I've been 'cloning' around lately...

[MiHale]

This season in Michigan is crazy. It warmed up so nicely at the end of March we were able to get tons of prep work done in the garden beds. The soil was workable so the beds got turned over and amended. In the greenhouse we got most of the grow bags filled with amended soil. Straw bales being conditioned…waiting for warm up. Soil temps are staying at an even 40 degrees throughout the beds.
So much done…knowing full well we gotta wait…don’t rush…
Then the snow came…unfortunately it takes colder weather to snow … seed are started and going great. Soil temps what to do?…what to do?

Time to experiment with stuff..
I tried high density germination with tomatoes, basil, pablano peppers. Instead of using single cell or bags to start, I sowed in 3” pots. We generally use these for transferring the germinated plants from the germination bags to starter pots getting ready for their final destination.

For the tomatoes I used some leftover seeds from the tomatoes that volunteered in the compost pile. Have a kinda idea what they are …either a 42 day or a sub-arctic hybrids. Since it’s a hybrid no idea of what to expect.
I tried some to grow throughout the winter and they gave us very nice cherry tomatoes.
I put about 15 seeds in the pot. They came up beautifully…to thin, I cut the smallest plants ground level. That’s when my insane gardener brain took over. I took those little clippings and stuck them in another pot just to see what would happen. Well…next morning they looked dead…other stuff came up and I didn’t clean out the pot…good thing… in the next few days they rebounded.
Pictures below…

Basil same thing… but I made a cloning try from hardware cloth and an aluminum steam table pan.
Ten when rooted placed in individual pots for starters and planted some in the bags as companion plants.

The Pablano peppers are from last years plants that seemed to like to grow with others being a little crowded. I think they like supporting each other. So I clustered them into a seven gallon grow bag. We will see.

Now for the nice weather to set in.

Here’s the basil cloning tray and some starts.



The compost tomatoes went into the grow bags…the little clipping tomato plants are in the bags under the stand in the center…onions are in the container under the side stand. Peppers are in the center bag. Rosemary plant is an old friend just hanging out. Empty looking big bag is seed with lettuce.

[Figarosmom]

1. Very nice

Yeah I've done that with tomatoes and with begonias. With some other plants also to assure that they were female to put out in spring.

I like using begonias in my borders so to assure I have enough plants without having to buy a lot of flats I take cuttings.

[MiHale]

2. Thanks...temps here in northern Michigan are starting to moderate...

By the end of next week we’re at 50h/50l… of course that’s always up for change but it’s beginning

Then it’s nonstop till November… my to-do list is long already.

[Figarosmom]

3. Yeah im in WI

You guys are always a week or two ahead of us for some reason (my sister lives in MI and we talk every week, her daffodils are blooming already mine just came up.)

I've been out digging up coach grass that got into my front garden last year snd turning the soil and topping off with coconut cour. My to do list is long too. Planting a larger veggie garden in back this year.

[Jack Valentino]

4. Haven't "cloned" anything since marijuana---- LOL

It worked, but that was 30 years ago. I no longer partake.