Tips on growing grafted tomatoes

My 'Big Beef ' SuperNaturals Mighty 'Matoes are being tested in my garden and so far, doing well - even in this blistering heat.

If you were one of the lucky ones to get your hands on a Mighty 'Mato, here are some tips from the co-developer, John Bagnasco, of Garden Life, that should help you grow the perfect grafted tomatoes.

Avoid over-fertilizing your Mighty 'Mato. Just feed it as you would a regular tomato.

Mighty 'Mato is happiest planted in the ground, but if you need or prefer containers, use at least a 15 gallon size or a half wine barrel.

Pruning is also crucial to contain and direct the plant's energy to fruit production. For all grafted tomatoes, remove suckers (side shoots) that form below the graft.

Improve air circulation by removing all branches and suckers from the bottom 10 or 12 inches of the stem. If plants are getting too dense and bushy, you can remove a branch of foliage here and there to encourage air circulation.

Bagnasco says that his favorite way to grow a grafted tomato is to prune it to two laterals (the main stem plus the side shoot or sucker just below the first fruit cluster) which are then trained up a trellis into a V shape.

Throughout the summer, continue to pinch off the suckers that appear on both the leaders.

Wanna' talk about trellis making? Ha! That's next time! By the way, the image is what we can expect to see from Mighty 'Mato. Can't wait! Happy gardening!

~Lynne, GMG

Hot Tomatoes!

Yay!! We received our test samples of the new grafted SuperNaturals Mighty 'Mato tomatoes last week.

GardenLife sent us one 'Big Beef' (non-grafted) and one of the new grafted 'Big Beef ' Mighty 'Matoes. And I can't wait to "test" and see how they compare. Yum.

Some are available in two different varieties on one plant!

The above image shows a side-by-side of 'Big Beef ' on the left and Mighty 'Mato 'Big Beef ' on the right. Wow. And the image below is an example of red and yellow pear tomatoes from the same Mighty 'Mato plant.

Best of all, they're pest and disease resistant and have a greater tolerance to environmental stresses like excessive heat - (good news around our neck of the woods, lately!)

This year they were in limited supply and are sold online at GardenLife but check with them to see if they may still have some available through this week, only. No promises, but worth the look-see!

Currently, for all you lucky people living on the West Coast, you can find SuperNaturals Mighty 'Matoes at garden centers. Next year you'll find them at retailers nationwide and have the happy decision of heirloom or hybrid.

BTW, for those with small spaces, one plant is all you need. You'll get bigger, better and double the amount of tomatoes per plant!

I'm going to keep track of mine (and our other test plants) and post images from time-to-time throughout the summer...that is, if I don't eat all of them first! Maybe I should have a "tomato stand" in my front yard...hmm.
~Lynne
GMG