Tomato transplanting

[Ozark Lady]

I was reading up on planting dates etc. And was on an Arkansas Ag site.

I found an awesome tip... I just had to pass it on...

To transplant tomato seedlings into the garden, bury 80% of the above ground plant material, either by digging deeply or by laying the plant on its side and burying it. This promotes vigorous root growth and will produce tomato plants that survive summer’s heat. Planting marigolds or basil near tomatoes may help deter pests.

Hey, letting the seedlings get leggy, could be a good thing when you need to transplant and get them ready to survive some really hot weather.

The recommendation there is: Start tomatoes 6-10 weeks before frost free... wow.. they want them to grow large... for heat protection.

[wolfie]

I planted marigolds as the border for all my raised beds and I didnt have any problems with pests last year. gonna do it agian this year!

[Duh_Vinci]

Speaking of leggy tomatoes - here is some more info on [url=https://gardenguide.montana.edu/article.asp?id=267]the reasons and to do...[/url]

Regards,
D

[gixxerific]

If it's too big you are better off to plant horizontally that way the roots aren't in the colder part of the soil.

Good find though, I always bury them deep.

[Ozark Lady]

I agree for planting in more northern zones.

In my summer heat zone... the deeper the better, out of the hot surface soil... and mulch heavily to help keep the soil both cooler, and moister.

Recommendations for corn here is: early crops plant shallow, later season plants increase in depth about an inch per month... this is to cool the roots. With plants that grow a single crop, this option works really well, for tomatoes, I would continue to build up the soil and mulch over the roots to protect them.