Regrow stumps of thin transplants?

[FLRedHeart]

Can stumps regrow into thicker plants, and if so, suggestions on how best to do it?

They're from 4 month old thin overwintered transplants that had too little light to flower so far. I'll get at least one tip to root, but wonder what quality I could get if I cut them to stumps and regrew those too.

If anyone has experience doing this would be great for an idea of what to expect. It's still at least a month before they can be left outside, and the plants are not rootbound, but the roots seem pretty good. The stems at stump level are about 1/2" thick and grew 3-4 feet long spindles. Thanks

[Labradors2]

I'd chop 6" leafy ends and root them in water, then I'd hack everything back to 8" off the ground to see if the bottoms re-sprout. I should the the leafy ends would be ok if you could put them on a bright windowsill......

Linda

[KarenO]

Are they from a difficult to find seed or rare variety?
KarenO

[FLRedHeart]

Thanks Linda, I pretty much expect the rooting (edit: I meant the budding) of stumps to work, but am worried about whether the unhealthy growth will forever make the stems thin or if they will widen up plenty big once they get moving.

Thanks KarenO, it's nice to get your and Linda's Canadian perspectives on this since most people in Florida probably laugh at this question a little ;-) These are not rare, but two of them have a real unpredictable and long germination lead time. Another is Sun Gold which would make a nice earlier early, a currant, and then a few other garden heirlooms. They were just going to be mother plants for a few cuttings left over transplants from the short autumn season that didn't make it in in time.

As I look at taking the cuttings I thought I might be throwing away the best parts. I just have very little space in the garden and can't afford to put poor producing thin stemmed plants in there. The season gets to hot and muggy at night around the end of June here so I don't get as long a run as some other places, but here it ends too hot instead of by freezing. What do you think?

[ddsack]

Honestly, I've never done it, but thinking about it, if you can get the stumps to sprout outside in bright light, I think they will be able to produce stems that will thicken up normally. It seems like I remember my tomato plants forever trying to grow late suckers low on the stem, and if left alone, they snake out in very sturdy low branches. You could even mound some dirt up when the new stems appear, to encourage any aerial roots on them to go down into the ground.

[KarenO]

The reason I asked is that with limited space to experiment and seeds for the same plant available, If it was me I would plant new plants and not take a chance on iffy cuttings or cut back plants.
however, of the two choices , I think the cut back plants are most likely to produce faster for you if you go ahead with your over-wintered plants. Planted in warm soil and fertilized they should quickly put out new growth and bloom provided they are not diseased in any way.
KO

[FLRedHeart]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Honestly, I've never done it, but thinking about it, if you can get the stumps to sprout outside in bright light, I think they will be able to produce stems that will thicken up normally. It seems like I remember my tomato plants forever trying to grow late suckers low on the stem, and if left alone, they snake out in very sturdy low branches. You could even mound some dirt up when the new stems appear, to encourage any aerial roots on them to go down into the ground.

Thanks for giving it a shot ddsack, I think you're probably right about the direct sun at first sign of growth or I might end up with the same problem all over again. To be honest I hadn't thought that far about it. Maybe I should add a transplant step for a month into a pot with room to turtleneck up above that hoped for new sucker which would be trained to be the newmain stem and take it in and out on warm days. I could put it in its final spot I can have it somewhat pointed up and rooted arounf the base of the new growth if that sounds okay

[FLRedHeart]

Thanks Karen, Two of plants were frustrating for my case to germinate and that's why they missed their Autumn planting even though they were started with the rest which did fine in a quick Autumn season, and one thing led to another and those two have companions I didn't toss out.

These plants are disease free as they have been kept clean inside the house in sterile mix and are just chlorotic and flimsy due to lack of light. Sungold, Everglades, a currant, and Siberian, are the regular types, the last two I just noticed have tiny flowers growing out of a 6 ounce (180 ml) yogurt cup on the window ledge, but not where I also have them sprawling in the living room in pots under room lighting.

This would advance my season a month which would be great for early bites to eat. Sort of an alternative thing to do besides a W.O.W., is what I'm thinking.

I thought it would be a good idea to get your thoughts and maybe find someone who tried it.

[carolyn137]

There are times when a seedling will come up and it's what many call a blind plant since the stem will fork and form a knob in the center. Sometimes, but rarely, will a couple of side shoots appear.

So in my experience I would not try to get stumps going at all and would suggest one of the other methods that folks above have suggested as being the way to go.

Carolyn

[FLRedHeart]

It sounds like you're comparing a mature transplant to the sprouting stage, and that seems like good logic to me, if you mean that by removing the main growing tip, the plant cannot recover when it is small. That may be on the money, so I'm a little less enthusiastic now.

There is one major difference though, in that the seedlings have no well developed root system and to get sufficient nutrition to redesign themselves is likely too much to ask. In this case we have a well developed root system loaded with energy. I would compare that to a transplant I had of a variety last season I couldn't afford to lose. I broke the main growing tip off by accident, and it seemed futile but there was no good plant ready at the time to replace it so I left it there and cared for it, and gave it extra light with a reflector in the evenings. It quickly did grow a side shoot about 6 inches above ground level, which eventually looked like a fork, and finally a main stem. The plant was shorter than the other two of its variety, but anecdotally I can confirm it suffered nothing as far as yield.

There is a lot of pent up energy in the roots, so I'll still try it, but I think that was a very astute comparison to keep my expectations in check if it doesn't work well, thanks again and it's so nice to see you back online, Carolyn!!!