According to Purdue Extension, vegetable grafting has attracted tomato growers’ attention as an approach to control soilborne diseases and improve crop yield. By grafting scion plants that have desirable fruit characteristics onto rootstock plants that have disease resistance, stress tolerance, or vigorous root system characteristics, grafted plants combine beneficial traits from both the scion and rootstock plants.
Many growers who are interested in growing grafted tomatoes may be hindered by the high cost of already grafted plants. Growers may prefer to graft their own tomato plants to reduce costs or increase cultivar selection (including the selection of organic seeds).
With the purpose of educating community and master gardeners alike, the Hopkins County Extension Office has planned the Tomato Grafting Workshop with Dr. Joe Masabni, vegetable specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension scheduled for February 7, 2019 starting at 1:00 PM at the Hopkins County Extension Office located at 1200B Houston Street in Sulphur Springs. The cost of the Tomato Grafting Workshop is $10 to cover supplies cost. Attendees will keep 2 tomato plants to take home. Limited to 30 participants. To attend please call 903-885-3443 to RSVP.
