Using High Tunnels and Organic Using High Tunnels and Organic Practices to Grow Grafted Practices to Grow Grafted Heirloom TomatoesHeirloom Tomatoes

NC STATE UNIVERSITY

Cary Rivard, Suzanne O’Connell, Frank Louws, Mary Peet, & Chris Harlow

December 13th, 200722nd Annual SE Vegetable & Fruit Expo

Myrtle Beach, SC

• Season extension

• Reduced foliar disease– Leaf wetness

• Increased fruit quality– Water management

• All shapes and sizes

• Intensively managed

• Crop rotation

High Tunnels

Fusarium wilt

Sclerotinia Lettuce Drop - Lettuce

Early Tomato Production

Grafting Worldwide

81% of Korean and 54% of Japanese vegetable production uses grafted plants

(Lee, 2003)

• Investigate grafting as a major IPM component of tunnel tomato production.– Soilborne disease– Nutrient uptake– Crop productivity

• Compare system dynamics of tunnel and field production.

• Evaluate rootstock with and without disease pressure.

• On-farm trials• CEFS Research Trial

Project Objectives

Tube Grafting

Tube Grafting

Tube Grafting

Grafting at NC State

– Bacterial Wilt (R. solanacearum)

– Fusarium Wilt (F. oxysporumf.sp. lycopersici)

– Root-knot Nematodes(Meloidogyne spp.)

– Verticillium Wilt (V. dahliae)

– Southern Stem Blight(Sclerotium rolfsii)

= On-farm trials

= NCDA Research Stations

= 2005

= 2006

= 2007

Holtwood, PA

Field Research

HRSHRHRHRHRHRBig Power *****

SSHRHRSHRHRRobusta ******

HRHRHRHRHRHRHRRST-04-105 ****

HRMRHRSHRHRHRAsahi ***

HRMRHRHRHRSHRSurvivor **

HRMRHRHRHRSHRAnchor-T **

MRSHRHRHRHRHRBeaufort *

MRSHRHRHRHRHRMaxifort *

NematodesWiltWiltRace 2Race 1RootTMVRootstock

Bacterial Verticillium Fusarium WiltCorky

HR =Highly Resistant, MR=Moderately Resistant, S =Susceptible

* = De ‘Ruiter Seed Co. ** = Takii Seed Co. *** = Dai Honmei

**** = D Palmer Seed Co. ***** =Rijk Zwaan ****** = Bruinsma Seed Co.

Commercial Rootstock Selection

Sampson County - 2007

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

20-A

pr27

-Apr

4-May

11-M

ay18

-May

25-M

ay1-J

un8-J

un15

-Jun

22-Ju

n29

-Jun

6-Jul

13-Ju

l20

-Jul

27-Ju

l3-A

ug

Bac

teria

l Wilt

Inci

denc

e (%

) NonSelfDP 105Asahi

Bacterial Wilt

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Tota

l Yie

ld (l

bs/p

lant

)

Non Self DP 105 Asahi

Sampson County - 2007

Bacterial Wilt

AA

AB

B

Based on LSD at P=0.05

Alamance County - 2007

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1-M

ay

8-M

ay

15-M

ay

22-M

ay

29-M

ay

5-Ju

n

12-J

un

19-J

un

26-J

un

3-Ju

l

10-J

ul

17-J

ul

24-J

ul

31-J

ul

7-Au

g

14-A

ug

21-A

ug

28-A

ug

4-Se

p

11-S

ep

18-S

ep

Sout

hern

Ste

m B

light

Inci

denc

e (%

)

NonSelfMaxifortBeaufort

Southern Stem Blight

Alamance County - 2007

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Non Self Beaufort Maxifort

Tota

l Yie

ld (l

bs/p

lot) AA

B B

Least Significant Difference at P=0.05

Southern Stem Blight

Nutrient Analysis

0

1

2

3

4

N P K Ca Mg S Nutrient

Perc

ent %

BigPower/GJBeaufort/GJself-graftnon-graft

Macro-Nutrient Uptake of Grafted Tomatoes Orange County - 2007

A AB B

A AB B

A A

B B

B BA A

A B B B

BC C B A

Based on LSD at P=0.05

2006 SR-SARE R&E Grant

• Compare production dynamics of tunnel vs field production– Environment– Disease– Productivity– Economics

• Optimize cultural practices for high tunnels– Nutrient inputs– Planting date

• Investigate the role of grafting for field and tunnel production– Beaufort– Maxifort– Rootstock / scion combinations

CEFS Research

Crop ProductivityMain System Effects: CEFS 2007

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

30-M

ay

6-Jun

13-Ju

n

20-Ju

n

27-Ju

n

4-Jul

11-Ju

l

18-Ju

l

25-Ju

l

1-Aug

8-Aug

Cum

ulat

ive

Tota

l Yie

ld (l

bs/p

lot)

TunnelField

25 days

Crop ProductivityMain Effects: CEFS 2007

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Tunne

l

Field

Low

Medium High Non

Beaufo

rtMax

ifort

Tota

l Yie

ld (l

bs/p

lot)

System Nutrient Grafting

P=0.01 P=0.001 P<0.001

Tomato Spotted Wilt VirusCEFS - 2007

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10-19 20-29 30-39 >40

TSWV Incidence (%)

Plot

Fre

quen

cy (%

)

TunnelField

A

B

A

A

A AA A

Based on LSD at P=0.05

Main Plant Growth Effects: CEFS - 2007

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

20-M

ar

3-Apr

19-A

pr

Non

Self

Beaufort

Maxifo

rt

Shoo

t Bio

mas

s (g

)

P = 0.0026P = 0.0085

Plant Vigor

CEFS - 2007

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

30-M

ay

6-Jun

13-Ju

n

20-Ju

n

27-Ju

n

4-Jul

11-Ju

l

18-Ju

l

25-Ju

l

1-Aug

8-Aug

Cum

ulat

ive

Tota

l Yie

ld (l

bs/p

lot

03/20 - Tunnel04/03 - Tunnel04/19 - Tunnel

Crop Productivity

21 days

Main Grafting Effects in 3/19 Tunnel PlantingCEFS - 2007

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

30-M

ay

6-Jun

13-Ju

n

20-Ju

n

27-Ju

n

4-Jul

11-Ju

l

18-Ju

l

25-Ju

l

1-Aug

8-Aug

Cum

ulat

ive

Tota

l Yie

ld (l

bs/p

lot)

NonBeauMax

P<0.05

Crop Productivity

• Grafting provides a site-specific management tool for soilborne disease.– Bacterial Wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum)– Fusarium Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici)– Root-knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.)– Verticillium Wilt (Vertcillium dahliae (race 2))– Southern Stem Blight (Sclerotium rolfsii)

• Grafting may affect nutrient uptake efficiency.

• ~25 days early season extension with high tunnels.• Total productivity was higher in the tunnel system.• Beaufort and Maxifort show higher yields under no soilborne

disease pressure.• Optimal planting date is March 20th for Eastern NC.

Conclusions

AcknowledgmentsWe would sincerely like to thank…

Steve Moore (CEFS)Ken Fager (NCSU)CEFS NCDA StaffJosh MooreNCDA&CSNCSU Phytotron

IDM LabJim DriverRob WelkerAmy KeeterAmanda Guichard

Growers:Alex & Betsy HittKen Dawson Stefan HartmannSteve Groff

Funding:SR-SARE

Questions?Questions?