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| I have several tomato plants that got broken in tonight's storm (cursed wind). I was out looking at them after the 60+ mph straight line winds went through, and several of them are broken at the fork in the stem towards the bottom of the plant with only a small amount of membrane still holding on.
Can I hold them back together tomorrow, and wrap a tight piece of twine around it to make it heal up? I have never done this with vegetables, but I know you can do it with trees as long as some of the membrane is still attached. I hate to replace them, as some of them are already 2 feet tall, and I will have a hard time getting them to catch up with the others. |
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| I would give it a try. With a razor blade or sharp knife shave a little of the old tissue on each of the two breaks to as to expose new, moist, living tissue. Quickly push them together and wrap with green, plastic, plant tie material - you know, the stuff that stretches nicely. Or try regular ties or string if that's all you have. RB |
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| luckyinK An alternate suggestion: You can take the broken off (or nearly broken off) piece and put it into some moist planting soil to root to make another plant. It'll take about a week to ten days for the new roots to form and the top to begin to grow again. Then you can plant it. In fact, I've removed suckers from indeterminate plants and just stuck them into the ground and left them on their own. They made fine vigorous plants. Tomatoes are incredibly tough once they get going. I doubt that you'll need to start over again with new plants. You can also try to repair them as you describe, but I don't know if that would work since I haven't done it. Somebody else may have and can tell you about their success. BTW, are they determinates or indeterminates? That might make a difference. |
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| I say break them off and re-root them, and leave the old part still in the ground in the event it resprouts too. If it does, you'll have two plants, if it doesn't you will still have the broken one which you've re-rooted. Carla in Sac |
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- Posted by raisemybeds SouthernCT (My Page) on Wed, May 16, 07 at 7:49
| I have done both of the above with good success. I remember bandaging a fruit-laden limb after a hailstorm had nearly severed it, and it grew back together. Tomatoes are truly adaptive plants. Whatever you do you will learn from it, so go ahead and try anything you want. |
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| This happened to me last year with my overgrown Brandywine. I smooshed the stems back together and wrapped a strip of cloth around them to hold them in place. The broken branch got a little wilty for a few days but caught up quickly. When I unwound the fabric later, the two stems had grown back together with a thick scar. Really neat to see. |
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- Posted by luckyinkentucky 6 (My Page) on Thu, May 17, 07 at 0:29
| I went to the local farm supply store today, and bought some grafting tape. I bandaged up the plant this evening, and I have faith that it will be ok. Both halves are still full and healthy looking. I would think that if they were going to die they will have shown some signs of wilting by this time tomorrow. So far so good. |
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| Greetings Fellow Gardeners! I was looking for a post regarding an injured tomato stem. I inadvertatly slipped while removing suckers from one of my plants, which resulted in tearing off a 6 inch piece of bark from one of the secondary stems. I applied a masking tape band aid (two layers) to keep insects and the sun out. I will remove it in a couple days, and see if it has healed or not. If any one has had this situation in the past, please respond. I will let the site know how the "band aid" worked in a couple days. Thank you to all who contribute to this great site!! -Bob in Vermont. |
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- Posted by sperchic122 none (My Page) on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 16:20
| I had a tomato stem damaged by a fall due to high winds. I tried to mend the stem first but, since it was so thin, I couldn't get twine or masking tape to hold the two pieces together. I decided to cut the broken portion off completely and place it in a cup of water as it already has some fruit on it. I know roots will develop soon and then I'll have two plants. :D I'll keep everyone posted. |
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| AS long as they are attached , can be re-supported and wrapped together with some thing like cheese cloth, nylon netting. They even have special wrapping clothes in HD. What you want to do is to prevent drying out and rotting. |
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