Perennial Tomatoes, Year Two

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

Last fall, before the first frost, I took cuttings from my tomato plants and stuck them in a glass of water in my kitchen window. As they grew roots (and this variety evidently is a great rooter!), I moved them each to their own glass of water.
(You can read about the first part of this grand experiment here: Perennial Tomatoes.)

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

I kept them going all winter long, and in late winter/early spring I potted them up, each in their own cup. I ran out of room on the kitchen windowsill. It's the only window that faces the right direction and the cats can't get up in - my cats love to eat anything green. Even if they didn't, they'd have knocked all the pots on the floor. Windows belong to cats, you know.

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

When the time came - when the days and nights were warm enough and the chance of frost was finally past - I planted them outside. I watered them. I waited for that first red tomato, and waited, and waited. There were flowers, but no fruit.

I was pretty sure it wasn't because they were cuttings. My pepper plants from the feed store didn't even bloom. Was it all the rain we had during the summer? The grasshoppers? Lack of bees? It was a mystery. Then I talked to other local gardeners who were having the same problem, so I knew it wasn't just my plants.

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

Still, it was a mystery. I talked to quite a few people at the county fair who regretted that they didn't get enough tomatoes to can. I mentioned it to our former extension agent, who said he'd heard this from many people in several counties. He said that too much water or fertilizer can cause huge plants with no fruit, but if that were the cause there would have been no flowers. We'll probably never really know the cause.

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

I told him about my tomato experiment. He said yes, it could work, tomatoes keep growing until "they get frosted". He'd never thought about the concept before, but yes, it could work...

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

When cooler weather arrived, I finally had little green tomatoes, big green tomatoes, orange tomatoes... and finally, delicious red tomatoes! My experiment worked, I had tomatoes from last year's clones! Hopefully the first frost will hold off long enough for all the green fruit to ripen.

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

Will you give this a try? Some varieties will grow better in water and root better than others, but it's worth trying. Even if you are currently growing hybrid tomatoes, they will produce fruit true to type because they are grown from the same plant instead of seeds.

Year two of my perennial tomato plant experiment.

Soon be time to take cuttings from these plants to put in water on my kitchen windowsill again. Year Three? I'll give it a try.

Check out these updates on the perennial tomato experiment:
Part 1 - 10/10/12 
Part 2 - Update #1, Spring
Part 3 - Update #2, Year Two (This post)
Part 4 - How to Take Tomato Cuttings
Part 5 - Perennial Tomatoes: Year Four
Part 6 - Perennial Tomatoes: Year Five



This post has been shared at some of my favorite blog hops. 


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16 comments

  1. Unknown9:05 PM

    I'm going to try this. We also had such a terrible tomoto year, but with the cooler temps we're getting some fruit again. I can't wait to see what happens for you next year.

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  2. Oak Hill Homestead9:17 PM

    Thank you, Angi. This terrible tomato year is a mystery, isn't it? I hope you'll give this a try, and let me know your results.

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  3. Nikki5:22 PM

    I've so gotta try this! Out of the 5 varieties we planted, 2 did great. Unfortunately, I don't know what they were (1 was given to me by a stranger at a store), so I can't go buy them again. Problem solved - cuttings!

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  4. Oak Hill Homestead5:39 PM

    That's perfect, Nikki! Take lots of cuttings since you can't replace these plants.

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  5. Kathy Felsted Usher7:52 AM

    I wish I would have read this earlier, I have to try this.

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  6. Oak Hill Homestead8:13 AM

    File it away for next year, Kathy!

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  7. JoAnna6:11 PM

    That is awesome and when I finally get a plant that is disease resistant I will do just that! I have had a hard time for the past few years with some dreadful blight and I need to get out there and find a better plant. Once I do, I'll be unstoppable in my propagating! Very clever!

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  8. Oak Hill Homestead6:25 PM

    Wishing you luck finding a disease-resistant tomato variety. Do you rotate where you plant them each year?

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  9. Janice K.8:16 AM

    Does this have anything to do with the fact that your tomatoes might be 'determinate' and not 'indeterminate'? We live in eastern WA and I had a ton of tomatoes this year. We used compost from the compost bin when we planted them and I didn't have to even fertilize this year. It was the year of the tomato, cucumbers, peppers!

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  10. Oak Hill Homestead11:59 AM

    Hi Janice, I grow an indeterminate variety, so I don't think that was the reason. It was evidently just some weird regional thing this year. I hope next year is better!

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  11. Janice K.7:31 AM

    Now you have me excited to try this next year, as the frost has been here for a couple of weeks..I once had a volunteer tomato that was more frost resistant and when I brought the ripening fruit into the house it ripened perfectly and lasted longer. What I would give to know what that beauty was!!

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  12. Oak Hill Homestead7:40 AM

    Janice, I'd love to know what kind that tomato was too. This would be a great way to keep an unknown variety going.

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  13. Becky Elmuccio7:35 PM

    Clever idea! Thanks for sharing it on Tuesday Greens!

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  14. Donna Jones Photography8:47 AM

    I'm heading outside to take some cutting right now! Here in Calif.we haven't had a frost yet so my Big Boy plant is still giving us a few tomatoes! Thanks for the great posts!I'll be a follower! I "garden" at www.theradishpatch.com and I'll share your posts! Thanks,Donna

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  15. Damo4:22 PM

    I have been doing this for a few years. It is a great way to get tomato plants to fruit earlier. I have found in my garden that overwintered cuttings like this will set fruit about 2 months earlier than seed grown plants.

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  16. Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead7:45 PM

    Thank you, Damo. Great observation; I hadn't noticed.

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