Growing Laterals...
 

Hi ..I have been given three laterals to grow...Now I have read to take leaves off and pinch the tip off....Sadly as yet I do not know what the tip actually is....

I have attached two photos of each lateral IE Lateral_1a and b....Lateral_2a and b....and Lateral_3a and b...

Hopefully I can post these and I would welcome any help preparing these too grow..Including what part is the tip that has to be removed....Thanks Ron

It's really best to take laterals that are shorter and don't have buds or blossoms as yours do.

But at this point I'd strip off most of the top growth and cut back the stem so it's much shorter,cut it on the slant, and stick it in whatever medium you want to,keep it shaded and watered until you see new growth.

The only time I ever took laterals was when critters had damaged a plant and not to clone a plant. And I'd take a lateral and just stick it in the soil next to the plant,build a wee moat around it and keep it filled with water until I saw new growth.

I do know that sometimes some folks want to overwinter plants inside to keep them going,but that means taking laterals several times to get the right sized plant to be able to plant out.

Just curious,but why are you taking laterals?

Carolyn

Hi ..Thanks for your reply.....I rang a local nursery for help with my tomatoes which i think are diseased...and of course discussed tomatoes with a lady who told me that a tomato she grew was by far the best however no seeds were available and it was too late to get a plant from the company that supplied them ..she asked me to bring her some leaf samples out to the nursery and she would try to identify my disease problems...
So I took leaf samples out to her and saw the tomato plants they were growing in their garden and wondered what I was doing wrong....
I came home and Googled and read about this particular tomato she grew ..It was developed in the Netherlands...I had read that one could grow laterals so the next day I phoned the lady asking her if she knew where I could buy a couple of laterals as I am desparate to get a tomato I liked growing even if it would be out of season... I have "special growing facilities" so hopefully I think I can do this....

She told me to return at the weekend (Saturday) and she would have some laterals PLUS some tomatoes for me to try.....

So I did this ..she was not there but there were three laterals in a bag and a small bag of small beautiful bright red tomatoes....especially left for me....

After doing more research plus using this post ... I noticed they were withering so I pruned them and put them in water .....Later I found a lateral that I had put in water with a spoonfull of Seasol (a seaweed extract) aprox 2-3 weeks ago and was amazed to see the roots that had grown along the stem ....so I took the risk and have done the same on the three laterals.....

In the morning I will take photos out in natural light of them and post them....because I am unsure I have it right....I am elderly and only a beginner in growing tomatoes but I have been reading a lot and I have left the stems long thinking that if the whole stem grew roots I could plant deep in a soil receptical...Yes I noted the buds and blossoms but to be honest I never anticipated these being on the laterals and have no idea what to do....

I nearly forgot the tomatoes ..They are Tasty Toms....they are absolutely beautiful to my taste.....If my lateral experiment fails I will certainly be purchasing plants for the 2016-17 season..Many thanks for your help ...Regards Ron NZ

I do just what you did, put them in water, they always sprout roots. I dont trim them at all, maybe I should....

My Laerals.....
 

Hi... Heres photos of my initial experiment....Will follow up with another post of my just received laterals.. Ron

My Tom Laterals
 

Hi...Here are the Three Tasty Tom Laterals that I have lightly pruned and are in water with Seasol .....Yes I am concerned that one has flowers and another has small tomatoes so I am hoping that I can get advice on this IE is any more pruning required...Now I am following logic here...as it seems to me that by keeping the stems long and developing roots on it ....that when planted in soil the roots will be substantial and help developing a strong Tomato plant ...Thanks Ron

Having trouble finding where to buy this in the US. I see you are in New Zealand.

Not a lot of info out there on it.

To me, it would make sense to remove both the flowers and fruits that are on these laterals. I would not want the plant to expend the energy trying to grow fruit at the expense of rooting. I would allow the plants to root and become established in the garden before I would want them to grow some mediocre fruit.

Pruning Lateral
 

MissS...By what I have read you are exactly right ...But I wonder if you could "mark" my photos indicating what you would prune and then repost ...
Would have a working lateral left....??
Now I was surprised to receive laterals with blossom and fruit on them BUT I am confident that I could get a few more laterals from the lady that gave me these ones.....If I ask....
I can continue looking after the opes I have and three or four more would be no problem ...I sure hope I can get roots on them like my initial experiment has ...Thanks for your comments Ron...

It is hard for me to see on these photos where to mark a cut off place. The place does not matter so much on the fruiting part. You just want to make sure that you do not remove a new growth stem.
Photo Lateral #3 is the easiest to see. I can see new growth at the 'Y' of the top of the plant. Leave that alone. Remove the blossom stem below the last blossom or where this truss attaches to the main stem. You could also just remove the blossoms themselves and achieve the same result. The laterals would not have to support any fruit growth and would expend its energy into rooting.

MissS...I have clipped them again... Lateral TW) has two flowers on a very small branch and logic tells me it should be clipped off ...But is there anything left to grow?.... Lateral #3 I took two photos ...Thanks Ron

Lateral #1 looks good. There are more buds forming on the left hand side that I can see. If you can, I would remove them with tweezers or wait until they are larger and you are comfortable removing them.

Yes Lateral #2 looks to be a challenge, but you may well be surprised. Clip off the buds but not the truss (flower stem branch). It just might get some new growth. As you seem to know, this is your weakest subject.

Lateral #3 Just clip off the truss beneath the lowest bud and it should be good to grow.

Its fun to watch the roots grow in water, but its more practical to root them in soil.

I would not try to root something with buds, flower , fruits ...Unless i have no choice.
I would trim the leave , only leaving about 2-3 , plus the growing tip.
Also i would pot as soon as I see some roots. YMMV

Gardeneer

Can they survive...
 

[I]Hi...Thanks for the advice ..I can assure that it is appreciated...Now I have discovered the bags of soil and the compost I bought are just a basic mix with no additives...So I have bought a proper Commercial Tomato Mix for my lateral experiments to be planted into.

Now this is directed at MissS...My ideas of creating roots on a long stem have been knocked back after my initial lateral grew roots and is now being put in the Tomato Mix soil...Unfortunately I do not know what variety it is....

The more important laterals that were given to me have now been in water for 11 days .....and what has happened is that the stems have basicly dropped off "at for want of the proper word" I will call a knuckle....This maybe is where a branch was cut off from ....One long stem with three knuckles broke off in three pieces at the knuckle .....Upon inspection it was very soft where it broke and immediately I thought ...Why did I not take notice of what I was being told and keep the stem short to prevent this.....I am still hoping that roots will grow but I presume having long stems with "knuckles" on it would be directing the growth away from where the roots could grow....I would be very grateful for any views on this....I have attached a photo of what I have left of one lateral....
Of course I still wonder about the original laterals given to me with buds and fruit on one...I am guessing but wonder if a far younger lateral would have been better...Regards Ron
PS sorry about the Font ...I accidently touched my keyboard and the font changed and I could not get it back to what it was originally??[/I]