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Propagating Tomatoes – Growing Cuttings in Water or Soil

Want to get new tomato plants for free? Try propagation! Propagating tomatoes will give you new plants in just a few weeks, which is much faster than growing them from seed.

Propagation is the process of growing new plants from a single parent plant by using parts of it. This can be done by using cuttings, division and air layering.

You can propagate your tomatoes from normal cuttings, tomato plant suckers, and topped tomato plant sections. Today, we’ll be using cuttings of tomato plants.

Keep reading to learn how easy it is to grow tomatoes from cuttings.

Green tray on a counter with tomato cuttings rooting near jars of water with tomato cuttings in them. This is next to a green text box reading How to grow tomato cuttings - root suckers or branch cuttings in water or soil.

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Propagating tomatoes from cuttings in soil and water

To begin, you’ll need a pair of garden shears. Be sure to clean them before taking the cuttings, since tomato plants are very susceptible to disease, which can be spread with dirty shears.

When choosing your cuttings, you can either remove tomato suckers or take a cuttings of new growth from the tip of your branches.

If you choose to remove a tomato suckers for your cuttings, you will have what your need to propagate a new plant, and also prune your existing plant at the same time.

Woman's hand with pink pruners taking a cutting from a tomato plant to use for propagating tomatoes.

Use the shears to cut a tomato suckers or branch tips about 6-8 inches long (15-20.5 centimeters). Inspect the cuttings well to ensure there aren’t any insects.

Propagating tomato plants from cuttings in water

An easy way of rooting your tomato cuttings is by placing them in a jar of water. In about a week, the plants will develop roots, and the cuttings will be ready to be planted into soil.

Two jars of water on a marble counter top with cuttings from tomato plants which have rooted in the water. They will be used to propagate tomato plants.

Carefully put the rooted cuttings into pots with fresh seed starting soil. Plant them deeply in the pots. Tomato plants can grow roots along the stem, so planting deeply makes them more stable.

Place the cuttings in a warm, shady spot, and water them well. Keep the soil moist but not soaking wet.

You can also place the cuttings directly into the soil in your garden. I find that I get better results planting cuttings in a pot first before transplanting them into the garden.

Tomato cuttings rooting in water and soil with green text block which reades tomato plant propagation made easy. How to root tomato cuttings in water or soil.

How to propagate tomato plants from cuttings in soil

While you can propagate tomatoes in water, you might have more success rooting tomato cuttings directly in soil. Water-rooted cuttings have fragile roots, and soil-planted cuttings tend to produce stronger plants.

You will eventually transplant the cuttings into the garden, so rooting in soil from the start allows you to skip the water step.

Take your 6 to 8 inch (15 to 20.5 centimeter) cuttings and clip off any flowers or buds that may be present. Remove the lower leaves so the bottom part of the cuttings is bare.

Dip the stems into rooting hormone powder. This helps to stimulate root growth and increases the likelihood of successful tomato plant propagation. 

You can root the cuttings in peat pots or containers filled with seed starting soil or vermiculite.

Use a pencil to make a hole in the soil. Plant the cutting deeply into the container and water well.

Tomato plant cuttings in small plastic pots on a counter near a small green hand spade to be used for propagating tomatoes.

It will take 2-4 weeks for your soil-rooted cuttings to develop a strong root system.

Hardening off the rooted tomato cuttings

Whether you rooted the cuttings in water or soil, you’ll gradually need to get them used to full sunlight. This is called “hardening off” the cuttings.

At first, you’ll want to place your cuttings in a warm area with shade. After the cuttings root, you can move them gradually into more sunlight until they are in full sunlight.

Keep the cuttings moist as you harden them off.

Once the plants are growing in full sun, you can transplant them directly into your vegetable garden.

Person transplanting rooted tomato plants from cuttings in the garden near a black soaker hose.

Tomato plant propagation photos

The photos below show tomato plant cuttings that I rooted this year, in the middle of summer. It took about two weeks for them to root well.

I propagated them directly in soil in large pots. Then I hardened them off in the shade of a crepe myrtle tree and planted them in my vegetable garden in mid-July.

This is how they looked in early August:

Two tomato plants from cuttings growing n a mulched garden bed near a wire fence.

In early September, the two plants were about 4 feet tall.  They haven’t produced fruit yet, but the plants are very healthy, and flower buds are starting to form.

Healthy tomato plant in a staked cage in a sunny vegetable garden.

They started producing fruit by the middle of September, and I ended up getting almost a hundred baby tomatoes from these two cuttings alone. 

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If you enjoyed learning about growing cuttings from tomato plants, why not share this post with a gardening friend? Here is a tweet to get you started:

Can you propagate tomato plants? YES! 🌱🍅 Learn how to root tomato cuttings in both water and soil to get new tomato plants! It's easy, fast, and saves money too. #GardeningTips #PropagatingTomatoes #Tomatoes #GrowYourOwn… Share on X

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A collage with two images showing tomato cuttings in small pots in soil, and tomato cuttings in water. Red text overlay reads How to grow tomato cuttings in water or soil.

Admin note: This post for propagating tomatoes from cuttings first appeared on the blog in January 2013. I have updated the post to add all new photos, a project card with instructions, and a video for you to enjoy.

Yield: Tomato plants from cuttings

How to Propagate Tomato Plants from Cuttings in Soil

Pot with tomato cuttings that are rooting, near three glasses of water with rooted cuttings and 3 tomatoes.

Getting a new tomato plants from cuttings is easy. Simply take cuttings of an existing plant and root them in soil.

In 2-4 weeks, you'll have healthy new tomato plants for a fraction of the cost of retail plants.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Active Time 14 days
Total Time 14 days 15 minutes
Difficulty easy
Estimated Cost $2

Materials

  • Tomato cutting
  • Seed starting soil or vermiculite
  • Rooting hormone
  • 4 inch garden pot

Tools

  • Watering can
  • Garden shears
  • Alcohol to clean the shears
  • Pencil

Instructions

  1. Clean your garden shears with rubbing alcohol.
  2. Take a 6-8 inch (15-20.5 centimeter.) cutting of a sucker or branch tip from your tomato plant.
  3. Remove any fruit or flower buds from the cutting.
  4. Fill a 4-inch (10.16 centimeter) pot with fresh seed starting soil or vermiculite.
  5. Use a pencil to poke a hole in the soil. Make the hole deep into the pot.
  6. Dip the tomato cutting into the hormone rooting powder. Tap off any excess powder.
  7. Place the cutting deeply into the hole in the soil.
  8. Water it well and place it outside in a warm, shady spot.
  9. Once the cutting has rooted, gradually bring the cutting into a spot with more sunlight until it has been transitioned into full sunlight.
  10. Roots can take 2-4 weeks to form. Keep the cutting watered, so the soil is moist but not soaking wet.
  11. Once the roots have formed and the plant is growing, you can transplant it to the vegetable garden or a larger pot if you are growing tomatoes in pots.

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Jean

Monday 19th of April 2021

I have pinched off a few larger suckers that got away from me and dug a hole in the same planter and stuck them way down in, watered them and they grew real well and even produced. Usually I compost the suckers and noticed one grew great in the compost so tried it in the garden. It works.

Carol Speake

Monday 19th of April 2021

Don't you love it when you get plants for free? I was delighted to figure out they grew from cuttings.

Maureen

Monday 19th of January 2015

Look forward to trying to grow my own tomatoes from cuttings makes a lot of sense thank you .

admin

Monday 19th of January 2015

Good luck with them, Maureen. Mine all took really well and produced tomatoes all through the season. Carol

Annette H

Tuesday 16th of December 2014

Now that's something I've never thought of trying before. Have shared your article with my readers and will definitely give this a try on the weekend. Thanks so much for the inspiration.

admin

Tuesday 16th of December 2014

Thanks Annette. I don't know why I never thought of doing it before. It worked like a charm. Carol

Caring for Tomato Plants - New House New Home New Life

Thursday 3rd of July 2014

[…] some other terrific tomato growing tips, check out the following: The Gardening Cook – How to Propogate Tomato Seedlings with Cuttings   and   Sensible Gardening & Living – The Art of Seed […]

Caring for Tomato Plants | New House New Home

Wednesday 16th of April 2014

[…] some other terrific tomato growing tips, check out the following: The Gardening Cook – How to Propogate Tomato Seedlings with Cuttings and Sensible Gardening & Living – The Art of Seed Saving This entry was posted in […]

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