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Question by Libby B: I have a broken stem on a tomato plant, can I save the plant?
I have a tomato plant that has about 3 small tomatoes already on it.. The stem broke (about 4 inches above the ground). It isn’t completely broken in half but it’s a pretty good one all the same. Is there anyway to patch my poor plant so that I can enjoy my tomatoes????
Best answer:
Answer by boo
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure there’s no hope. You’ll have to start over with a new plant and maybe you could put some kind of protection around it. They make special wire baskets for that sort of thing.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Yes I can understand why you’d thought that since you didn’t mention chipmunks! Have a good day!
You’d written ‘chipmunks,’ so, I thought you misunderstood me.
Yes no I knew you didn’t mean chipmunks, I just don’t think we have any woodchucks here! LOL
At least, I haven’t seen any of those thank goodness!
My neighbor had corn growing (I’m sure it was because of a bird getting into something someplace else) so we’re all excited to see what it actually does. If it works, I’m growing corn next year! lol
No, hee-hee, not the cute, little chipmunks…the cute, large drunken-with-vegetable-fury bulldozer-type ‘woodchucks!’ They’re about the size of a cat, with small ears, and, extra-large appetites! They’ll go through your garden like Courtney Love would go through your medicine cabinet! Two of these little bastages ate thirty-seven stalks of corn one summer in my garden until I captured them.. That worm you found might have been a cabbage worm!?!? If so, cayenne is also good a deterrent.
Thanks classiclistener01! We’ve not had any problems with chipmunks or rabbits eating anything, or deer for that matter but we did have cabbage worms. I found some sort of caterpillar on the brussel sprouts. It wasn’t a horn worm, but it was long and lettuce green colored so we picked them off and sprayed the plants with soapy water with peppermint oil in them since we saw some spiders too and they hate peppermint oil. So far so good, our garden looks like it’s doing well.
Aphids, cabbage loopers, and, cabbage worms. And…of course, rabbits, and, especially, woodchucks. I live in MA, which is why I’m answering your questions which are similar to issues I’ve dealt with before. Rabbits seem to only go after lower leaves – cabbage and seedlings. Woodchucks, however, seem to leave tomatoes alone, but, they go through corn, cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc., and, many kinds of flowers, like a lawn mower! If you have any questions, pm me. Hope this helps you!
Hey Eric,
Can you talk a little about pests in the CT area for tomato plants? Also, I have planted brussel sprouts (not my idea, my husbands) 😀 All of a sudden something is eating the leaves and I can’t see anything on the leaves with the naked eye. If you have any info on that, it’d be great. Thanks! Keep the videos coming, they’re great info!
tomatoes can crack from too much water, or from soil being too dry, then too wet suddenly. best to maintain a stable level of moisture in the soil. thx , eric.
When I did my self watering containers, during the hot summer days the soil would draw up all of the water and the tomatoes would crack. I was told that was because of not enough water. Is that true? The lady in the video said the different.
can turn a half dozen tomato stems each into a tomato plant in less than two weeks
Tomatoes … stems around 4 to 6 inch lengths turn them into great tomatoes, look at the stems on a tomato plant and notice they appear hairy, in fact these are tiny roots..take stems from the tomato plant and sit them into a few inches of water in a glass jar , within a week or too the hairy tomaotoes stems have taken of and now should be several inches long, ready to plant directly into the ground. Add water to the jar as it evaporates and keep in well light place indoors . Kind Regards
thanks for the vids Erochow i like it that you dont make your videos boring 😀 . And you are giving tips for beginers like me 😛 Keep up the good work
Good info, good burgers and lots of Tomato plants!
they root slower and blow up yeeeee
?? is this about White Flower Farms or about growing tomatoes? It’s like a casual gardner chatting about tomatoes Not much information =(
I never hover.
i did a video on tomato hornworms, you can search the gardenfork site for it, its great. thx, eric.
We managed to tape up a tomato plant with masking tape, also staking it. It is worth a try, good luck.
position a couple of sticks or stakes on either side ,loosly wrap a a little string for support and water. tomatos are pretty resiliant plants. good luck
Give the plant a support to grow on first of all. The roots are in the ground so it will probably keep producing still. Pick off the small stems if it comes back to put more energy into producing the fruit.
Yes it can be saved so long as the root is OK. I would cut the stem just below where it broke. Put the part that broke off in your organic or compost heap.
My tomatoes grow pretty good all summer. I keep chopping large sections off and they grow back. So don’t worry it will come back for sure.
You can use a stick tie around the broken part to give it a support, observe for 1 – 2 days if it does not look good cut the broken part off, trim off a inch at the broken end, remove some leaves at the bottom, stick it into a container with some water, place it indoor, change the water every day, the plant will start rooting in a few days time, when there is plenty of roots transfer to the ground and give it some shade for another few day then you got a new tomato plant with fruits. for the 4 inch plant in the ground it should still be able to grow some new shoots soon if not remove it from the ground.