new crop from cuttings or from seeds?

[xwindowuser]

I over wintered some plants and have started new plants from cuttings.
But I was wondering what the consensus is if it's just better to start new from seed?
Will the cuttings be good or does productivity go down with cuttings?

[Setec Astronomy]

Some more experienced members will chime in, but I think a cutting should give you a head start over seeds. If it's a healthy (disease/insect free) cutting, it should be just like a new plant, no productivity issues.

[rxkeith]

cuttings will do just fine as long as there are no disease issues from the get go.
healthy cutting equals healthy plant.
one year i had third generation clones, cuttings from cuttings from cuttings of a cherry tomato that i had no choice but to
winter over due to having no more seeds, and an early frost. i had no tomatoes to save seeds from. the plants did fine once
planted, and i now have an ample supply of alston everlasting seeds.


keith

[slugworth]

I clone all the time and delighted with the results.

[bower]

I agree that the health of the cutting is what counts. I've done lots in spring and summer that did fine. But I tried to take cuttings from an ailing plant late in the season, and that was a fail. Mind you our days were also getting very short. But it was the exposure to late season mold and rot that seemed to take them down.

[bjbebs]

No evidence to back up this opinion, just observations through the years. I don't believe a cutting has the vigor of a seed grown plant. Yes you can gain some time in producing that first fruit but the longevity of the cutting grown plant seems to be affected. I've always thought this has to do with the age of the mother plant.

If I take a cut on March 1 and it roots on March 10 the clock starts then. If the mother was 6 weeks old, I would add this to the age of the rooted cut. I think this would apply to a stem or leaf cutting but don't have a clue about tissue culture.

Of course this doesn't mean much since most plants go down from disease, cold or the growers clippers. Side by side comparisons might show this but probably too many variables.

[slugworth]

I have a cutting from a plant taken last aug 23rd still alive.
I am trying to beat my old record of 13 months.
I ate tomatoes off it last month,yumm.

[slugworth]

I have taken cuttings from an ailing plant to save it.
Especially ones with root related problems.
I never mastered grafting.

[rxkeith]

those original cuttings i took in the fall were still alive technically, once summer came around, but they were clearly not going to survive much longer.
the newer cuttings were vigorous, and grew, and produced all season. you would never know they were clones. keep in mind i was dealing with a cherry tomato which tends to have rampant growth any way. i don't have any other varieties to compare my experience with. my growing season is not a long one. all i can say is it all worked out for me. i don't know when i would do it again.


keith

[slugworth]

I do it with fresh store bought plants also.
turn 1 plant into a bunch of plants.

[Shule]

Cuttings can work, but seeds seem to work somewhat better, in my experience. It probably depends on how you start them, though. My experience is limited there, however; I'm sure you can get great results with cuttings if they're healthy and strong enough, but seeds are pretty easy to grow.

One advantage of seeds is they have taproots. Cuttings don't.

One advantage of cuttings is you can get them to flower faster (but that doesn't necessarily mean a bigger or earlier harvest).

[zeuspaul]

One of my seedlings wasn't looking good and stopped growing when about 3 inches tall. It had a narrow stem at ground level. I cut it above the bad stem and rooted it in water. Then planted once again in a 2 1/2 inch pot. Now a couple of weeks later it looks good and is growing well.