Topic: Tomato growing method

[Gordonmull]

This came to me today. I'm assuming that it probably doesn't work because I have never found anywhere that recommends it. Here goes.

Normal convention , as I understand it, is to sow tomatoes to seedtrays/modules and pot them on as deep as you can.

Second potting on to bury them deeper then final pots/in ground with soil to just under first true leaves.

But. Fill a deep 2-3" pot (i.e. a plastic cup from poundland in my case) half full with compost. sow and then earth up as the toms grow.  I'd think this would give a couple of extra weeks of more root development and therefore earlier toms, or at least stronger plants.

Could be this has been thought of, dismissed and is old news but at least the newbie is starting to join the dots   :) 

[chriscross1966]

It'll eat up space when the tomatoes are small and that space needs a warm floor.... by the time they get into the bigger pots tomatoes don't need the heated floor as it were.... The standard technique is mostly about reducing pressure on the propagators....

[Squash64]

I sow tomato seeds in small square pots, about 10 - 15 per pot.  When they have their first true leaves starting to appear I pot them on individually.  I plant them so that quite a lot of the stem is buried, in the hope that roots will come from the buried stem.

However,  I've found that when it's time to pot on, there are never any roots in the top part of the soil, the roots are always in the bottom part of the pot.

So, do the 'stem' roots only develop once the plants are mature and growing in their final position?  If so, it would probably be better for little plants to be potted on near the top of the pot which would give more soil underneath for roots to develop.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[brown thumb]

i have heard about earthing up tomato seedlings, never tried it and cant remember where i read about doing it, but having said that i have added more compost to a pot if the compost sinks, so in away i have done it