I love growing tomatoes during the summer. Tomato plants are hardy, grow quickly, and produce many fruit during the season. There are also many varieties bred to grow in different growing conditions.
Tomato plant in July 2021
By the end of the season, the plant is at the height of its fruit production. The are many thick stems producing many flowers and fruit. It's so disappointing when weather turns cold and the plant starts to wither and die. This year, I decided to save my very productive tomato plant over the winter by growing clones made from cuttings.
Choosing the Best Stems for Cuttings
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| Here is my tomato plant in October. The leaves are starting to die back. |
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From the above photo you can see that the plant has a few main stems that are thicker than the others. These are the stems that I used to make cuttings.
I cut the stem at the base of the plant then I trim any smaller side branches. I also cut many of the leaves away. I started one cutting in a cup of tap water and another in some soil in a ceramic planter. I also put growing hormone powder on the cuttings to promote root growth.
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Rooting hormone
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| Tomato stem cutting in cup of water |
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| Tomato stem cutting in cup of water |
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| Tomato stem cutting in soil |
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Results
The stem cutting in the cup of water began to die so I cut away the part that was touching the water, applied rooting powder and placed in soil. I also cut another stem from the tomato plant and placed in soil.
Two of the stems that were placed in soil took root and started growing new leaves in about a month. The stem that was placed in water initially continued to rot and die away. I was about to toss the the plant away when I noticed that there were roots growing out of the rotting stem that were nourishing some small tomato leaves. As an experiment, I let this plant live, even though it no longer could support its weight since the stem was rotting and soft.
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| Tomato plant cuttings in soil |
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| New growth seen on tomato cutting |
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| New growth seen on tomato cutting |
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| Tomato cutting growing new leaves |
You can purchase rooting hormone from Amazon:
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