Growing tomatoes from cuttings are much easier than growing them from seeds. It can take up to 8 weeks to grow tomato from their seeds excluding the amount of time you’ll spend on thinning, pricking, and repotting them.
Benefits of growing tomatoes from cuttings
If you are growing tomatoes there is a high chance that you might want to grow them again in the next year. Instead of buying new seeds for the tomatoes, you can simply take away the cuttings. This will save lots of your money and time simultaneously. Tomatoes can easily develop roots that include side shoots. Propagated plants have a head start therefore you can expect them to produce the fruit earlier as compared to seeds.
Easy steps to grow tomatoes from cuttings
Take the cuttings from already grown tomato plant
Cut several strong side shoots from the tomato plants. Make sure these shoots should be healthy and should be at least 4 to 6 inches in length. More leaves mean that it will have difficulty in surviving therefore it is advised to choose the cutting with minimum leaves.
Rooting Hormone powder
Many gardeners make the mistake of propagating the cuttings without using the rooting hormone powder.
The powder helps in stimulating the end of the plant stem to form roots.
Dip the bottom of each cutting into this powder and then insert the cutting into the space that you have provided into the pot along with compost.
Water the compost well and placed the pot in a warm area that isn’t scorching hot.
You can place the cutting in a warm greenhouse. If greenhouses aren’t available then you can try to stimulate one by using a clear plastic bag over the top of the cutting.
On the compost
It is recommended to use compost with a good draining system for the cuttings. You can use clay pots which are good for propagating.
Major reason behind using clay pot is that clay is breathable. The clay pots help the cutting to breathe through the tiny pores on its surface and help to keep the compost inside from waterlogging. The advantage is that moisture can easily evaporate from the surface of the pot.
You can also create a hole yourself at the bottom of the pot which helps in good water drainage and prevents overwatering and problems like waterlogging.
Aftercare
It takes about 4 to 6 weeks for the cuttings to develop root. After some time these roots come out of the drainage hole of the pot.
After the plant has developed its roots it’s the perfect time to shift them into larger pots where you can easily spot their roots. This is done so that the plant can survive until next year. Try to keep the plant in a light, warm, and frost-free place inside a house.
Tomatoes don’t produce as much as the first season however cuttings make sure that the plant stays true to its original taste. Therefore the new tomatoes will be just as sweet and juicy as the previous harvest.
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