Hi!

I would definitely suggest starting your own plants from seed. (keeps many potential problems at bay, including disease issues, poor plant health, etc). Also, it is much more fun that way! Once seeded, germinate them at 78-85 degrees until they emerge. Good luck!
Joe

I like to grow from seed for the disease reasons and so I know what I'm growing.
Of course I also frequently root suckers and stick them in systems too. I don't believe there is an easier plant to clone than a tomato.
Makes for a nice long harvest.

I originally started from some heirloom tomato plants I purchased one spring at a local farm. I got some BrandyWine, Green Zebra, Cherokee purple plants and once I got some fruit, I let the tomato "rot" slightly then fished thru the gooey tomato and pulled out the seeds. Let them dry and stored them

This spring I took some of the seeds, use perfect starts and sprouted them, then moved them to my hydro systems outside. Now the plants are approx 8-9 feet tall and I've been taking clones of them and find that cloning is the way to go and MUCH faster than starting seeds. I agree with Grizzman, cloning a tomato is simple, and I've had great luck with tomato and some other plants in my homebuilt cloning machine

Have fun!

-Eric
Technology Garden

I seeded and cloned all but one. I bought a candy tomato plant that appeared healthy. Now I clone that variety, too. I don't see the hype of the cloning machines, though. I just put them in plugs in water and they root in a week or so. In two weeks they are usually rooted enough to plant. No electricity needed. I've only had a couple plants not make it out of the many I've cloned. What is the advantage Eric?

I do less than you, joe. I simply set them in a glass of water in a window. usually, in about a week, I have nice healthy long roots. then I stick in a net pot and into the system. On my vincent watts, I just put marbles in the cups around it to hold it upright.
One note on my cloning method. If you happen to see some algae starting to grow in the jar (before transplanting) simply dump a couple of teaspoons of H2O2 into it and swirl it around. The water will be clear as the day you poured it within 24 hours.

I do both. I prefer seeds for indoor plants, because I want to make sure I'm not bringing bugs or pathogens into my hydroponics whenever possible.

But I also clone a lot. I simply don't like to clone outdoor plants and bring them inside, but vice versa works.

Not all seeds are equal. Some will grow up to be better plants than others, so when I get a really vigorous plant I like to clone it as much as I can to preserve that strong genetic line.