I have a sadistic bird or critter (chipmunk, I believe) either snipping or gnawing off the stems of my tomatoes which are in bales. I have lost a number of new heirloom varieties I was hoping to try this year. The critter leaves the tops all wilted. It doesn't eat them. At first I threw them away, not thinking, but when the strong Ananas Noir went I had a fit and realized I might be able to re-pot it or get it to form roots in the soil. It is a nice stem about 12 inches and strong. I first had it in water with fish emulsion added but transferred it today (after 4 days in water - no roots formed) to a pot with half vermiculite and half coir. It looks very happy at the moment.
I had some others which I potted up immediately and one I stuck in the soil in a shady area. That seems to have recovered from wilting so is there hope there? Should I feed any of these with a light fish emulsion? I'm hoping that some of the bottom stems may leaf out again in the bales.
Today I gently wrapped veil material around the taller stems to discourage snipping and toilet or paper towel rolls around the shorter ones. The rolls don't seem to be really working as the one snipped this morning (Russian Persimmon) was snipped off above the roll! The only consolation is that what was left had a shoot with a leaf on it so it may continue leafing out. That top went directly into a pot.
Any advice would be most appreciated by you experienced tomato propagators!! Thanks!
This is all very depressing, discouraging, and baffling!! I have never had such a problem before! I even have cages around some of the plants and Remay cloth or shade cloth over the tops because of the hot sun! Doesn't deter the little monster!
Jessica
Need help with tomato "cuttings" and how to grow them!
I have a suggestion. (and I use this in my garden) I have put a fake Owl with a bobble head on a perch in my garden. The Owl has intimidated the squirrels that used to run rampant through my garden and backyard. It has also kept the birds off my raspberries and strawberries plants. My garden is large enough that I have noticed the squirrels trying to sneak in the bottom edge. I plan to go to "Dick's" sporting goods store and get another owl to put on patrol in this section of the garden. Give that a try... I move the Owl around occasionally just for grins. Good luck with your garden marauder.
This message was edited Jun 13, 2010 5:03 PM
Great suggestion! have to figure out where to get an owl around here!! Now if I can get the "cuttings" to root I will be in business!
Tomatoes root very easily. This spring I had the wind snap a newly started tomato plant. I just stuck the broken part right back into the soil in the pot. I did not baby it (did it mainly to see if it would survive) It looked a bit sad for a few days, but then it kicked right into gear and began growing with gusto. My neighbor has it in her garden and it is growing great. Put the cuttings in good potting soil and keep them damp. The cuttings should root just fine. I did keep the cutting out of the direct sunlight until it started growing well. Good luck!
Wow, thanks, Nini, you really give me hope. I noticed there were roots on one of the stems today so this really may work! Now I will never have to be heartbroken when a stem is snipped or snapped. I had no idea this was possible. I accidentally broke a couple of others when trying to get them from the back of my table greenhouse. It never occurred to me to just stick the top in soil! How dumb of me! I'll know better next time! If the bottoms of the most recently snipped ones also leaf out then my problem will be to find enough space to plant the "new" ones. I replaced some with duplicate plants I had left over so don't have much more bale space. A wonderful dilemma to have!!
gardadore, I had no idea that tomatoes were so easy about re-rooting, either. I am glad you started this thread! Learn something new every day! :) Thank you!!
:) K
Tomatoes are very helpful when you try to rescue them. I have a plant that was a broken branch, i roughed up the bottom few inches and stuck it in some root-tone, and then into compost/ watersorb (to keep it moist) in a bale. It even comtinued to grow the tomato that was on it :).
Lots of people start a new crop for fall by rooting suckers from their original plants. I'll try it this year with any I especially like, but i have new seeds to try, as well...
Several years ago I had one, my first, tomato plant in the ground and a gopher at the roots. I was ticked off and just grabbed the plant and put it in a vase with water on the porch. It did not get but half day of sunlight, but the small tomatoes already on it did ripen. No new growth though. This year, as I was trimming the bottom branches off my tomato plants in bales, just before dumping the cuttings in the compost pile, I thought I would try rooting them. They are in soil on the patio table in little six pak containers. Don't know which ones are which or even if they were planted right side up. They did get very droopy, but are looking a bit better now. We will see what happens. Here, inland So California we have a long growing season, so I may just be able to extend my plants..