Happy Tomato Tuesday! 🍅 We’re getting so close to the middle of our growing season here in zone 7, and one thing I’m trying to get better at this yr is succession planting.
More than half of my tomato plants are determinate, meaning they will grow to a fixed size and ripen all their fruits in a short period of time. Once they’re done, I want to be able to replace them with another set of plants so that my harvest is continuous until we hit frost.
The fastest way to do this is by taking some cuttings from your current tomato plants. In this reel, it only took 2.5 weeks from this stem to grow some roots big enough to transplant.
You may recall my “Pruning My Tomato Plants” reel that I posted 2.5 weeks ago – that’s when I started saving some of my cuttings to root. Some tips:
🍅 You can root suckers or in this reel, I removed a lower branch to give the plant better airflow. Either is fine.
🍅 After pruning, put those trimmings in water right away! They will dry out fast enough esp on a hot summer day. If you have a lot to prune, I suggest you carry a vase filled w/ water before you get started so you can just keep putting the cuttings in water right away.
🍅 If your cuttings have buds, remove them so that the plant can focus its energy on rooting rather than trying to flower.
🍅 Remove all lower leaves – no leaves should be touching the water to avoid diseases.
🍅 Do not try to take cuttings while your tomato plants are wet (during or right after rain) as it promotes the spread of disease.
🍅 Keep your cuttings away from direct sun. I put mine indoors next to a window.
🍅 When the roots are big enough, you can transplant them. I will keep them in a shaded spot for a few days, and will gradually introduce to the sun (starting w/ morning sun).
🍅 While transplanting, I give them some worm castings & worm tea to help stimulate root growth.
🍅 Last but not least, remember to label them! You can keep a vase for each variety and label the vase.
Follow along for more gardening tips! 🌱
.
.
.
#gardeningforbeginners #gardeningtips #howtogarden #growingtomatoes #tomatotuesday #howtogrowfood