Starting From Cuttings - Page 2

drbobintx · May 14, 2015

As emphasized above, rooting suckers from tomatoes is super easy.

Last weekend I topped my too tall black cherry plant and discarded the pruned stem with leaves in the grass, intending to chop it up with the mower this upcoming weekend. Today I went outside to discover the top has rooted in the grass (we've had a lot of rain this weEk). If you keep cuttings moist, they will survive in your choice of medium.

I am a big fan of using cuttings for two purposes:
(1) To reduce seed consumption. For example, I only planted one Sungold seed this year, but I have half a dozen plants now in my garden.
(2) To reduce the number of starts I have to grow/nurture in the winter.

Of course there is also the drawback that cuttings are delayed in maturity, so this may not work for late season varieties.

AlittleSalt · May 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by dipchip2000

Just for clarification, are you rooting suckers or just random branches??

ron

Suckers only.

Stvrob · May 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Suckers only.

What is the difference between a random branch and a sucker?

Worth1 · May 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stvrob

What is the difference between a random branch and a sucker?

Ive been wanting to ask that same question.

Worth

maf · May 14, 2015

Some people call tomato leaves branches, because they are compound leaves. Maybe that is what is being asked about...

Virtually any section of tomato stem that includes at least one full internode and two nodes will root, I have not tried shorter pieces.

Once, I even managed to get roots from the on the vine piece of some on the vine tomatoes I bought from the supermarket (I left the calyxes on the vine to aid in photosynthesis). I observed roots that appeared in the holes at the bottom of the pot but unfortunately the vegetative part failed to grow a new growing point and it died.

dipchip2000 · May 14, 2015

I may not be correct but the way I understand it is,,a sucker always grows out of the crotch of another limb or branch, usually at about a 45 degree angle. The suckers will eventually bear fruit and a leaf branch will not ever bear fruit. This is very important when pruning plants. I leave most suckers on cherry tomatoes and prune selectively with the bigger slicers. Works for me but as I said I may be wrong.

ron

maf · May 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by dipchip2000

I may not be correct but the way I understand it is,,a sucker always grows out of the crotch of another limb or branch, usually at about a 45 degree angle. The suckers will eventually bear fruit and a leaf branch will not ever bear fruit. This is very important when pruning plants. I leave most suckers on cherry tomatoes and prune selectively with the bigger slicers. Works for me but as I said I may be wrong.

ron

You are correct except that a leaf branch is called a leaf and not a branch. In your terminology the sucker, or a piece of sucker would be used to make the cutting.

maf · May 14, 2015

This was a fun experiment because I couldn't find any Sunstream F1 seeds:

Sunstream1.jpg

Sunstream2.jpg

After 8 days I observed this, but unfortunately no new growing point formed and it was a failure:

Sunstream3.jpg

Worth1 · May 14, 2015

I got my first leaf at the end of a truss but no growing tip on a plant this year.
The only thing I consider a sucke on a plant is something that grows from the root section of the plant.
One of my San Marzano plants has a sucker coming from nowhere at the base of the plant.
Corn has what some people call suckers and other folks call tillers.
It has been proven that they dont take from the main plant.

Kinda like cutting a pigs tail off so it will grow faster.

Worth

AlittleSalt · May 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by dipchip2000

I may not be correct but the way I understand it is,,a sucker always grows out of the crotch of another limb or branch, usually at about a 45 degree angle. The suckers will eventually bear fruit and a leaf branch will not ever bear fruit. This is very important when pruning plants. I leave most suckers on cherry tomatoes and prune selectively with the bigger slicers. Works for me but as I said I may be wrong.

ron

Ron, that's what I thought you meant.

My understanding the leaf grows downward and never produces a tomato. That's why I chose not to try to root one. I only used the suckers to try to grow a new plant.

AKmark · May 14, 2015

Just root them in pro mix, or any other fluffy mix, nothing else is needed to do that. I have rooted a bunch, they root in a week or so, and you also can keep the flowers.

mike-kelley · May 29, 2015

So should rooting attempts be limited to suckers or will leaves work? Rooting hormone any help?

I've got a backyard nursery and grow lots of annual/perennial flowers and have had pretty good luck rooting cuttings. I got a 105 tray of rooted Totem patio tomato cuttings from Knox Nurseries (a regular supplier of mine) and they appeared to be from thick leaf stems, probably only about 3" long. So I've got all these little short plants with thick stems growing like crazy now and I'd like to duplicate.

May 14, 2015	#16
drbobintx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Round Rock, TX Posts: 20	As emphasized above, rooting suckers from tomatoes is super easy. Last weekend I topped my too tall black cherry plant and discarded the pruned stem with leaves in the grass, intending to chop it up with the mower this upcoming weekend. Today I went outside to discover the top has rooted in the grass (we've had a lot of rain this weEk). If you keep cuttings moist, they will survive in your choice of medium. I am a big fan of using cuttings for two purposes: (1) To reduce seed consumption. For example, I only planted one Sungold seed this year, but I have half a dozen plants now in my garden. (2) To reduce the number of starts I have to grow/nurture in the winter. Of course there is also the drawback that cuttings are delayed in maturity, so this may not work for late season varieties. Last edited by drbobintx; May 16, 2015 at 12:11 AM.

May 14, 2015	#20
maf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: England Posts: 512	Some people call tomato leaves branches, because they are compound leaves. Maybe that is what is being asked about... Virtually any section of tomato stem that includes at least one full internode and two nodes will root, I have not tried shorter pieces. Once, I even managed to get roots from the on the vine piece of some on the vine tomatoes I bought from the supermarket (I left the calyxes on the vine to aid in photosynthesis). I observed roots that appeared in the holes at the bottom of the pot but unfortunately the vegetative part failed to grow a new growing point and it died.

May 14, 2015	#21
dipchip2000 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Muskogee, Oklahoma Posts: 664	I may not be correct but the way I understand it is,,a sucker always grows out of the crotch of another limb or branch, usually at about a 45 degree angle. The suckers will eventually bear fruit and a leaf branch will not ever bear fruit. This is very important when pruning plants. I leave most suckers on cherry tomatoes and prune selectively with the bigger slicers. Works for me but as I said I may be wrong. ron

May 14, 2015	#24
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	I got my first leaf at the end of a truss but no growing tip on a plant this year. The only thing I consider a sucke on a plant is something that grows from the root section of the plant. One of my San Marzano plants has a sucker coming from nowhere at the base of the plant. Corn has what some people call suckers and other folks call tillers. It has been proven that they dont take from the main plant. Kinda like cutting a pigs tail off so it will grow faster. Worth

May 14, 2015	#26
AKmark Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Wasilla Alaska Posts: 2,010	Just root them in pro mix, or any other fluffy mix, nothing else is needed to do that. I have rooted a bunch, they root in a week or so, and you also can keep the flowers.

May 29, 2015	#27
mike-kelley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Berwyn Heights, Maryland Posts: 3	So should rooting attempts be limited to suckers or will leaves work? Rooting hormone any help? I've got a backyard nursery and grow lots of annual/perennial flowers and have had pretty good luck rooting cuttings. I got a 105 tray of rooted Totem patio tomato cuttings from Knox Nurseries (a regular supplier of mine) and they appeared to be from thick leaf stems, probably only about 3" long. So I've got all these little short plants with thick stems growing like crazy now and I'd like to duplicate.