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traciham_gw

rooting broken branch...need advice

16 years ago

I purchased a matt's wild cherry tomato at a garden expo a couple of weeks ago along with some other types. This one was the one I was most excited about. By the time I got home, it was broke right by the pot. I went ahead and planted the little stub in the container I was going to grow it in and it doesn't look so good after 2 weeks. At the same time, I took off all of the leaves except for the top ones, placed the broken branch in a vase of water and placed it in a window seal with plenty of sun. 2 weeks later, I have half inch roots. Do I need to put it directly in the container outside in full sun now? I don't want to mess this up. Help!

Comments (11)

  • 16 years ago

    There are root growth horomones you can buy, but after 2 weeks there should be more roots (I think). Has it been kept moist at all times?

  • 16 years ago

    I have had it in water the whole time. I also have 2 blooms on it and it looks healthy too. Left that part out. I actually have some rooting hormone. I thought I applied that when I transferred it to soil.

  • 16 years ago

    Since you rooted it in water rather than in wet potting mix it will need some additional time in a container before going into the ground for best results. The adventitious roots that develop when rooted in water are a different type from the feeder roots needed to survive in the garden soil - which is why rooting cuttings is normally done in potting mix.

    I would suggest transplanting it into a container filled with a light potting mix or seed starting mix and kept moist for about a week to 10 days before putting it in its final home. This will allow feeder roots to develop. It will droop for a couple of days but then begin to recover and firm up. Keep it in the shade, not in the direct sun.

    You didn't say how big the cutting was but for future reference a smaller cutting, approx. 6" tall with all the leaves removed except for the top cluster will normally root itself well in damp mix in approx. 2 weeks and can then be planted.

    Many of us routinely use cuttings to expand our number of plants and you'll find many discussions here about how to' root cuttings' aka 'clones'.

    Dave

  • 16 years ago

    Thank you. As you can tell I am new to this. It is around 8 inches. Do you suggest still dipping it into rooting hormone at this stage before putting it in starting soil?

  • 16 years ago

    What about cutting it down to 6 inched and starting it over in seed starting organic soil?

  • 16 years ago

    Traci,

    Don't dip it in rooting hormone now. Just plant it in good light potting mix like Dave said. It will be fine.

    Bets

  • 16 years ago

    Can I do this to my tomato tops when I cut them off to stop my plant from getting taller?

  • 16 years ago

    Yeah - if you want to cut them off and sacrifice production for some reason.

    Any growing tip (not a leaf branch) can be rooted for cloning. Like I said above - lots of discussions here about it. I posted several pics last year of plants in various stages of cloning in some of them.

    Dave

  • 16 years ago

    Sorry forgot - rooting hormone is never needed for cloning tomato plants.

    Dave

  • 16 years ago

    Stick that vine directly into a pot of potting soil. Trim off any lower leaves first, then stick it in several inches, and water. Rooting hormone is not necessary. I did this last year with a broken plant...very simple and effective. :-)

  • 16 years ago

    "Yeah - if you want to cut them off and sacrifice production for some reason"
    Aight lucy you got some splainin to do....
    I shouldn't top the tomatoes? I thought compact (4' tall) plants focused on producing tomatoes and not growing the plant? How tall should I let them get, or is it just run with it? I believe mine are all determinate plants, I didn't buy any vines.