I have grown tomatoes, basils, shiso and host of others from cuttings.
Once they grow roots, it does not matter, root is root.
Actually,
if you hill tomato plant, it will grow roots from the burried portion of the stem.
I grow late season tomatoes from cuttings instead of seeds. It is much faster, I think. Plus there are plenty of suckers around.

to jump on board on this post without postng my own. Dave suggested that if I top my tomato plant it will stifle production. I thought the opposite but have learned that Dave knows waaaaaaay more than me. So, my question is, I am not supposed to cut the growing top part of my plant that has grown to the height I thought I wanted it to be, ie manageable for me.? But I can cut the side shoot stems or sucker stems that grow and it doesn't affect the plants production? The plant sucker needs to be 6" tall or ???

Don't top them. I have rooted suckers as small as 1&1/2 or 2 inches.

Let's clarify a couple of things.

1) a root is not a root - there are different kinds of roots. See pics in article linked below.

how the root system of a tomato grown from seed, then potted up, compares to the roots of a tomato grown from a cutting

A cutting will NOT develop a tap root but otherwise it all depends on how you grow both. Did you do an interim transplant the one grown from seed? Did you root the cutting in potting mix rather than water? If yes to both then given sufficient time to develop roots the cutting roots will be the same as those on the one grown from seed.

2) topping or "pinching" plants is a different issue completely. Unlike rooting cuttings aka cloning, it is not a common nor a standard practice.

organicislandfarmer - You said you are growing determinates and topping is especially NOT recommended for determinate varieties. First because there is no need to control plant size given their normal short height and second because any pruning, topping, pinching, etc. of determinate varieties reduces production. How much reduction depends on how much topping you did.

Determinate varieties produce their fruit very differently than do vining indetermiate varieties.

From the FAQ here: Determinate varieties of tomatoes, also called "bush" tomatoes, are varieties that are bred to grow to a compact height (approx. 4 feet). They stop growing when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their crop at or near the same time (usually over a 2 week period), and then die.

See also: What is the difference between determinate vs. indeterminate tomatoes?

Usually cuttings are taken from indeterminates only. Since cuttings are growth tips (not leaf branches) the indeterminate variety will simply grow 1-2 new tips and keep on going. The determinate variety will not.

So it is possible to root a cutting from a determinate IF you recognize that removing that cutting will reduce the production of the parent plant.

Hope that helps clarify rather than confuse further. ;) Check out the FAQs here and the article linked below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato root structures

ok, I got that now, I must have the indeterminate type however none are vining if thats right. My plants have tomatoes at different stages of ripening. So when I am ready to do this, I just prune off a sucker thats yea big and put it in potting soil kept moist for 2 weeks and it should be oky dokey! I am totally doing this!

If you will post the names of the varieties you are growing then we can tell you if they are determinates or indeterminates. Or you can just look up each variety name for the info if you wish.

Dave

Dave beat me in linking to that excellent article about root structure which I've been linking to here for many years.

Tap structure vs fibrous root structure, and it's the latter you want but reading quickly it looks like the issue is not so much root structure as it is indet vs det varieties.

Carolyn

cyrus - I had to hill up one of my leggier plants that fell over in the wind. And I was just wondering if those roots that'll start growing out of the stem (like you'd get from a cutting), are the tap root kind, that seem to be more adapted for going deep to find water. Or if they're the kind that, if I understand correctly, typically develop later, and are supposed to be better at soaking up nutrients. Or if they're some other kind of root. I think you're right that later in the season it makes more sense to start from cuttings. So I'm wondering if I can save myself some work when I do that, by skipping the potting up step, and still get the "recommended" root structure.

organicislandfarmer and rockguy - I had to pinch off a small seedling, since I accidentally had 2 seeds in one block. I felt bad, and wanted to give it a chance, so I stuck it in it's own block. It was really small, and I didn't think it had a chance. But it started growing again after it got established, and now it's doing really well.

dave - Thanks. I'll be putting my cuttings directly in soil blocks. I didn't think I'd be getting a bunch of tap roots, but I wasn't sure I'd be getting those fibrous roots either. I want to skip the potting up step, if I don't need it to get that fibrous structure. I'm only talking about indeterminates.

carolyn - My original question had nothing to do with determinates. Organicislandfarmer asked a different question, so we got 2 different discussions going.

Gardeningis complicated,
Most tomatoes grow very shallow roots besides the tap root. I can think that the tap root establizes the plants against winds. Most trees have a tap root and lots and lots of lateral roots.
It is the lateral roots that mostly absorb the nutrients.

The roots are smart. If they cannot find moisture on/near surface they will dig in and go deeper.
That is why if you do not water your plants too frequently and instead wter them
less frequently but real well the roots will tend to go deeper and therefore more efficient.
I have noticed that when you mulch tomato plants, they will have a lot more
surface roots, BECAUSE , the top of soil does not dry up like bare soil.

When I said "roots are roots" maybe I was not quite right. What I meant was the function of roots in tomato plant.

I am new to investigating roots and to growing from cuttings.
I have always planted deeply, since I jump the gun and end up with taller plants EVERY year - sigh.

2009 was the first year I mulched heavily. I did notice that my plants rarely needed watering; perhaps because there were more surface roots.

But there were definitely deep, strong roots. I couldn't just yank the plant out when they stopped producing. When I did yank out the plants, the tap roots were the longest/strongest I've ever had.

Happy Gardening -

cyrus - Yeah, I think roots are pretty smart too. And I don't like to interfere with my plants' natural tendencies any more than I have to, since I figure they know better than I do what they need. And interfering usually means more work for me. But I've seen this recommendation for modifying the root structure by potting up, from a number of reputable sources. So it seems like a good idea. But then I've also seen lots of people insist that pruning definitely increases production. But now it seems that's not necessarily true. So, as far as I know, this potting up recommendation could turn out to be extra work, with no increase in production. Or it really could be one of those things that are worth the effort. When I have some time, I think I'll do some more reseach on this to find out what this recommendation is based on.

austinnhannasmom - I'm just the opposite. Every year I think about starting early, but something happens and I end up starting late. This year I tried starting earlier, but I messed up. So I started later than I wanted to. But it may be working out for the best, since I'll be in trouble if my plants get really big before I can start transplanting.

But then I've also seen lots of people insist that pruning definitely increases production.

Interesting. I have seen many claims that pruning can increase the size of the fruit produced but I don't think I have ever seen anyone claim that pruning "increases production". In fact most reputable articles on pruning acknowledge that over-all production is reduced, just the size of the individual fruit is increased.

The one exception I'm aware of is the claims made by the "organic magic" book which advocates pruning off everything except the top leaf cluster and which doesn't deserve even an acknowledgment.

So, as far as I know, this potting up recommendation could turn out to be extra work, with no increase in production.

On the other hand, the recommendation for modifying the root structure by potting up does have scientific support for improved plants but it does NOT claim to increase production. That is not its goal. The goal is a stronger, healthier plant. If that results in increased production, great. But there are far too many other variables governing production to credit, or blame, potting up (staged transplanting).

Dave

dave - I must be remembering it wrong then, about the pruning thing. Or maybe I've been reading too much stuff written by people like me who remembered it wrong:) My real point was that lots of things you read about gardening, or anything for that matter, turn out not to be true. No matter how logical they may have sounded. And if you're like me--someone who's just reading about it, with little personal experience--it's not always easy to tell the correct info from the incorrect. So, it's a good thing we have people like you who take the time to correct mistakes from people like me.

And I think you told me once before about the goal of potting up being stronger, healthier plants. Thanks for reminding me. Assuming that's true--and I have no reason to think it's not--I think that's worth some extra effort. I'll probably research it anyway, when I have some time. I may get lucky, and find there's an easier way to accomplish the same thing. At least if your goal is just to modify the root structure, and you're not worried about saving space.

dave - I just googled "pruning tomatoes increase production", and it didn't take long to find someone claiming that pruning increases production. So at least I can claim it wasn't _my_ memory that failed:)