We'll need more information on the construction and conditions within your healing chamber to provide any constructive advice.

smithmal

Mine take more than three days before I can start uncovering. When I do uncover, I only do it for a short time, checking every half hour at first to make sure none have wilted. Then longer times uncovered each day until they're ok. This year I couldn't start to leave any completely uncovered until at least 8 days post-grafting. I don't keep mine in the dark, just in dim light for the first few days.

Thanks for the responses. My seedlings are indoors under lights and a south face window. Everything was started using compressed peat pots. The grafted seedlings were placed in a (clean) cat litter box and covered with a dark towel. I think I need to wean back into the light as socalgal suggested. The only heat is from my household system, set at 65F. I should know more in a couple of hours when I return home. Hopefully, they have perked back up, and I will introduce them to the light in a slower manner.

One other question: How will I know when to remove the grafting silicon sleves?

if your silicon sleeves are like mine and have a slit all the way up one side they will be pushed off as the plants grow.

How are you maintaining humidity? Is your only cover a dark towel? Or do you have a separate cover to keep the humidity high? My covers are clear (plastic). The grafts don't have a problem with light, but wilt if I reduce the humidity too soon.

No cover other than the towel. Perhaps this is my fatal flaw. I misted them yesterday and will see if they perk up today. I do have a chamber and will move them into that if it's not too late. Thanks socalgal for you help! It would be awesome if I can get at least ONE to survive. This year may be chocked up to the ole learning experience route. I still have a few of the rootstock plants left, so there may be a chance for me yet if this round doesn't live. As a backup, I have started a tray of hybrids in case no grafts live, and the soil treatment doesn't lick the fusarium wilt. I still have lots of heirlooms to eventually plant, just no grafted ones yet. I'm still at least a couple of weeks before frost is likely past.

I'll keep you posted as things progress/decline.

Naaah - get a cool mist humidifier & run it on the grafted plants for 5 days minimum. Don't uncover for 4 to 5 days - when uncovering, check on them after 2 hours -if wilting, recover for a day. Best to use 4 or 5 layers of 50% shade cover draped over itself 4 or 5 times. Then pull one layer a day starting on day 4 or 5. I just took the NCSU ext service grafting class this month. One of my test grafts made it w/o a healing chamber at all b/c of the cool misty cloudy weather we have had - go figure. I am using Early & often cherry toms as rootstock along with Goliath and Big Beef. The Early & Oftens got to be over 10 feet tall & gave me 2 grocery bags of green toms on 12/4 - the date of our first hard freeze.

Well, round two was a bust as well. I will attempt a third try with the remaining Maxiforts, and I have a few hybrids that I will give a go as well. I have a plexiglass "box" (2.5' x 2.5' x 2.5') that I salvaged several years ago when I worked in our seed lab. I will do the grafts, and place everything in there and place in a closet. I can't figure out how to bump up the humidity without adding a humidifier, and I fear that the temp will get too high in the enclosure.

I think my fatal flaw on round two was removing the cover too soon, and not maintaining moisture. Apart from somehow rigging up a humidifier, perhaps these will stick and I'll have at least a few grafted heirlooms to compare with the non-grafted ones. Any ideas on adding humidity other than a daily misting? I can buy a cheap humidifier, but am afraid of too much heat. My house temp is set at 65F and we're starting to get some warm days now, so I don't think cold temps will be an issue.

Thanks Everyone! Sorry that I haven't properly introduced myself yet. Paul from Little Rock. Botanist/horticulturist works in state government with nurseries/landscapers and spends a lot of time dealing with insects/diseases/and weeds, oh my! Former landscaper, now I only do that in my yard which is very steep and terraced with dry stack rocks. My garden plot is a community garden a mile away. I've got great sun there, but can't rotate since I have the same bed year after year. I grow mostly heirloom tomatoes and chili peppers there. Fusarium wilt is my bane, hense the grafting attempts.

Oh, I've got a great recommendation on a pepper that I think is the best all around. Aji Amarillo is a Peruvian chili that ripens to a nice orange. It's about the size of a small Anaheim, moderate heat and is fairly sweet. Thin flesh and thin skin seems to work best sauteed or fresh and not roasted.

Pauln,

Humidity is probably more important than any other variable in your healing chamber. When the scion is cut from it's base, it has no way of obtain water except through transpiration. For this reason, the humidity needs to be extremely high until the scion-rootstock union is properly developed.

Cold mist vaporizers will provide humidity without kicking up the temperatures within the healing chamber. You could also passively create humidity by placing a container of water into your healing chamber however it may take some time for the humidity to increase in the chamber through passive evaporation.

I think it is vital that you figure out some way to get your humidity up in your chamber especially during the early time period of grafting.

smithmal

two thoughts:

How wet is your rootstock? Too much and the hydraulic flow from the developed roots will push the graft apart. Some grafters uses rootstock cuttings so the graft and roots develop at about the same rate taking the pressure off the graft.

Increase both your temperature and humidity by putting an aquarium heater in a jar of water in the chamber. Shoot for 70-75 degrees.

Hope this helps,
Rick

I tried a different approach to using the silicon clips. Its way to long for here, but you can read it and laugh at me if you want to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trying Tomato Grafts

I'm baffled! I took my 6 grafted heirloom tomatoes that were growing healthy scions (tops), and half of the tops just fell right off when I finally moved them.

Now, it seems to me that if the tops were growing healthfully, the graft had to be functioning. But they arent. After 3 weeks, if they aren't then, they never will.

I gave the grafted scion darkness for a week, I kept them humidified. No signs of fungal problems.

6 of the 15 grafts seemed to thrive. I let them be exposed to light very gradually for over a week after a week of darkness. Most of the grafts just fell apart when I tried to move them gently...

If the scions were growing new leaves, they HAD to be connected to the rootstock, So what did I do wrong?

And I will say that I am very glad I planted enough so that there are plenty of regular-growing heirlooms!