Every year down at the gardening center people are paying lots of money for tomato plant starts to put into their springtime gardens. At the end of gardening season, they rip their used plants out of the garden and throw them away. At the beginning of the next gardening season these same people are back giving more money to the gardening center for new tomato plant starts.
Is there a way around paying the gardening center for tomato plants every year? You bet!
Year One:
Method One: March into your grocery store and find the produce manager; ask when they might have a rotten tomato for you to have free for a project that you are working on. Or, if you want to spend a few pennies on this project, buy a very ripe pretty tomato and eat everything except the seeds.
To harvest free tomato seeds out of your tomato, stick the messy part holding the seeds onto a paper towel and let everything dry.
To plant your free tomato seeds, cut your paper towel edges back so that you just have seeds stuck to the towel, and place the paper towel holding the seeds into a shallow pot, box, or pan holding about one-inch of soil under the seeds, and about one-half inch of soil over the seeds. Water and always keep the dirt between damp and lightly moist.
When plants are an inch or two tall, transplant into pots with a few plants in each pot. As your plants grow, thin back the plants in the pot so that you have just the very best plant growing.
You are now at the stage where the nursery will sell you tomato plant starts. Enjoy!
Method Two: Look around that nursery for the person in charge and ask politely if you can have the broken branch of a tomato plant that is in their trash can. Tomato cuttings and branches will grow roots in water.
Method Three: Watch your friends to see who is throwing away their tomato plants at the end of the growing season and ask nicely if you can carry them to your car instead of the trash can.
To make cuttings off of the free tomato plant, use a very sharp pair of scissors, razor blade, or knife to make a very clean cut across the stems near the roots of the upchucked plant. Examine your branches for bugs, fungus, or other undesirable things and throw away anything that does not look healthy.
To get roots to grow: Cut your free tomato plant stems into 6-inch to 8-inch lengths and remember which side of the stems are pointing at the roots; one stem can often make more than one cutting. Place these cuttings into jars, glasses, vases, or other containers that hold water and fill the water up about 3-inches in your container. Set these starts in a partially sunny area of your home and wait for roots to form. Change your water often, and pluck off any leaves that do not look like they are happy with their new home.
After roots are formed on your free tomato plant starts, plant them in pots and make sure that you give them a schedule where all pots get a turn at sitting on your sunny window sill during the week.
When flowers start forming on your free tomato plants, you will have to help Mother Nature along a little if you want free tomatoes on the plants while they are in the house. Take a soft tiny paint-brush and brush pollen from one flower to the next flower like the ants and bees would normally be doing for you.
Year Two:
When tomatoes form on your free tomato plants, give that plant a little more sun and you will have your next summer crop going a long time before the gardening center gets their tomato starts in. By outside planting time, your indoor plants will be big and very healthy free tomato plants for your garden. At the end of the season, repeat this process and you will never have to pay for tomato plants again.
Options: If you still have that friend throwing out plants every year, it is always wise to get a start of their younger plants to go with your old ones. Newer plants have newer resistance to diseases.
