Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old May 3, 2017   #16
shule1
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BettaPonic View Post
I have no luck with cuttings, so I use water.
The kind of soil you use makes a lot of difference. The main thing I've had to guard against for cuttings in soil (other than damage from too much light) is damping off disease (which can also cause root rot). Be sure to use new soil. Keeping a 2700k CFL shining on your soil really helps to keep damping off away, or if your window sun is bright enough, that may do the trick. Potassium sulfate helps the plants to absorb water and be stronger. A small fan may help to keep damping off away, too. Also, keeping the soil line as high as possible helps to keep damping off away to some degree.

Some people say it's better to use new shoots (an inch or two long) for cuttings, but I've had the best results with 6 to 9" cuttings or so. They seem a lot less fragile and less likely to die. I haven't done a lot of cuttings with new shoots, but big tomato branches are easy to root fast with good success rates (almost 100%) as long as you avoid bright light the first two days, and protect them from damping off (and avoid giving them excess nitrogen, which could encourage root rot, burning, less water absorption, and so forth). Whether the end result in fruit production is better, worse, or the same, I can't say. I don't use hormone rooting powder. They usually start growing within 4 to 7 days of rooting them in soil, given the right conditions. I'm not sure at what point they have roots, but leaf growth is a good sign.

Keep in mind, what I did was entirely with indoor plants. Taking cuttings outdoors is a little different, but it can be done.

I think the fruit production from cuttings is possibly better with some varieties than others.

Last edited by shule1; May 3, 2017 at 08:12 PM.
  Reply With Quote
Old May 3, 2017   #17
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BettaPonic View Post
Best wishes for the high tunnel. What are they growing in?
Thanks. I scoop my dirt from the places hay has rotted in the cow field. I have tried hydroponics before, but the soil I happen to have access to is hard to beat.
Cole_Robbie is online now   Reply With Quote
Old May 3, 2017   #18
BettaPonic
Tomatovillian™
 
BettaPonic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: NOVA
Posts: 114
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
Thanks. I scoop my dirt from the places hay has rotted in the cow field. I have tried hydroponics before, but the soil I happen to have access to is hard to beat.
What kind of hydroponics did you try? Good luck with the cows.
__________________
Big Tomato Fan, mostly grow Tomatoes from cuttings, all Tomatoes are grown in Coco Coir/Grow stone. I love Air Pruning.
BettaPonic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 3, 2017   #19
BettaPonic
Tomatovillian™
 
BettaPonic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: NOVA
Posts: 114
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by shule1 View Post
The kind of soil you use makes a lot of difference. The main thing I've had to guard against for cuttings in soil (other than damage from too much light) is damping off disease (which can also cause root rot). Be sure to use new soil. Keeping a 2700k CFL shining on your soil really helps to keep damping off away, or if your window sun is bright enough, that may do the trick. Potassium sulfate helps the plants to absorb water and be stronger. A small fan may help to keep damping off away, too. Also, keeping the soil line as high as possible helps to keep damping off away to some degree.

Some people say it's better to use new shoots (an inch or two long) for cuttings, but I've had the best results with 6 to 9" cuttings or so. They seem a lot less fragile and less likely to die. I haven't done a lot of cuttings with new shoots, but big tomato branches are easy to root fast with good success rates (almost 100%) as long as you avoid bright light the first two days, and protect them from damping off (and avoid giving them excess nitrogen, which could encourage root rot, burning, less water absorption, and so forth). Whether the end result in fruit production is better, worse, or the same, I can't say. I don't use hormone rooting powder. They usually start growing within 4 to 7 days of rooting them in soil, given the right conditions. I'm not sure at what point they have roots, but leaf growth is a good sign.

Keep in mind, what I did was entirely with indoor plants. Taking cuttings outdoors is a little different, but it can be done.

I think the fruit production from cuttings is possibly better with some varieties than others.
All my Lizzano are indoors. I am getting ready to plant one outdoors though. I tried to root cuttings in rockwool. I am glad I switched to air layering.
__________________
Big Tomato Fan, mostly grow Tomatoes from cuttings, all Tomatoes are grown in Coco Coir/Grow stone. I love Air Pruning.
BettaPonic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 3, 2017   #20
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BettaPonic View Post
What kind of hydroponics did you try? Good luck with the cows.
Thanks. I built a recirculating deep water culture setup. It worked, but I did not get a crop any earlier than the in-ground plants in the high tunnel.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 0418131207.jpg (62.7 KB, 35 views)
Cole_Robbie is online now   Reply With Quote
Old May 3, 2017   #21
BettaPonic
Tomatovillian™
 
BettaPonic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: NOVA
Posts: 114
Default

Cool, I personally love Coco, what is your favorite variety?
__________________
Big Tomato Fan, mostly grow Tomatoes from cuttings, all Tomatoes are grown in Coco Coir/Grow stone. I love Air Pruning.
BettaPonic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 3, 2017   #22
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

If you mean favorite variety of tomato, I'm still working on it. I would be happy to get my list down to a few dozen favorites.
Cole_Robbie is online now   Reply With Quote
Old May 4, 2017   #23
BettaPonic
Tomatovillian™
 
BettaPonic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: NOVA
Posts: 114
Default

Best of luck picking varieties you like.
__________________
Big Tomato Fan, mostly grow Tomatoes from cuttings, all Tomatoes are grown in Coco Coir/Grow stone. I love Air Pruning.
BettaPonic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 4, 2017   #24
throwaway
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Zone 6
Posts: 92
Default

Does the taproot serve a significant function if the shallower roots can access enough water?
throwaway is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 4, 2017   #25
kurt
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl.
Posts: 2,500
Default As a reminder

Quote:
Originally Posted by BettaPonic View Post
Has anyone cloned a Tomato plant for a few generations? By that I mean cloning clones and cloning them? I have one variety called Lizzano that I have cloned for a few generations. Anyone else do that?

These are photos of my Tomato. All of these are clones of clones from a plant planted exactly a year ago. They are in Coco Coir with Air pots. I use air layering to propagate them while attached to the plant.


I can see the prongs on the lamp of the Electrical cord.Hope we are using proper grounding cords and monitoring water splash ,maybe string up cord away from work area.Water splash from counters can move some crud onto delicate cuttings.
Safety always.
I have read Asia and beyond they have grafting methods,cloning regimens on a large scale in their commercial live plant nurserys/greenhouses.
__________________
KURT
kurt is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
air layering , cloning clones , dwarf , hydroponic , propogation

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:20 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★