Planting Tomato Branches – Easily Clone Your Favorite
New Tomato Plants from Cuttings.
Tomatoes are everybody’s favourite vegetable, and I am sure if you are a gardener you do have few different varieties growing. Tomatoes are not the easiest to grow, and tomato seeds do take time to germinate especially in a cooler home. If you have sown your tomato seeds a bit too early and have few plants gone leggy because of the lack of light or low temperature and some of them even died you can try this method to propagate new tomato plants from your existing ones. Have you tried propagating tomato plants from cuttings, if you haven’t it’s very easy. If you have any plants which have grown very leggy, don’t throw them away, simply cut of the top 6-8 inches of the plant and either place in a glass of water to root, or stick straight into a 4-5ins pot of multipurpose compost. They will root in 7-10 days. Alternatively you can use one of the side shoots that are removed from cordon plants. These softer shoot cuttings are best rooted in a glass of water. You can use any side or top shoot from any tomato and it will root easily at this time of the year.
A big advantage these cuttings have, is that they are the same age as the parent tomato plant that the cuttings were taken from. This means they are not like young seedlings, their DNA is of a much older more mature plant, so will flower and fruit earlier. Many of the cutting, especially from the tops of leggy plants, already have a truss or two of flowers.
If you are short of a few tomato plants and you would like more growing, or if some of your plants have gotten leggy, give it a try. I always root a few in June, sometimes even in July to get a later tomato crop. Last year I was picking tomatoes in November, in a cold greenhouse. It is also a good way of bulking up your stock of expensive varieties. source
You can plant tomato plants from cuttings, specifically from the “sucker” or side shoots that emerge from the main stem. These cuttings are easy to root and can provide you with new tomato plants. Here’s how to do it:
1. Gather your materials:
- Sharp pruners or scissors
- A clear container (like a glass or jar)
- Water
- Potting mix
- Pots or containers for planting
- Dowel or pencil
- Locate a healthy tomato plant with sucker shoots.
- Cut 6-8 inch (15-20 cm) pieces of the sucker shoots, ensuring they don’t have any buds on them.
- Remove the bottom leaves, leaving a few leaves on the top.
- Place the cuttings in a glass of water on a sunny windowsill.
- Change the water every few days to keep it clean.
- Roots should develop in 3-4 weeks.
- Prepare your soil by moistening it.
- Make a hole with a dowel or pencil and bury the cutting up to where you removed the lower leaves.
- Water the soil regularly.
- Once the cuttings have developed a good root system (about 1-2 inches), you can transplant them into individual pots.
- Water thoroughly and place the pots in a sunny location.
- Plant the rooted cuttings into the ground, ensuring they are buried deep enough to encourage root growth along the stem.
- Space the plants according to their variety and size.
RECAP
Steps to Grow Tomato Plants from Stem Cuttings
- Select the Cutting:
– Choose a healthy, disease-free tomato plant.
– Look for a stem that is 4-6 inches long and has at least 2-3 leaf nodes. - Cut the Stem:
– Use clean, sharp scissors or pruning shears to make a clean cut just below a leaf node. - Prepare the Cutting:
– Remove the lower leaves, leaving a few leaves at the top. This helps reduce moisture loss and encourages root development. - Rooting the Cutting:
– In Water: Place the cutting in a glass of water, ensuring that the leaf nodes are submerged. Change the water every few days.
– In Soil: Alternatively, you can plant the cutting directly in a pot with moist potting mix. Water it lightly. - Provide a Suitable Environment:
– Keep the cuttings in a warm, bright location but out of direct sunlight. If rooting in soil, cover with a plastic bag or a humidity dome to retain moisture. - Transplanting:
– Once the roots are about 2-3 inches long (usually within a couple of weeks), you can transplant the cuttings into larger pots or directly into the garden. - Care for the New Plants:
– Water the new plants regularly and provide support as they grow. Ensure they get plenty of sunlight.
Plant Tomatoes Sideways or Bury Deeply – The Secret To Huge Harvests