Tomatoes - how to clone your plants
Posted by REMY EKORNSETER
Cloning of plants has been used in almost all types of plants, some are easier to do than others, with tomatoes ranking first on the simple side. Cloning is a simple process used to create new plants quickly without having to sow seeds. It is also a process that is used if you have a unique growth that you want to continue growing or distributing without having to get any genetic changes in the next generation if it is grown from seed.
So how can one use this as a hobby grower? Say you have a tomato plant that you are particularly fond of. You only planted one or two, but would have liked more. But it is too late to tell, well it will take next year, some people think then. Or perhaps you want to give away a plant to a friend or neighbour? Maybe your top snapped off? The reasons can be many. I like to do this when the tomatoes are topped. That is, when they reach the top of the roof in the greenhouse and the top is cut off. That plant will now only focus on ripening the tomatoes it has planted at the same time as I start a clone of it in the same pot and maybe manage one, two or three fully grown plants in one season. Roughly calculated, there are 3 times as many tomatoes in one and the same place.
Tomatoes are willing to grow like weeds and you can take advantage of that. It's all very simple and is demonstrated in the video below. The easiest thing is to let a thief grow out until it becomes relatively strong with a couple of three branches with leaves. You then cut off this thief and remove the lower branch(s) or leaves. If it has flowers or budding flowers, you can remove them. Then you cut off the stem like a cut flower, at an angle. All you have to do now is stick it carefully into the soil which should be moist beforehand. Water gently and you're done. The clone you just took will probably hang around a little bit for a little while, but that will pass quickly. Within a few days it will start to shoot out roots along the entire stem which is underground and not long after it will start to grow and set flowers. The process here is much faster than germinating a seed and pulling up a new plant. For an even better and faster process, you can moisten the stem at the cut and dip it in root hormone powder. This will trigger the roots to come out even faster.
It was mentioned above here that I put such clones in existing pots with tomatoes when the tops are cut off. When the tomato plant has reached the 3 meters it has to grow, the top is cut off. Prior to this, all branches with leaves are removed up the vine in line with the tomato clusters that have been set. These are leaves that are no longer needed and more of the nutrition goes to the tomatoes. At the same time, it opens up, it becomes more airy and more light is allowed in. This leaves room for the new clone to grow big and strong. And as it grows, you harvest tomatoes from the first plant. Quite simple and brilliant.