Gardeners Often Suggest Growing Tomatoes From A Tomato Slice. What Are The Pros & Cons Of This Idea? Will It Result In Perfect Crop?
The video below shows how a slice of tomato inserted in to compost can soon grow a number of new tomato seedlings. There is no doubt about it, it works.
Good Or Bad Idea?
But is it a good gardening idea or a waste of time?
Well clearly the slice of tomato can produce seedlings and it takes little effort. But whether it is worth the effort is another question altogether. And the answer is .. it depends.
The real question has to be will the plants produce a good crop.
And that depends on what type of tomato was sliced and grown.
If it was from a heritage type it will be an open pollinated variety and will breed true to type. But if it is from a hybrid or F1 variety then the seeds will follow Mendel’s findings with some being good and some being poor in all traits. So it might have huge yields and poor flavour or great flavour and be slow ripening or very acid with very small fruit.
The reality is there are hundreds of traits that will follow the Mendelian ratio and it could be a mix of them. And each seed will be a different mix so the crop will be variable.
However, if grown from an open pollinated variety they will breed true to type. Each seed will produce a plant similar to the parents, though there will of course be some variation .. after all not even one of our children look exactly the same!
BUT, even if they’re open pollinated we aren’t out of the woods yet. Being true to type is only part of the issue. The next question is, true to what type?
If the seedlings are true to type, to a variety that originated in a different part of the world, our climate might not be optimum for them. So they could be true to type but are only going to thrive in their country of origin.
Cutting Seed Costs When Growing Tomatoes!
Cutting costs when gardening is an admirable thing to do. But if what we propagate is inferior, then what was the point? Surely if we are putting all the effort into the crop that tomatoes take we ought to grow the best plants we can and get the best crop we can?
I know many people propagate seedlings from a slice and say it works for them. And if it does, excellent. But just think what crops you’d get if you were sure the plants were true to type. So often I see people say they have a good crop and moist a photograph where it is clear that what they think is good is only a fraction of what they could get.
Of course it isn’t only about the yield, flavour and the satisfaction of growing a crop is also important. But what if you could get yield, flavour, and satisfaction?
There’s more on How To Grow Tomatoes Here
Tag: Growing Tomatoes
Join the Facebook Groups Here
To join the How to Dig For Victory Facebook group follow the link.
And here is the link to UK Garden Flowers, Trees, Shrubs & More
#BiteSizedGardening #Gardening #Vegetables #veg #fruitandveg #allotment #biointensive
Related Posts:
