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Instant Tomato Plant

8/16/2016

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Our tomatoes in the green house are growing like crazy. Most of them are taller than me at 5'4". We've got trellises going everywhere. I'm pretty happy about their size at this point. They were planted late because we had to wait for the green house to be finished. We waited quite some time for some supplies that were on order. The tomatoes weren't planted until about a week into June. Next year we should be able to start them by May and they will be much further along this time next year. We did pick the first ripe tomato on Sunday and more are starting to ripen. Yeah!
Green house tomatoes, costoluto tomato, growing tomatoes from cuttings/suckers
This is the tomatoes on July 24th
Green house tomatoes, costoluto tomato, growing tomatoes from cuttings/suckers
Same tomatoes three weeks later.
So what does this have to do with instant tomato plants? Well we had some room for some more plants in the green house. It is just way to late to start any from seed. What is one to do? Take tomato cuttings.
The cuttings are actually the little suckers that grow in what is called the crotch of the main tomato stem and the leaf. If you look at the picture on the left you can see the main stem with a little flower shoot coming off on the right side. Now look for the clip. Right above the clip is the crotch of the main stem and the leaf. The leaf is just above the clip going almost straight out to the right. Now look between the stem and the leaf in the middle of the picture. The sucker stem is bare all the way up to just past the bloom on the main stem.

Hopefully you know what I'm talking about now when I say sucker. The sucker is cut off where it starts and placed in water to root. Usually they are put in a pot with potting soil to root, however,  I've never done it that way. I like to put them in water so I can see the progress of the root growth and better determine when a good time to plant them is. They need a good root-mass to do well when they are transplanted.
Tomatoe sucker, growing tomatoes from cuttings
Ready to plant tomato cuttings, growing tomatoes from cuttings
Here they are ready to transplant. You can see they have nice, healthy, root systems. This takes about two weeks to accomplish. Far quicker than a minimum of 6 weeks to get a tomato plant of this size if you started them from seed. So I guess they aren't quite instant tomatoes but they are pretty darn close.
growinf tomatoes from cuttings, tomato roots
One thing that you have to be careful about when you transplant them is the temperature. If it is really hot it is going to be hard on them while they are getting adjusted in their new home. Green houses are hot but the Lord blessed us with a few cool days in a row so we took the opportunity.
Rooted tomato cutting from sucker
I planted them the evening before the run of cooler days. They did pretty good but we did lose a few on the third day when the temps went up again.

They all had blooms on them when I took the cuttings but I snipped them off so they would focus their energy on their root system. Now, two and a half weeks later, some of them are getting blooms on them again. That is pretty quick. They are in the green house so they still have plenty of time to grow and produce fruit.
Rooted tomato cuttings from suckers

​Starting tomato plants from cuttings can save you money on seeds and space during seed starting time. Maybe your friend has a variety you would like to try,  just take a cutting and you are on your way.
I did this with plants that were already producing fruit but you can do them with small plants as well. Remember that they do need their leaves to absorb light and produce food so don't go overboard with taking cutting from a plant. The smaller the plant the less you can take.

Happy tomato eating!

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    Hello, I'm Jaci. I look forward to sharing my gardening and homestead adventures to help you reach your gardening goals! If you have any questions then don't be shy, I'd love to hear from you. Send me a message and I will be glad to help!

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  • Home
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  • Shop
    • Garden Planner Dahlias >
      • 2021 Refresh Pack Dahlia
    • Garden Planner Whirling Blues >
      • 2021 Refresh Pack Blue
    • Printable Seed Pack and Stationary
    • RHFM MERCH
    • Happy Poppy Day Collection
    • Bee Light, Hope, Love Collection
    • Mugs and coffee Cups
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    • Book- Start Your Garden
    • Flower Farm Stationary HAPPY
    • Garden Starter Kit
    • Heirloom Open Pollinated Seeds
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    • Free Composting Guide
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