Tomato cuttingshelp?

Tomatoes--anyone with experience doing cuttings? I planted one a little late, after the evening temps were too high to set fruit, and so I've got this monster bush with no fruit on it. So I figured I'd spend July and August taking cuttings and multiplying plants while waiting for the evening temps to fall. What is best way?

I've already taken one cutting from a long branch, taken off leaves back to one node, put a little root tone (all I had was hardwood powder) on it and poked it into a pot and set it in the shade. Is this a good method or ought I to do it a different way?

Some branches are long enough I could cover them in garden soil and root them that way. Will it do that?

Melis

i have the same situation and one branch is long enough that i weighted it down with a big rock and am hoping it sets roots--i know this isn't a big help but i will be watching along with you to see what answers you get!

Melissa, you said you have some long branches...if you strip the leaves just leaving some on the end, you could bury them a bit with the end with leaves sticking up. They'll root that way.

You can also take cuttings...mine are mostly 10-12" vine end cuttings and just stick them in a glass of water. They take up a lot of water, so keep an eye on them. Mine are Big Boy. My Early Girl wouldn't root in water, at least the cuttings I took this time.

FYI, cucumber vines will root in water, too.

This message was edited Jul 20, 2008 1:33 PM

well good, apparently I'm not too far off in what I'm doing. I'll do that, bury some branches and see what comes of it. It's such a monster I could try everything at once and see what works best!

my next problem is that it is so hot for so long in texas that i don't know how to time the rooting--i am like you melissa with the monster plants with no tomatos--if i root them too early i guess they still will be to hot to produce? i will have to check and see how my branch with the rock holding it down is doing--

well but seriously, what's the worst that can happen? your garden ends up looking like the Day of the Triffids and you can or freeze a couple hundred gallons of tomato sauce in October?

I could cope with that. Definitely.

I was thinking that I may not have made it clear that the long branches that you would trim the leaves off and bury, leaving some leaves on the end for the new plant...this branch is still attached to the mother plant.

My tomatoes are in full sun for a good 10 hours a day and it's been in the nineties for weeks. Plants are loaded with tomatoes, but I have still been rooting about 4 stems a week. Trying to stretch out the production time and carry some plants into winter in the greenhouse.

It doesn't take more than 20-30 minutes total for the entire time (a week maybe?) it takes to root some stems, so there's really no time burden.

ok-i am confused--
why do our (mine and melis) plants not produce with the heat and yours are doing great ? i heard that over 90 and hot nights means no tomatoes --what is your secret?--

also --i wasn't very good explaining the timing--i was going with the idea that no tomatoes will grow now because of the heat

so if i could figure out when to do it i should start new tomato plants (from the old) so that they will produce tomatos (because the weather will be better)

i am thinking october it will be more likley to be tomato producing weather here in texas--so maybe i start rooting them in sept? aug?

what I read was it's the evening temps that matter when it comes to setting fruit. I believe it said over a certain temp at night and the pollen was sterile? Does that sound right?

Melis

that would make sense for me--still hot at night here

Wish I knew more about how temps affect growth/blooms, etc, but I don't, so just go with what I have experienced. Our nites get down in the low 70s or high 60s and we have a heavy fog almost nightly. Maybe that has a good effect on the plants. Last summer we had a pretty severe drought and I couldn't get enough water to the roots and lost several of my plants, the tomatoes cracked on most of the plants and I had blossum end rot on others.

Since I don't have all the answers, I was just suggesting that it only takes minutes to take a few cuttings, stick them in water, add more water as needed and then plant them in a couple of weeks when they have good roots. One of my concerns is the weather has been so extreme this past spring and early summer with a late season snow storm and a couple of hard freezes. Who knows what will happen this coming winter...may get a snow storm in September! Ooh, bite my tongue! So, this year I'm starting about 4 new cuttings every week or so, in the hopes that whatever nature throws my way, I should have several plants that will come through it.

Linda, I'm not sure where Plano is or what your winter is like, but you would have to have enough time for the rooted cutting to grow enough to blossum, then to bear fruit before your winter set in. I don't have my gardening info with me, but I think it takes standard tomatoes about 6-8 weeks to have vine ripe tomatoes from transplants. If you started cuttings now, they should be ready for picking early October and should produce well for a while.

Wish I could be of more help!

oh but that was a great help! just what i wanted to know--thanks so much

learn something new on here everyday.... thank you for the info

BTW, I was searching online for info on four season harvest and did read where tomatoe plants will shut down at temps of 100. Of course that was that particular person's opinion or experience, as was your source for the 90*. Also read that they won't grow at less than 50*. So yes, as Onewish stated we learn something new everyday.

been in the 100's so no tomatos here-dry too--no rain forever!

Just a FYI, head's up, adding to the thread, etc., Evening temps have dropped and lo and behold, tomatoes. Not lots or big, yet, but as they tell me Ohio's weather is such that we shall have no more heat waves or hot nights for the rest of July, I expect to see a few more tomatoes before August gets here.

No peppers yet though. I planted them late and though I've seen a few little flowers, none have formed into bitty jalapenos yet.

Perhaps I should get down on my knees and really glare at it. (to scrutinize, not intimidate it).
Melis

I beieve the truth is that temps have to be below 70º for the blooms on a tomato plant to set. I'd say use indeterminate varieties and let them grow good sturdy limbs in August. In September they ought to realy produce. I would even remove the buds until late August. Hope to get someheirlooms doing that myself.
;)
Knockout Coco.

really? remove the buds? i trimmed off all the dead and dried up leaves -it seems whent the temps get 100+ it is impossible to keep it all green and nice! but i leave the flower (which i guess is what you mean by the bud?) so should i cut the whole plant short? now i've got long straggly plants --

I'd would. They then have time to recover before they go into production.
;)

thank you so much!