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Mentioned a few weeks ago - I thought I'd post this now for people to get prepped for the challenge.
Aim:
To get as many productive tomato plants as possible from one seed. Productive, means you harvest at least 10 ripe tomatoes from it. [My line in the sand, but we rely on your honesty].
Hypotheses:
As indeterminate tomato plants grow, it is common to remove the 'armpits' to keep production to the main stem. However, these armpits are in fact, potential new plants and can be treated as cuttings and be grown on.
Equipment:
One tomato plant [indeterminate]
Pots
Compost
Labels
Camera
Notebook
Pencil or keyboard
The Vine
Method:
Grow a tomato plant from seed
As the plant grows, remove each 'armpit' and place in water or compost for a week, until the plant stops drooping and recovers
Pot on and treat as per any tomato plant
Number each seedling that recovers, with the original plant numbered as '1'.
As each plant produces a crop - take the tomatoes and record how many each plant has produced
Record your figures and post on here your results.
If you are feeling exceptionally scientific, you could weigh each crop, and also count the days from sowing to first and last cropping, and the time taken from nipping your armpits out to recovery and potting on, and first and last cropping.
Record the dates that each plant comes to the end of it's cropping life
Results - see below
Compare and contrast:
Did anything affect your armpits? What did you feed your plants? Did you use different feeds and compare the results?
The person who crops from the most plants and produces a good account of the experience, with photos to support their experience, wins a bag of heritage seeds that include beans, peas, tomatoes and peppers/chilis.
Even if you don't want to win, it would be interesting to hear each person's experience and accounts.
Further research:
Some plants and seeds are very very expensive - such as F1 Sungold. How much can you get each plant down to [price wise] by taking armpit cuttings? Can you take armpits from armpits and make your money go even further?
How did blight affect your tomatoes, if indeed it did? Did the original plant get it first, or last?
Sign up below to take part, or even if you are just interested in taking armpit cuttings and want to try a few.
Note: as per usual, naysayers feel free to go start your own 'I'm not taking cuttings from armpits' thread.
Aim:
To get as many productive tomato plants as possible from one seed. Productive, means you harvest at least 10 ripe tomatoes from it. [My line in the sand, but we rely on your honesty].
Hypotheses:
As indeterminate tomato plants grow, it is common to remove the 'armpits' to keep production to the main stem. However, these armpits are in fact, potential new plants and can be treated as cuttings and be grown on.
Equipment:
One tomato plant [indeterminate]
Pots
Compost
Labels
Camera
Notebook
Pencil or keyboard
The Vine
Method:
Grow a tomato plant from seed
As the plant grows, remove each 'armpit' and place in water or compost for a week, until the plant stops drooping and recovers
Pot on and treat as per any tomato plant
Number each seedling that recovers, with the original plant numbered as '1'.
As each plant produces a crop - take the tomatoes and record how many each plant has produced
Record your figures and post on here your results.
If you are feeling exceptionally scientific, you could weigh each crop, and also count the days from sowing to first and last cropping, and the time taken from nipping your armpits out to recovery and potting on, and first and last cropping.
Record the dates that each plant comes to the end of it's cropping life
Results - see below
Compare and contrast:
Did anything affect your armpits? What did you feed your plants? Did you use different feeds and compare the results?
The person who crops from the most plants and produces a good account of the experience, with photos to support their experience, wins a bag of heritage seeds that include beans, peas, tomatoes and peppers/chilis.
Even if you don't want to win, it would be interesting to hear each person's experience and accounts.
Further research:
Some plants and seeds are very very expensive - such as F1 Sungold. How much can you get each plant down to [price wise] by taking armpit cuttings? Can you take armpits from armpits and make your money go even further?
How did blight affect your tomatoes, if indeed it did? Did the original plant get it first, or last?
Sign up below to take part, or even if you are just interested in taking armpit cuttings and want to try a few.
Note: as per usual, naysayers feel free to go start your own 'I'm not taking cuttings from armpits' thread.
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