Planting leggy transplants

[Chuck]

I can't plant them out until the end of may because of frost and they'll get too big in the conservatory, they have flowers on already.

If I had a green house I would just repot into a larger container until the weather was right. Tomatoes that have blooms and even fruit will be fine in the ground if they were repoted and the roots not constricted. I don't know about in the UK but here tomatoes don't get leggy in a green house, they only get bigger. Maybe I'm missing something as to why you say that they get too big.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Soils that drain well may benefit from an old idea, basin planting. I was reading that it is more common in the southwest.

 

[Chuck]

Soils that drain well may benefit from an old idea, basin planting. I was reading that it is more common in the southwest.

They still do that some out in the desert where it rarely rains especially with trees. Commercial growers use a form of basin planting by plowing up the existing grade and furrowing rows close together. Then they flood the entire acreage when they irrigate. Sort of a semi-raised bed.

 

[Logan]

If I had a green house I would just repot into a larger container until the weather was right. Tomatoes that have blooms and even fruit will be fine in the ground if they were repoted and the roots not constricted. I don't know about in the UK but here tomatoes don't get leggy in a green house, they only get bigger. Maybe I'm missing something as to why you say that they get too big.

I don't have a large greenhouse and my conservatory doesn't have a glass roof so early in the season tomatoes get leggy if I start them off too early. I have re-potted 5 of them and kept them inside. I have a small lean to greenhouse in the back garden I've put 6 in there but haven't potted on, they'll have to wait until the end of may, they'll still be alright I've always done it.

 

[Chuck]

I don't have a large greenhouse and my conservatory doesn't have a glass roof so early in the season tomatoes get leggy if I start them off too early. I have re-potted 5 of them and kept them inside. I have a small lean to greenhouse in the back garden I've put 6 in there but haven't potted on, they'll have to wait until the end of may, they'll still be alright I've always done it.

Now I understand. I thought you had a heated greenhouse. A conservatory over here is usually an expensive structure with everything imaginable

 

[headfullofbees]

In heavy clay soils I think you are correct but in friable soils I think deeper is better expecially when it is extremely hot and dry. On most of the tomatoes I planted this year they were planted 8-12 inches deep and are already setting fruit . I am beginning to get a little worried because we are having a lot of rain and the plants roots are below ground level in my raised beds. So far no signs of fungus or root rot.

Tomatoes have tap roots.

 

[Chuck]

Tomatoes have tap roots.

Yes, and sometimes BIG one's. In my soil I have solid impenetrable rock about 2 feet below ground level. Large long taproots are from late season plants in areas where there is a long growing season. When I pull my plants they have been in the ground no more than 100-120 days and their roots are about 2 feet long if I can get them out of the ground. They aren't like what I call a tap root which pecan trees have.

 

[Logan]

Now I understand. I thought you had a heated greenhouse. A conservatory over here is usually an expensive structure with everything imaginable

We could have heat in there but expensive. It gets too hot in the conservatory in the summer, just right then for my cucumbers and chillies.
This is the conservatory

The small greenhouse

I know that I shouldn't have plants on top but it's the only place that I can put them.

 

[TomatoNut]

Hello. I have a small greenhouse, and grow my own tomatoes from seed. Mine will get leggy if I don't plant them soon enough. And usually 'leggy' is not a good sign for me. I have hard clay soil as well, but I have a small, raised bed. Here's how I recommend planting tomatoes in heavy clay soil: Dig a nice, deep hole, mix some potting soil and a little Scotts Humus and Manure in the hole. Bury the tomato plant at least up to the top four or five inches of the plant.

 

[headfullofbees]

Yes, and sometimes BIG one's. In my soil I have solid impenetrable rock about 2 feet below ground level. Large long taproots are from late season plants in areas where there is a long growing season. When I pull my plants they have been in the ground no more than 100-120 days and their roots are about 2 feet long if I can get them out of the ground. They aren't like what I call a tap root which pecan trees have.

So how good are surface roots when you bury them 6" down?

 

[DirtMechanic]

If I dug a 24 inch tomato root out out of my clay I might have to call the evening news crew.

 

[Chuck]

So how good are surface roots when you bury them 6" down?

Many time the surface roots are exactly that, on the surface, sort of like a root flare on a tree. The actual rootball starts about 3 inches deep. The surface roots are interconnected with the root ball. One thing I have noticed is that the horizontal roots seem to be a bit shallower than on a plant that wasn't planted deep.

 

[headfullofbees]

I have the earliest tomatoes, and hence, the longest season, on our allotments, which have over 100 growers, planting my tomatoes at the same depth as when potted on.
Men who have grown tomatoes for decades longer than I have, have never had tomatoes in June. I was picking tomatoes last year in the 2nd week of June.
That gives an idea of how much of the season is wasted by planting deep.
Chuck, if you have enough plants, & don't trust my judgement, plant 3 or 4 shallow, plant 3 or 4 trenched, & do what you will with the rest. If you have 90 plants, you can afford to, yes?

 

[headfullofbees]

If I dug a 24 inch tomato root out out of my clay I might have to call the evening news crew.

What next, tomato China syndrome? lol!

 

[DirtMechanic]

I have the earliest tomatoes, and hence, the longest season, on our allotments, which have over 100 growers, planting my tomatoes at the same depth as when potted on.
Men who have grown tomatoes for decades longer than I have, have never had tomatoes in June. I was picking tomatoes last year in the 2nd week of June.
That gives an idea of how much of the season is wasted by planting deep.
Chuck, if you have enough plants, & don't trust my judgement, plant 3 or 4 shallow, plant 3 or 4 trenched, & do what you will with the rest. If you have 90 plants, you can afford to, yes?

Planting shallow, early, takes advantage of solar heat?