K wrote:
pea_thrower writes
Good morning everybody,

I hope somebody may be able to supply a credible explanation for the
following:

Some weeks ago one of my Gardeners' Delight tomatoes, planted in a
pot, was blown over and the stem severed by about 50% near the base of
the plant. An identically sized GD tomato remained undamaged. Call me a
sentimental old softie if you will, but I lifted the damaged stem back
to the vertical and secured it to a cane.

Much to my amazement, the damaged plant not only survived, but is now
appreciably larger than its undamaged companion.

Any ideas, or shall I just move straight on to healing the sick?

A partial explanation - water and nutrients pass symmetrically around
the whole stem, so if you have only severed 50%, they can still pass
through the other 50%
--
Kay

Thanks Kay, that would explain its survival, but if the health & size
of a plant is in direct proportion to the amount goodies that its stem
can deliver, then why is the damaged plant doing so much better than
the plant which has 100% of the stem at its disposal?