Are there any reasons not to plant slightly leggy seedlings a bit deeper? Is it more beneficial?
Planting leggy seedlings
- Thread starter Teufelhunden86
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If you are talking about tomatoes, then yes. Prune off some of the lower branches and them deeply. Any part of the buried stem will root, thus helping create a stronger plant. I always try to plant my tomatoes deeper. However, don't do this with pepper plants. Plant them only to their original soil line.
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No, it won't. It'll grow new roots to same depth as the old roots. That's why there's a space if you plant them very deep.
This shows that you are REPLACING defunct roots, not adding to them.
Thanks for the videos, but I have grown many tomato plants through the years, and my 'plant your tomatoes deeper' method works fine for me.
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Fine. Don't recommend it for anyone else, because it's not correct.
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I agree with what you say except for the "replacing" part. The bottom roots are not defunct. They still uptake nutrients. What if you laid them on their sides? The new roots are at the same depth as the new roots and when you pull them up the bottom roots have grown just as much as the top roots. That's why it makes no difference between on their side and deep. I plant my tomatoes about 2 feet apart because of the intense sunlight. By laying them on their sides I am getting a little too close for the neighboring plants horizontally growing roots. That issue and the moisture at depth encourages me to plant deep.
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You can plant leggy pepper plants just like you do with tomato plants. Many times I must do this or risk loosing the plant to high winds. It's an old wives tale that the peppers trunk will rot if planted deep. But if the pepper isn't leggy I wouldn't bury it deeper just because I could.
I have never planted a leggy pepper plant deeper, but I may try it sometime. I place tomato cages around my pepper plants to help support them should I get a high wind. As for tomatoes, I have never laid them on their side, but I've read about that method. Planting them the way I have been works Ok for me. Say Chuck, have you ever tried those Topsy Turvy Tomatoe planters where you can grow a tomato plant upside down? I got one of those this year, I'm going to give it a try. I cant see it working, honestly.
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I have seen them but never grown in them. If it were all that great every gardener would have bunches of them. I think it is just a marketing gimmick. On the cages---------- they wont work for leggy seedlings. The wind whips them back and forth and all that is left is the bare trunk which I guess is better than a broken trunk.
Possibly. But I have some more tomato plants that need planting, and my raised garden is full, and I don't have enough large pots. I have some cracked-bottom five-gallon buckets, but I use them to cover up some plants during all this excess rain we've been getting. I will try this topsy turvy planter thing and see if it's any good. Gracious, if only I had wonderful soil, I wouldn't be worrying about sticking everything in containers! Clay soil stinks, right?
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No, clay soil is great. The only thing bad about clay soil is its tendency for getting hard when dried out and difficult to work with. Much of Texas has deep clay soils called Heavy Blackland Clay. This is excellent soil. It gorws just about everything. The only thing about clay soil is that you should incorporate a lot of organic material into it. Grass clippings, leaves, compost of all kinds, mulch, manures etc. Anything to break it up and make it more friable. Also many folks think that adding sand to clay soil soils is good. It's not. Clay+sand=brick.
Oh yes, clay + sand... bad combo. This spring I added some leaf mulch to my raised garden, so hopefully it will make my plants happy. I live in Texas to, but I do meet some people with awesome dirt, and it makes me jealous. 
However, I just keep putting up with what I have. Growing tomatoes is my passion, and I will try to grow them anyway I can. You must grow your tomatoes from seed as well? What's your favorite variety?
However, I just keep putting up with what I have. Growing tomatoes is my passion, and I will try to grow them anyway I can. You must grow your tomatoes from seed as well? What's your favorite variety?
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I grow everything from seed. This year I ended up with 91 tomato plants. I lost a bunch due to a late freeze. My favorite determinate is either Celebrity or Valley Cat. My favorite indetermanate is Cherokee Purple. Please update you profile so the next time you have a question we will all know where you live and your hardiness zone. That way we can be of more help.Oh yes, clay + sand... bad combo. This spring I added some leaf mulch to my raised garden, so hopefully it will make my plants happy. I live in Texas to, but I do meet some people with awesome dirt, and it makes me jealous.
I grow heirloom varieties only. This way I can save my seeds, and not spend money to replenish that variety. Have you ever tried a crazy tomatoes variety like Blue Beauty? It's a pale red tomato with black shoulders! It's one of my favorites! I'm not in the least picky when it comes to color on a tomato. One of my latest varieties I got this year is a Black Beauty: a true black tomato! The plant hasn't produced yet, but I can already tell by my the plants purple stem that the fruits are going to be super dark!
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I grow a lot of heirlooms. I usually grow 12-15 different varieties trying to find the perfect tomato. I've been experimenting with tomatoes for close to 50 years and haven't found the perfect one yet. I think I have found it and then the next year or the year after it fails. A perfect tomato never fails, never gets a disease, never cracks or gets sunscalded and produces like mad. I tried an Indigo series tomato a couple of years ago but the foliage was too sparse for south Texas sun and it scalded. I've never heard of a Blue Beauty. By your description it sounds similar.