View Single Post
Old August 17, 2016   #28
MissS
Tomatovillian™
 
MissS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,145
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by l_madu View Post
hmmm this is an intriguing idea. if cutting out some of the competition will allow the other plant to take up more nutrients, might be worth a shot. anyone else care to weigh in? and can someone provide a step-by-step on doing this with minimal damage to the plants?
It is a bit late in the season for you to attempt rooting a new plant and expect to be getting fruit from your new start, but if you would like to try it there are a few different ways to go about it.

First, you could just take some laterals or suckers off of the plant to start your new plant(s). You would cut them on the diagonal and place them in sterile potting mix with one node buried or in the ground if you are a in bed gardener. Remove all fruit and blossoms. Keep them out of direct sun for 5-7 days while also keeping them moist but not drenched. After seven days increase the amount of light. If the plants wilt then reduce the light until the plants can accept full sun. Once they can tolerate the light, you have yourself a new tomato plant. The rooting will take about 3 weeks.

Second, you could carefully take a knife and cut down below the soil line to remove the main stem with just some of the roots. You would then plant this deeper than it was growing before. You would have to prune off most of the top growth because there will not be enough roots to support the top of the plant. Once again, remove all of the fruit and the blossoms.

At this point in the season I do not think that you will have time to root a plant for 2-3 weeks. Then allow it to blossom and hopefully have time for the fruit to ripen. I think that your best bet for these container grown plants is to just go ahead and cut off a few plants so that you have no more than two plants to a container. It would even be better if you did this and left only one plant to remain in your container.

It is no wonder that you are having troubles with these plants. They are just overcrowded and can not find enough room or nutrients with so much competition. Remove a few and give the rest some room to flourish.
__________________
~ Patti ~
MissS is offline   Reply With Quote