How to Propagate Tomatoes with Cuttings 2

Just over a week ago, I wasn't able to help it.  I cut my growing upside down tomato to find out if it's easy to clone tomato cuttings in water.  Here's what has happened so far.

The Existing Upside Down Tomato - It hasn't grown a leaf since I cut it.  It still looks alive but I'm a bit worried.  Uh oh.  But here's an interesting tidbit: the stem curves upward towards the sun, right?  I saw a dead spider on the curve.  Could it have been my tomato attempting to fertilize itself? 

The Tomato Cutting in Water -Within a week, small roots have started growing out. However, the bottom part seems to be rotting.  It's still 50-50 I would guess.  I noticed though that roots grow out from all over the submerged portion and not just on the joints.  Interesting.  I'll take pictures for next time, when the roots are more convincing.

Here's the drawback of using a cut two-liter bottle. It sliced the tomato leaves.  Mental note: keep the leaves high enough above the container to prevent leaf contact against the edges.  Here's the drawback of using shredded paper as the stem holder if the container is located outside in the garden.  When it rains, it compresses the paper.  Doh!  Oh well.  As long as learned something.

So what do I do?  Maybe I'll wrap some tape around the container edges so they don't cut my plant leaves.  And I'll keep the container out of the rain.   But how do I maximize the sun?  Hmmmm...

Hey, remember when I started my tomato adventure?   If my computations are correct, I need about two more months before it starts fruiting!  I better see a growth spurt soon.

---