Rooting tomato cuttings?

[beac]

Hey all you lucky Florida & California gardeners with your tomatoes already going great guns, I thought you might want to try this so you can enjoy even MORE tomatoes long before the rest of us see a single flower.

Last year, I heard about rooting tomato cuttings to make a new plant. The method couldn't be easier-- just cut off a stem, pull off the bottom (or bottom two) sets of leaves and stick it in some potting soil.

I actually tried this last year and the plant started to get going, but I found out about the method so late that it didn't have a chance to fruit before our tragically early frost.

If it works for you, you have to FedEx me a tomato. ;)

[bvar22]

1. Hi, Beac.

I haven't heard of this.
Thanks.

We are planning a 2nd planting for early July.
We may use this to get our starts.

[beac]

2. From what I've read, a cutting will catch up to its "parent" pretty quickly.

Here are a couple of sites I bookmarked on the subject:

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/4207/how-to-start-tomato-plants-from-cuttings

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0612374628014.html


Do let me know if you end up trying it (and I'll send you my address for that tomato! ;) )

[Historic NY]

3. I just got some root stock cuttings from a grower to try, never did it before.

[beac]

4. Do report back on how it works out for you.

I'm going to try earlier this year and may a cutting of one of my cherry tomatoes ASAP. I'll be interested to see how we all do in our different zones.



(edited for typo)