Hard graft - easy graft

I've just got back from the Suttons Press Day at Capel Manor in Enfield. Another great day, very useful and informative - thanks David, Tom and Fran.
Among all the new flower and veg seed introductions for 2010, probably the most exciting news is the introduction of a wide range of grafted vegetable plants. You may have grown some of Suttons grafted tomatoes this year, but the new range also includes sweet peppers, chilli peppers, cucumbers, aubergines and melons.
The advantage of grafted plants (that is grafting a known vegetable variety onto a known, reliable rootstock) are many, but include: healthier, stronger plants that are especially better in poor summers (2007-2009 for example!); heavier and better yields produced over a longer period (both earlier and later); better disease resistance; and plants less susceptible to nutritional disorders - although they do need more feeding with potash fertilisers, due to their strong, vigorous growth.
None of this is new. Gardeners used to regularly graft their own tomatoes back in the day, but it's difficult, tedious work, Commercially most aubergine production is from grafted plants as is the majority of organic pepper and organic cucumber production. But what is new is that these methods are now available to the home gardener as ready-to-grow plants. Okay, they may be expensive to buy (around a tenner for three plants), but apparently people have been lapping up the tomato plants this year, so these new introductions should prove just as popular.
As Tom Sharples from Suttons says: "Grafting helps make the uncertainty of growing some of these crops more certain. Those that have depended on a good summer or even having to be grown in a greenhouse to do well will now be available to everyone and produce a reliable crop."
The grafting process is also giving Suttons the opportunity to experiment. They are grafting two different tomato varieties onto one rootstock to produce a 'family tomato' plant and, due to the increased vigour, even running up two main shoots from each plant - or four from the family tomato. This not only increases yield from each plant, but also allows you to grow more in a smaller space. Good thinking.
If you've grown the grafted tomatoes this year I'd love to hear your comments.