Gardeners may be familiar with starting new perennials and shrubs from cuttings, but you may not realize that veggies can be started this way, too! Tomato plants, in particular, adapt themselves well to cutting propagation because the cells in their stems may become roots.
Growing tomato plants from cuttings comes in useful when you’re looking around someone else’s garden and see a tomato plant you like. Be respectful and ask beforehand, but it’s simple to take a few snips and leave. It also allows you to acquire only a handful of plants and then create a few more for yourself for free.
While you’re about it, add a few more and give them to close friends. Place a little tomato plant that you cultivated yourself in a colorful container and with planting instructions. There isn’t a finer hostess present for an early summer barbecue than this.
One of the advantages of propagating tomato plants by stem cuttings is that it can take tomato seedlings (started from seed) 6 to 8 weeks before they reach transplanting size. When tomato cuttings are kept warm, the transplanting period is reduced to 10 – 14 days.
Even if you’ve never attempted growing plants from cuttings before, you’re almost certain to succeed. Tomato cuttings are so simple to root that they will even root in a cup of water. Having said that, plants grow stronger when they are rooted in soil.
Contents
What you’ll need:
- 6 inch tomato cuttings from the plant’s tops
- 4 inch clean containers
- Potting soil that had been dampened thoroughly
- A pencil
How to start tomato plants from cuttings:
1. Begin by filling your 4 inch pots halfway with wet potting soil.
2. Take the 6 inch cuttings and clip off any flowers or buds. Remove the lowest leaves, leaving just two on the cutting.
3. Use the pencil to make a hole in the potting soil—you don’t want to attempt to press the delicate stem into the dirt.
4. Put the cuttings into the soil and press the soil up around them. Make certain that the areas where you removed the lower leaves are buried.
5. Store them somewhere warm but out of direct sunlight. I prefer a kitchen window to protect them from the elements, but where ever they are protected is fine.
6. Keep them wet and in this location for a week.
7. You’ll then want to gradually expose them to stronger light until they are in the sun for most of the day. This might take up to a week.
8. At this point you can transplant them into the garden bed or maybe a large pot, where they will continue to grow and produce some lovely tomatoes for you! Now is the greatest time to offer your friends young tomato seedlings so they may start them in their gardens straight away.
Related Questions
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Can you propagate tomato plants from cuttings?
It is straightforward to propagate tomatoes from cuttings. It’s an excellent method for cloning your favorite tomato type. You can even propagate smaller varieties and grow your tomatoes indoors throughout winter. As long as they’re getting plenty of sunlight and water, you could be enjoying homegrown tomatoes all year round.
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Can you grow a tomato plant from a broken stem?
Rooting in Soil
To root a broken stem, just insert the damaged end of the tomato plant into damp soil and keep it uniformly moist for a week to ten days. -
How long does it take for tomato cuttings to root?
Keep it moist, and a healthy root system should emerge in three to four weeks.
