three Box Cars

From left to right in this picture, the control plant is on the left, the middle plant was grafted onto RST-04-106 rootstock from Tomato Growers Supply Company, and the plant on the right was grafted onto Estamino F-1 rootstock from Natural Gardening Company.

The main stem and subsidiary stems on the Estamino rootstock plant were larger than those on the RST-04-106 and about twice the size of the stems on the control plant.

Estamino and Control Plant Roots 

Estamino plant roots on the left and control plant roots on the right.

I have a feeling that next year there will be more grafting.

A New Invader--Asian Tiger Mosquito

The San Diego County Vector Control Office is reporting recent sightings of a new health threat in San Diego County, the Asian Tiger Mosquito.  For more information, see: http://www.countynewscenter.com/news/new-invader-asian-tiger-mosquito-found-county .

Although this insect is apparently not very widespread yet, it seems to be a nasty bug that prefers an urban environment, bites indoors during the day and carries yellow fever, chikungunya (I hope I never find out what that one is) and dengue fever.  Cindy's nephew Jake had a nasty bout of dengue fever in Mexico several years ago; although none of these diseases are usually present in San Diego County, they're nothing to take any chances with.

Vector Control is urging people to take the same precautions they should already be taking to prevent the spread of the West Nile virus:  prevent mosquito breeding by dumping out standing water; protect yourself with appropriate clothing and insect repellant, and report green swimming pools and mosquitos biting indoors during daylight hours to Vector Control.  And, of course, West Nile itself has not gone away; two new cases were recently reported in San Diego County.  http://www.countynewscenter.com/news/west-nile-virus-update-state-confirms-new-cases#.VgxkF0IIjXs.email.

Vector Control also provides free mosquito fish to help control mosquito breeding in ponds and fountains.  FREE!