Hishtil to Graft Plants in North Carolina

Chris Beytes

Israeli propagator Hishtil, best known as a member of the former Agrexco group of companies, is coming to North Carolina to graft plants, said a story in BlueRidgeNow.com. It’s a joint venture between Hishtil and two other companies: TriEst Ag Group, a soil management and fumigation firm based in the U.S.; and plant breeder SIS/Centro SEIA from Italy. The partnership will be called Tri-Hishtil. The operation, based in Mills River, will be built on 42 acres of unoccupied land purchased from Van Wingerden International. The business is expected to employ 125 people.

Tri-Hishtil will focus on grafted tomatoes, watermelons, peppers, eggplants and cantaloupes for both commercial farming operations and home gardening. The goal of Tri-Hishtil is to lead the North American grafted vegetable market and will “target the whole Eastern Seaboard to market our grafted plants.”

Grafted vegetable young plants have been used for years in commercial agriculture, primarily for hydroponic greenhouse production. They reached the home gardener most recently through the “Mighty ’Mato” from Log House Plants and available from Plug Connection. Hishtil has offered a grafted basil tree in the U.S. for several seasons. GT

Pictured: Grafted basil from Hishtil, as seen at Spring Trials.