writes:
In article 9ceb9e48-00cf-4f5f-b7c9-0d01f5276536
, says...
OK, there was a thread on this last year, but I'm not sure we got
closure on it.

What's the most effective way to do tomato cuttings? I took six inch
young stems off a very healthy overgrown red cherry, and stuck them
five inches deep in moist potting soil indoors with indirect light.
They looked happy for more than a week (with no growth), and finally
decided to die (with no obvious growth or new shoots). What gives? I
want a fall crop!

Rootone? Bay leaves? Water soak?

Water has worked for us.

Just plain water has worked for me as well. Sometimes I put a bit of good
composted soil in the bottom for extra nourishment but that is really for
me rather than the tomato as it seems to make no difference at all. Plant
when the roots look healthy and able to support the plant (depends on how
much stem and leaf growth is there, the more there is, the more root is
needed (Maybe?).

One year, when a plant got split in half, the half I rooted in water (stem
and leaves) turned out to produce better than the half (with roots) that
was able to stay in the ground. I have even had them bear (lightly!) when
I just left them in the water.

Tomato plants are hardy, very, and survive under incredible conditions -
then we can have nightmares with them when all is right and mother nature
has other ideas!

Glenna

I think I've got it. (But the cuttings in plain water never showed any
roots. That just didn't work.)

As I said above, aquarium with plexiglass on top. Put sterile potting
soil in six inch tall foam cups slotted in the bottom. Get a cutting
with that length of stem (I'm just doing Red Cherry), and pack it in
to the soil, with the tip of the stem on the bottom of the cup. That
way, you have six inches of stem in the soil. Soak the cups once with
sterile water. Put cup in aquarium (with a half inch of water on the
bottom), and mist once every day or two. Kept indoors, next to a
window with partial sun. Temps stay 76-80F inside, and aquarium walls
are covered in condensation continually. Relative humidity in there
must be ~100% all the time. So the key ingredients are soil and
humidity, it would appear.

Started that about two weeks ago, and not only are the cuttings
surviving, they're growing! Never even any wilting. Some are now
pushing up on the plexiglass lid.

Hooray!

I wonder if the variety of tomato makes any difference here.