Stepson tomatoes sometimes have to be even at the seedling stage. I used to just throw away the cut shoots, but recently I tried to root them. Oddly enough, it works.
What are stepchildren?
Stepsons are called lateral shoots on a tomato bush. They develop from the axils of the leaves and are no different from the main stem. If they are left, leaves and flowers can also grow on them, then there will be an ovary. But usually, in order not to overload the bush, they are removed. If you leave stepchildren, there will be a lot of tomatoes, but very small ones, and the bush under their weight can break, no matter how much you tie it up.
But since they are very similar in structure to the main stem, they can be used for vegetative propagation of seedlings. As a result, from a small amount of seeds you can get one and a half to two, or even three times more bushes. And what’s good is that not only varietal plants multiply, but also hybrids.
What do I do with stepchildren
According to science, it is customary to cut off the side shoots when they are still small - up to 5 cm. But these are too small for rooting. I let them grow more, reaching a length of about 6-7 cm, after which I carefully, sharp and sterilized scissors cut them off. I make the cut not close to the stem, leaving a stump of 3-4 mm - otherwise there is a risk that the stepson will grow in the same place again.
After pruning, I remove the lower leaves on the shoots, and shorten the upper ones by half. This is necessary so that the shoot does not wither immediately: moisture will evaporate through the leaves, and its reserves before the formation of roots in the stem are so small.
After that, I plant them in a moist potting mix. I either buy it in gardening stores, or, if possible, I cook it myself, mixing high-moor peat (2 shares), biohumus (the same amount) and calcined clean sand (1 part). To be sure, I pre-treat the soil mixture with Fitosporin-M: this biological product contains soil bacteria that suppress all unnecessary microflora.
With the soil mixture, I fill the usual containers for seedlings with a volume of about 300 ml. If there are no ready-made ones, you can make them yourself by cutting ordinary one and a half bottles in half and pouring soil into the lower part.
I cut the cut stepsons into the hole by 2–3 cm and slightly compact the wet mixture with my hands so that it fits snugly against the root zone. To be sure, after planting, I still lightly water the plants with a weak solution of a root formation stimulator (Kornevin, KorneStim or something similar).
After that, I cover the seedlings on top with transparent plastic containers with several holes (I usually make them from plastic disposable glasses, piercing 3-4 holes in their lid) and put them in a warm place with diffused light - at the rooting stage, stepchildren do not like direct rays. After a week, the protective caps can be removed, and the seedlings themselves can be transferred to a sunny windowsill.
After 3-4 weeks, excellent tomato bushes are obtained from the former stepchildren, which can be transplanted into the ground. They differ from their counterparts grown from seeds only in that they will not have cotyledon leaves and the main root. And so - they grow, and bloom, and they bear fruit like ordinary tomatoes. The only serious difference is the need to strictly observe the irrigation schedule: the former stepchildren have a shallow root system, it quickly dries out in the sun.
What stepchildren do not need to be removed?
Finally - again about the lateral processes. Usually they get in the way, but sometimes they can be left. For example, I usually leave the lowest one. Then, when transplanting into the ground, I bury the plant so that the point where the stepson grows from is in the ground. New roots grow from it - and I get two tomatoes growing in the same hole and not interfering with each other.
I tried to mess around with cuttings from stepchildren for the sake of experiment - and it unexpectedly worked out. Now I repeat it every year with the best varieties of tomatoes, getting much more of them than there were seeds. Have you tried this method?
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