Planting tomato plants deep: does it work?

[Bobberman]

Putting all my tomatoes in this week with my deep funnel shapped holes using a 1 inch steel rod or shovel handle. I usually make it a foot down and move it in a large circle so that the top of the hole is like the top of a funnel. I feel the top of the hole with some good soil and my tomato is planted about a foot deep. It seems that the one inch hole below the tomato holds water and stays wet for a long time with my type of soil! It is so easy and fast that I can plant 20 tomatoes in 15 minutes! The top of the hole is about 4 inches in diameter! Try it you will never do it any other way once you master it for even other plants like peppers!

[buzzcut]

i wasn't able to watch the local PBS "Garden Line" a couple of weeks ago (hosted by SDSU horticulturists). DVR'd it and watched it last night. one of the hosts showed what to do if your tomato plants happen to get a little "leggy" before you are able to plant them in the ground. she actually put the tomato plant in a horizontal position in the ground (maybe couple inches deep) and gently bent the area so to expose that part above ground. not sure if there would be any benefits to that, then say "burying" it straight into the ground and leaving top exposed.

just thot i'd pass that along.

[Bobberman]

If you bend a tomato over and touch any part to the ground it will grow roots there! You can take the top and bury it and have to ends of the tomato growing roots! Tomatoes are something!

[Bobberman]

How about lets take a hanging tomato and hang it so it touches the ground. Now lets burr the part that reaches the grounf. I would think that it would grow very nicely with two sorces of food! What do you think? Has anyone tried this?

[johnny123]

Garden5,
I didn't have the time or patiences to read 33 replies to your guestion.
The best I can tell you is we'll see this fall.
I have two Jetstars that have not been planted yet.
Both started from seed at the same time.
Both are the same hight.
I will plant one with the roots a few inches below the surface and I will plant the other one with the roots a foot deep.
I'll get bact to you this fall with the results.

[garden5]

Thanks Johnny!

I wanted to do this myself last year and this, but the plants were so small that the difference between deep and not deep was only about 2 in. .

Looking forward to the results.

[SPierce]

Just going to pop in quickly, as I went the "deep planting" route this year!

Does anyone else notice that deep planted tomato plants tend to grow out horizontally and get wider, instead of taller? I have several plants where I planted them regularly (with some of the stem above around) that are growing really tell and need support- but the ones i planted deep, up to almost the first set of leaves, are way ahead of the ones that are taller- more tomatoes and everything!

[LodiLapp]

I generally bury my transplants about 2/3 of the way down depending on variety, give it a try this season on a plant or two and see how it works. Good luck

[Gary350]

Tomato plants have the ablilty to grow roots any place soil touches the stem. You don't need to strip off the bottom leaves it just makes them easier to plant with no leaves. Now you dig a hole deep enough to get the whole stem covered in soil.

Another cool trick to make tomatoes grow fast and produce lots of large tomatoes is dig a 10" flower pot size hole about 4" too deep. Throw a small hand full of 15/15/15 fertilizer, egg shells and some lime pellets in the hole. Pour 1/2 a gallon of water in the hole then come back in about 15 minutes after the water has gone down. Put about 4" of soil in the hole then plant the tomatoes deep with leaves removed soil touching the whole stem.

Water the plants a little bit every day in 2 weeks they will suddenly take off growing super fast. You don't need to water them anymore. They will grow about 1" per day, as the plants get larger they will grow faster.

I get several bushel baskets of tomatoes from 18 plants enough to CAN 100 pints and 20 quarts of tomatoes in mason jars the first 2 weeks tomatoes are ripe.

You can stop cut worms by sprinkling corn meal around the stems of your tomato plants. If it rains or the corn meal gets hard replace it with new corn meal. Cut worms will eat the corn meal not the tomato plant. After tomato plant hardens off about 2 weeks corn meal is no longer needed.

[ElizabethB]

I kind of got lost in the replies to your question. Kind of got off tract. Back to your question about deep planting tomatoes that is a big yes. Bury 2/3 of your start either vertically or horizontally. I only plant indeterminate tomatoes because I have a limited amount of space and grow them vertically. Friday G came home with 2 tomato plants one better boy and one big boy. From the bottom of the pot to the top of the plant they were 12" tall. After planting only 3" of the plants were above the soil line. I grow my tomatoes vertically so a deep root system is important.

Yes plant deep.

Good luck

[estorms]

I have about 20 tomato plants growing in paper cups. They are a little pale and leggy because they are too big for my grow lights and I haven't put them in the sun because it is so windy. I plan to take some and put them in large pots. I will bury them up to their necks and then strip of the bottom leaves and fill the pots with dirt until they reach the top. I have another flat of 72 Romas coming, so I have plenty to play with.

[lily51]

i wasn't able to watch the local PBS "Garden Line" a couple of weeks ago (hosted by SDSU horticulturists). DVR'd it and watched it last night. one of the hosts showed what to do if your tomato plants happen to get a little "leggy" before you are able to plant them in the ground. she actually put the tomato plant in a horizontal position in the ground (maybe couple inches deep) and gently bent the area so to expose that part above ground. not sure if there would be any benefits to that, then say "burying" it straight into the ground and leaving top exposed.

just thot i'd pass that along.

I know people who look for lengthier plants for this reason. It's their favorite way to plant tomatoes, say plants end up stronger, very productive.
I start all my tomatoes from seed, and plant them deep, but have not tried the curving stem method .

[applestar]

My understanding of the two methods -- deep straight down vs. shallow trench -- is that they both work on the same principle that tomatoes grow roots along the stem:

Deep "post hole" method is preferred for hot and/or dry areas so the roots can be kept cool and less tend to dry out where they can find deeper moisture

Shallow trench method is preferred for cool areas where earliest planting is desired since soil is warmer near the surface

-- Planting in deep holes can shock or delay the plants when the deeper soil is much colder to even freezing. They can also be drowned where rainfall is frequent or heavy, or subsoil is mostly clay and doesn't drain well.

-- Planting in shallow trenches can mean more frequent watering in dry spring and summer drought. Also the long shallowly buried stem can interfere with mechanical and tool-based weeding like tilling or hoeing. So heavily mulching is recommended.

[Oliver Brown]

Sure it work. it will grow roots right out of the stems and this will give your plants good root system.

Hope this helps

[TheWaterbug]

The best I can tell you is we'll see this fall.
I have two Jetstars that have not been planted yet.
Both started from seed at the same time.
Both are the same hight.
I will plant one with the roots a few inches below the surface and I will plant the other one with the roots a foot deep.
I'll get bact to you this fall with the results.

If Johnny's still here, did you ever get results from that experiment?

I have the time and space next year (and if I remember) maybe I'll try one shallow transplant, one deep transplant, and one horizontal transplant and see what the differences are.

Of course it'll have to be a variety that I really like