Seed or cuttings for my late summer plantings?

I've been watching a thread on this forum about suggested varieties to withstand the heat of summer in the south. Many good recommendations were made and I have most of them growing this year. It is my intent to replace some determinates and a few indeterminates which don't perform well, with large seedlings of the supposedly heat tolerant varieties.

I am now trying to decide if it is better to plant large seedlings grown from seed or large plants grown from cuttings for the late summer/ early fall garden. The cuttings require less effort with a reduced probability of failure since they will already be hardened off. They also require no more investment of seed.

Which has been better for you, seed or cuttings?

Ted

[dipchip2000]

I don't know either Ted but since I have most of them growing now, I am going to try and root some of the suckers for the later plantings. It seems simple enough to do. I am going to practice on a few first just to get some idea of what to expect. What I need to know is how long it takes a rooting plant to reach appropriate size for plant out. In the heat of July and August, do you want large,tall plants or will the smaller ones transplant better. It would seem to me that timing is everything for it to work. Anyone who has done this and has any advise or tips to make this work, Please respond with suggestions.
Sorry Ted, I am interested also and not trying to hijack your thread.

ron

[Stepheninky]

Not sure to be honest I think both have their own advantages depending on the conditions. Cuttings are really easy and grow well and give you a larger plant to get started with, though and this is just a theory of mine ( so do not take it as fact) but I would think with plants started from seed you will have the advantage of having a tap root that will grow down and be deeper so if your summers are very dry and you do not use fixed irrigation then the seedlings once established might have an advantage.

My understanding which might not be correct is that cuttings have radial roots mostly, so that is what I am basing my theory on.

Maybe you could do some from cuttings and some from seed and see how they preform.

Don't worry about hijacking my thread. I can give you a little information about how it has worked for me. I'm still kinda new at growing from cuttings, but after many attempts last year, I think I have my technique working pretty well. I think the larger, older plants will be preferable to small new seedlings. If I grow from cuttings, I think they should be about twelve weeks old and fairly large. I can grow them large since I will be growing them outside in the shade. For me, the cuttings are ready to up pot after about two weeks in growing soil. I will probably up pot them a couple of times before they are ready to plant. If I start cuttings or seed now, that will give me twelve week old plants near the end of July or early August. That is the time when it has seemed best to plant replacement plants and get a good fall crop in my climate.

Ted

[Stepheninky]

Originally Posted by dipchip2000

I don't know either Ted but since I have most of them growing now, I am going to try and root some of the suckers for the later plantings. It seems simple enough to do. I am going to practice on a few first just to get some idea of what to expect. What I need to know is how long it takes a rooting plant to reach appropriate size for plant out. In the heat of July and August, do you want large,tall plants or will the smaller ones transplant better. It would seem to me that timing is everything for it to work. Anyone who has done this and has any advise or tips to make this work, Please respond with suggestions.
Sorry Ted, I am interested also and not trying to hijack your thread.

ron

The cuttings root really fast as long as the media they are in stays moist so really you could have a plant-able cutting in about a week. Bonnie Plants use cuttings as I have purchased some of there bare rooted cuttings that they accidentally sent to a local box store (I got about 30 plants for the cost of a six pack). what they had done from what I could tell is they took some brown paper (like used for a grocery bag) and they placed some of those clear crystals (though any media that would stay moist would be fine) around the bottom portion of the stems. Then they just rolled it up and had the paper tied with a piece of twine. You just need to leave the growing tips and leaves hanging outside the paper so they can receive light. Just keep the paper moist in till rooted. You might not even really need the crystals to be honest you could probably place a small amount of water and the base of the wraped plants and let the paper wick the water it needs.