Planting cuttings

[Tomatovator]

If you start seeds too early and the plants get too big too soon can you take cuttings from them, put them in pots and then plant them outside after they have developed roots? Would the plants that started out as cuttings be just as good in the garden than those started from seed?

[Worth1]

Yes they would be.
But what do you mean by too big?
You can put them outside before they develop roots and the weather is mild and the sun is not as intense, it will help harden them off.

If they go outside at this point it will be easier for the plants to survive as the sun will not be as strong.
Just don’t let them freeze in PA.
Also if the soil temps are much less then 60 or 70 degrees the plant won’t be able to take up some nutrients thus the purple color of the leaves and stems.

Just remember that the plant has to develop new roots and this will delay the overall plant growth considerably.
So what you think is the right time to take cuttings my be a little on the late side.

Also you could leave the plant you took cuttings from some growth areas to start new growth from.

There are about a 100 ways to do this and I find it hard to explain this early in the morning.

My choice would be to put them in bigger pots until it is ok to put them outside.
Just don’t burn them up in the sun.

Worth

[feldon30]

Too big? Like if Tomatovator, located in PA, had already started seeds.

[carolyn137]

Feldon asked a good question Tomatovator.

You're in a zone 5/6 area and it would be best to sow seeds about mid-March to April 1 and then they'd be ready to go outside around the first of June, and that's allowing for up to a week of hardening off.

If you sow them before that you've got a mess on your hands.

And if you can clearly see that your plants are going to be over a foot tall before setting out time, then you can either try to hold them back by keeping water to a minimum and NO nutrients, but better still take off all side growth leaving just the main leader stem and a few leaves at the top, and keep them in the shade and cool.

Some folks plant overly tall plants by trenching, or planting horizontally, and I've had to do that when weather conditions just didn't allow for setting out at the right time. And you can do that as well, but it really depends on how many plants one is talking about.

When I was growing up to 1000 plants, season there was NO WAY I was going to trench all of them.

If you must take cuttings, you can, but be sure you do so at a time when you'll still have time for them to grow properly to the right size.

[Tomatovator]

Feldon
I got some lights, starting mix, etc., etc. in December. As a learning experience I planted 2 seeds to see how my set up worked and to see if I could do it as I never started with seeds before. I also wanted to get my own time line as to how long it took in my growing conditions to go from seed to 6"-9" seedling. Well, the set up worked just fine. Now I have 2 plants that are about a foot tall. When I started them I figured I would just discard them if they grew and start over if they didn't. I will discard one of them as it was a grocery store tomato seed I saved and I have no idea how it would turn out. The other is a Rose Tomato that I would like to keep going just to see what happens. I have over 4 months till plant out so it will not last that long under my lights. I don't plan on making a habit of starting seeds in December but since I did and since they grew I want to see how long I can keep one of them alive by making consecutive cuttings and transplants. Just for fun.

[carolyn137]

If you have four months growing time then I'd take some cuttings now, and in two months or so take cuttings from those cutting grown plants.

And that should leave you with proper sized plants of Rose to set out.

You'd be surprised how quickly those plants will get too big and not be useful.

[Tomatovator]

Thanks Carolyn. Will do. Its only one plant but it looks so healthy I'll try to keep it going. Who knows with the weather we've been having this wniter it may be in the 80's by April.

[dice]

Try pruning it as necessary. Every time
you cut off all or most of the growing tips,
it should go into shock for a couple of
weeks and stop growing, but if it is a
healthy plant, it will recover and grow
side shoots.

Over months, you'll end up with a bushy
little plant with lots of stems. When it
comes time to plant it out, prune off
everything but the 3 or 4 strongest
branches near the top of the plant.
Bury it deep enough (or sideways)
so that those branches are a few
inches above the soil.

(I would guess that the reason for
"trenching" instead of simply digging
a deeper hole for a taller start is
so that more roots that develop
from the buried stem are in warmer
soil than would be the case with a
start planted straight down in a deeper
hole.)

Hey, it was an experiment, right? Might
as well find out how well this works
and what kind of production you get
compared to the same cultivar started
conventionally in the spring.

[Tomstrees]

Clearly a mistake I made in 06" ...
Sowed seeds on Feb. 28th ...
In the ground ? 1st week of May!
My plants were out of control ~

Tom

[Tomatovator]

Can cuttings be used from a bush or determinate type plant?

[Suze]

Originally Posted by Tomatovator

Can cuttings be used from a bush or determinate type plant?

Yes.

[Tomatovator]

Since my origional post I have been making consecutive cuttings from a few seedlings and now have a dozen plants from 4 seeds. By the 5th of April or so I will make 12 more cuttings of the growing tips and should end up with about the right sized plants by the first of June. The 12 I have growing now will still be fine and I'll just use them as backups or give them away to neighbors. I've been playing with these seedlings all winter and it has been fun. By the first of June I should have a grand total of 24 plants from 4 seeds. Don't get me wrong I did not do this to save money on seeds. It is just working out this way.