Introduction
Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops to grow in home gardens and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. If you want to expand your tomato garden or just save some money on seeds, propagating tomato plants is an easy process that anyone can do with minimal equipment and supplies. In this blog post we will discuss how to propagate tomato plants so that you can have more tomatoes for your garden!
What You Will Need
Before you begin propagating tomato plants, there are a few things you will need:
– Tomato plant parent (the plant from which the cuttings will be taken)
– Sharp knife or razor blade
– Rooting hormone powder (optional)
– Small pots or containers filled with well draining potting soil
Steps To Propagate Tomato Plants
1. Select a healthy parent plant – start by selecting a healthy parent plant from which the cuttings will be taken. The best time to take cuttings is when the weather is warm but not hot, usually late spring/early summer. Make sure that any leaves taken off of the parent plant are disease free before proceeding with propagation steps.
2. Take Cuttings – using either a sharp knife or razor blade, make diagonal cuts about 3” long at least an inch below where leaf attaches to stem; make sure each cutting has at least two sets of leaves on it and no flowers present yet since they may not root properly if there are flowers present). Place these cuttings into water immediately after taking them from the parent plant so they don’t dry out before planting them into soil later on down the line.
3 . Apply Rooting Hormone Powder (Optional) – if desired, dip each cutting into rooting hormone powder prior to planting them into soil; this helps encourage root growth and should be done as soon as possible after taking cuttings from their original source because it increases their chance for successful rooting later on down road once transplanted outdoors/into larger pots etc..
4 . Plant Into Pots Filled With Well Draining Soil – fill small containers or pots up with well draining potting soil mix; place each cutting deep enough inside mix so that its base makes contact with bottom portion of container while still having enough room left over at top part near leaves/stems so they’re not squished by too much weight going downwards when watered afterwards…water thoroughly once all planted correctly then move onto next step!
5 . Place Pot Containers Outdoors – find sunny spot outside where temperatures stay consistently between 70-80F during day & night hours; put potted containers here without direct sunlight exposure until roots become strong enough for transplanting purposes elsewhere like raised beds etc., otherwise too much heat could damage delicate new seedlings! Once established outdoors keep regularly watered throughout growing season…congratulations!! You’ve just successfully propagated your own tomato plants!
Conclusion
Propagation is an easy way to increase your crop yield while saving money on purchasing new seeds every year. Now that you know how to propagate tomatoes, why not give it a try?
