Topic: leggy tom plants

[gordonsveg]

I have some rather leggy tom plants that i want to pot on,i have heard they can be planted quite deep in the pots and still grow properly, is this true? :-[
  I think i planted them a bit early.  :-[

[saddad]

Mine are a couple of inches too long as well... if you have true leaves you can bury up to the seed leaves as Tom will root off the stem..
 ;D

[valmarg]

When OH plants our tomatoes on he plants them up to the seed leaves, so yes you can plant them deeply.  Apparently it encourages root growth.

valmarg

[ipt8]

They could be short of light if they are leggy, depends where you have them, OR if you started them in aheated propogator I think leaving them on the heat too long once they have germinated can make them leggy.
They are OK to plant deep I did it last year and they were fine. 8)

[Jeannine]

Just echoing the others, plant right up to the leaves, trust us, the stem will develop roots right up to the green. It is hard to believe this sometimes but it is true...honest !!

XX Jeannine

[davyw1]

Leggy plants are caused by leaving them covered to long causing them to draw.
The bumps on the side of a tomato are called nodes. these are roots waiting to grow, so the more depth you give the tomato the more roots are developed
When planting the tomato your bucket/bag should only be three quarters full so you can top it up as the tomato grows therefor creating more root.
Great site for beginners

http://topveg.com/2007/06/27/looking-after-tomato-plants/

[Lindsay]

ok - stupid question to add to this thread but I'll ask it anyway - if I plant them up to their first leaves does the root have to be straight or can it be curved into the pot?  I was told by some kind person on here to plant them into 3" pots - but they aren't deep enough to plant the seedlings in straight! 

They were grown in plug pots, on a sunny windowsill (no greenhouse, propogator etc).

Right, I'll go and hide my head in shame at that one, but still hope somebody answers !!!   :-[

[tim]

Toms can be laid with a foot of stem covered!

[greyhound]

A lot of us improvise with cut-off milk cartons and the like ....

It amazes me that no one seems to commercially produce small, deep pots.  Why is the depth of the pot always dictated by the width of the top?

[Jeannine]

Curl it ,lay it. If planting in the ground and the plats are very tall, trench them

dig a trench, lay the plant in the trench, leaving the green bit at one end sticking up, fill the trench, the plant will be on it's side but will straighten itself after a few days

XX Jeannine

[davyw1]

ok - stupid question to add to this thread but I'll ask it anyway - if I plant them up to their first leaves does the root have to be straight or can it be curved into the pot?  I was told by some kind person on here to plant them into 3" pots - but they aren't deep enough to plant the seedlings in straight! 

They were grown in plug pots, on a sunny windowsill (no greenhouse, propogator etc).

Right, I'll go and hide my head in shame at that one, but still hope somebody answers !!!   :-[

Plastic cups from vending machines, Pot noodle cups. Try visiting your local dentist wheelie bin or ask the receptionist to put them to one side for you to collect.

[Robert_Brenchley]

They made deep pots in the 19th Century, but they eventually stopped. They're pretty hard to find now.

[davyw1]

Here is an alternative method for growing tomato,s if you have the space and are growing in the ground.
If you have a tomato that has become drawn/leggy with four or more leaves developed, hoe out a shallow trench 3 or 4 inches deep and lay the tomato in it on its side. Give the roots a good covering with soil/compost and then cover each of the leaf joints where the suckers will grow with a light covering of compost water and keep moist. The suckers will grow onto full tomato plants, when developed they can be split and moved or left in where they are.

[Lindsay]

Thanks for the replies - I didn't know about lying the plants down, what a good idea, especially as I have the space to do that. (Only it is too cold to do that outside just now - that'll have to wait for the next potting on!). At least I don't think I'll be doing too much damage if I have to curl the stems a bit now. 

[tim]

No end to man's ingenuity??

Which reminds one that a growbag can sub for an 'outside trench'?

[davyw1]

TIM, A picture paints a thousand words.

[gordonsveg]

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR REPLYING TO MY QUESTION, ITS NICE TO KNOW THERE ARE SO MANY HELPFUL IN A4A

[caroline7758]

As an aside, are there any seedlings, edible or non-edible, that react badly to being planted up to their seed leaves? Just about everything I sow inside ends up leggy.

[djbrenton]

I've gone artificial and now have a gro-light above my seedlings in the dining room. It might use electricity but it's an easier option for me than heating a greenhouse and my plants are all sturdy and growing faster than normal. The tomatoes are on their second true leaves, 3 weeks after sowing.

[glow777]

It amazes me that no one seems to commercially produce small, deep pots.  Why is the depth of the pot always dictated by the width of the top?

look for rose pots - they are deep but square. I have just put my beef toms into those 4" at the top 3" at the bottom 10" high, other than that there's always pot noodle pots