Transplanted Cherry Tomato Plants Indoor Container Garden Those Someday Goals

Easily Clone and Root Cherry Tomatoes From Cuttings

You can easily clone cherry tomatoes from cuttings even in an indoor container garden. I know it sounds like a lie, but it is true. In fact, the second plant cloned from the cuttings may end up thriving more in its new plant than the original plant.

How to Clone and Re-root Cherry Tomato Plants in Pots

1. Snip the cherry tomato plant suckers either from the main stem
2. Cut away the original root, if you are re-rooting the entire plant
3. Place the clean stems in a water container
4. Keep the container away from full sun (and heat), but give them light
5. Change the water every few days
6. Watch the roots grow (you’ll see the cherry tomato plants perk up within 48 hours and start to grow roots in days)
7. After 7-10 days, transplant the cloned or re-rooted original plants in nitrogen-rich soil
8. Water them well, as the transition from full water to the dirt will be a shock
9. Move the newly potted plant into direct sun, or a grow light
10. Watch the new cherry tomato plants thrive in your container garden pots

Tomato plant seedlings Indoor Container Garden Those Someday Goals
Three of the tiny seedlings were cherry tomato plants.

The Tomato Seedlings Arrived

You may have read our recent blog about growing tomatoes in pots in our indoor container garden (aka our office). Three of the seedlings we bought were for cherry tomatoes, and like the larger plant, we looked at the tiny paper cups in wonder and consternation.

Each day we watered the cups and kept them as close to the windows as possible. While we were unable to give them full sun, we had bright, warm days that offered at least 50%, and we crossed our fingers. They grew slowly, but by May they had outgrown the paper cups, and we were ready to transplant them into their larger pots.

And then, disaster struck. All three of the plants collapsed. They were in full-wilt mode. I did some research that said it was either because we watered them too much or not enough. Well, that was not really helpful. I tried to water less, but they didn’t perk up. The only thing that gave me hope was that the leaves were still soft. They were just entirely limp.

Cloning and Re-Rooting Our Cherry Tomato Plants

It was time for radical measures. So, I cut the plants away from their original roots, and in one case, separated tomato suckers, and began to clone and re-root the cherry tomatoes. I figured that if this move failed, we were no worse off than before I tried the technique.

Wilted Cherry Tomatoes planted in water Container Garden Those Someday Goals
The cherry tomato plants were so wilted. Into the water they went for re-rooting!

We recycled a plastic container that once held parmesan cheese as a clean basin. It was filled with water, and the cherry tomato cuttings were placed inside. While the container was placed near a window, it didn’t receive full light, and (luckily) we were going through the cooler temperatures of early July (which sounds strange, but that’s how Los Angeles works). And then we waited.

clone cherry tomatoes re-rooting cherry tomato plants in water indoor container garden Those Someday Goals
They perked up in the water containers within 24 hours.

Within 24 hours, we started to see the leaves spring back to life. Within a week, we could see tiny white roots breaking through the snipped stems. Within two weeks, the roots were growing well enough that it felt like it was time for transplanting.

Cloned cherry tomato plants. New roots of a cherry tomato plant cutting indoor container garden Those Someday Goals
Within 10 days, new roots were looking strong!
Clone Cherry Tomato Plant Roots Indoor Container Garden
Check out the roots! They were so big that it was time to transplant.

Transplanting Cloned Cherry Tomato Plants

We decided to put the smaller plants (including one that was a clone from a sucker) into one large plastic pot and the larger re-rooted plant into a container of its own. All of them were stake-supported with recycled chopsticks. We used nitrogen-rich, organic soil, and added a layer of mulch made from shredded white paper.

Transplanting cherry tomato plants with stakes Indoor Container Garden Those Someday Goals
We put two of the re-rooted cherry tomato plants into one container with stakes to see how they would do.
Transplanted Cherry Tomato Plant Indoor Container Garden Those Someday Goals
Transplanting the newly re-rooted cherry tomato plants.

And voila! All three cherry tomato plants have gone from wilted disasters to thriving. They are currently living by our office window, but we have our small grow light angled in their direction to give them some added light. We are also watering them significantly more than we did during our first attempts. If they perked up during their time in the water-only container, it seemed likely that they would need a lot to recover from the shock of moving from the water into the dirt-filled pot.

Transplanted Cherry Tomato Plants Indoor Container Garden Those Someday Goals
The re-rooted cherry tomato plants have taken off!
Clone Cherry Tomato Plant transplant re-root indoor container garden Those Someday Goals
Fingers crossed that the cloned and rooted cherry tomato plants continue to thrive.

Will they still fruit after cloning, re-rooting and their initial shocks? It is too soon to tell, but we are hopeful that this experiment in growing (and trying to clone) tomato plants in pots from cuttings is successful. 

Stay tuned as we report back from our adventures in indoor container gardening.

Clone Cherry Tomatoes Roots Growing New Roots Transplanting Cherry Tomato Plants in Pots Those Someday Goals