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Post by daylilydude on May 27, 2018 6:49:26 GMT -5
Do you do this type of starting tomato plants and which do you prefer... starting the rooting process in water or soil?
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 27, 2018 10:00:56 GMT -5
I usually only do it to save tomato plants that have been broken, or to clone a plant.
Potting mix or soil works great. The mix/soil needs to be kept consistently quite moist. It really helps to keep the cuttings in complete shade or indoors - or at the very least provide some protection from the mid-day sun - for several days.
Though I have had cuttings occasionally survive even when rooted outside in the sun. For that to work, you need a big cutting that you can stick deep into the ground, though. Little cuttings will dry up before they can root.
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Post by pepperhead212 on May 27, 2018 10:48:26 GMT -5
I also only do this to save plants, for the most part. To take cuttings from plants to start new plants, they would have to be fairly large, and by the time the cutting rooted, and got planted, it would be far behind the other plants.
I do them in water, using a bit of my cloning liquid, and have also used my cloner, if I already had it running with herbs, FI. I do this indoors, and change the water every 3 days, and plant it in a small pot, when the roots start growing. Then, when it starts growing leaves, I'll begin hardening it off, getting it used to the sun, and eventually, plant it outside.
Fortunately, I haven't had to do this too often!
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on May 27, 2018 11:48:34 GMT -5
I haven't ever attempted to do this. Although I have read about others doing it.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 27, 2018 12:08:41 GMT -5
Tomatoes are easy to root - all you have to do is keep the cutting from drying out for a few days and it *will* root. Tomatillos are the same way, it seems. (I broke off the top of one of my tomatillos when planting and just stuck it in the dirt. I kept that area moist and the thing rooted and started putting on new growth in a matter of days.) Peppers and eggplants will also root, but more slowly. So you can't just stick 'em in the ground; they will dry out and die before taking root. The water and rooting hormone/cloning liquid method pepperhead212 described works well, though.
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Post by paulf on May 27, 2018 13:31:58 GMT -5
Don't do cuttings, just seeds and plants.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on May 27, 2018 14:57:47 GMT -5
daylilydude, Laura_in_FL, pepperhead212, hairymooseknuckles, paulf, Seeings how I haven't ever tried to do this. This afternoon, I am going to take a cutting and attempt. New experiences and all ya know. Also, who was it on here that started their seeds early cause they wanted something to do. Remember? I was thinking this would be a good way to restart the clock so they wouldn't need to go straight to the garden.
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Post by september on May 27, 2018 15:11:53 GMT -5
My season is too short to do cuttings, takes too much time and trouble to overwinter them. I did take some tip cuttings that seemed to have survived a light fall frost one year and just rooted them in water to see if they would grow. I planted them in pots after they grew a few roots. Another year I had trouble with adult damping off on some plants that had already started to set fruit. I cut them above the stem rot and put them in water thinking to plant them later. I forgot about them, and they went on to ripen the few fruit just growing in the water. Never did plant them. I suppose if I ever got something like the true Purple Haze F1 hybrid that seeds are not sold for, I might consider taking cuttings.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on May 27, 2018 15:29:45 GMT -5
I suppose if I ever got something like the true Purple Haze F1 hybrid that seeds are not sold for, I might consider taking cuttings. I don't have F1, but have F6 & will have F7 This year. I might even have some F3 & F4 in freezer.
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Post by Gianna on May 27, 2018 15:58:43 GMT -5
Since we can grow tomatoes here, some years, for 12 months, I often start cuttings of my plants. I start every year with new seedlings, then when the whim hits, I'll start some cuttings from the better plants.
I use larger cell containers, strip most leaves off, put the ends in the soil, then put the cell container in a saucer with 1/2 inch or so of water so the soil is constantly moist. Then into the shade, and depending on the weather, I'll put a loose plastic bag over the top. When the plants have 'that look' and with roots growing out the bottom, out they go.
My first tomatoes this year will be from an old battle-weary hold-over from last year that survived a bit of a slight cold snap, started via a cutting, that already has fruits a couple inches across. Some of the first seedlings into the ground also have 1 inch fruits.
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