Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

Free for all about gardening techniques, tips and questions.
User avatar
bboomer
Reactions:
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:41 am

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#21

Post: # 69705Unread post bboomer
Sat May 14, 2022 3:16 pm

I planted my leggy tomato seedlings in a trench this year. They were really long, measuring about a foot and a half. I had to be super careful not to break the stem. That was last week and no failures so far.
I hereby resolve not to start my indoor seedlings so early. This is a resolution I break every year. Our winter is so long that planting early helps with my mental health.

User avatar
Cornelius_Gotchberg
Reactions:
Posts: 3102
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:19 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#22

Post: # 69710Unread post Cornelius_Gotchberg
Sat May 14, 2022 4:52 pm

@bboomer; "I hereby resolve not to start my indoor seedlings so early."

Came to that realization in 2021 when I planted on March 10th and had to toss 40 plants and start over on April 30th.

From here on in I'll plant tomatoes on April 2nd in honor of my Dear late Father's birthday; he was a Tomato Rancher of some repute despite having seven (7) kids underfoot...

The Gotch
Madison WESconsin/Growing Zone 5-A/Raised beds above the Midvale Heights spade-caking clay in the 77 Square Miles surrounded by A Sea Of Reality

User avatar
Shule
Reactions:
Posts: 2729
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:29 pm
Location: SW Idaho, USA

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#23

Post: # 69716Unread post Shule
Sat May 14, 2022 7:35 pm

How much stem do you have to deal with, exactly? If it's just four or five inches, I'd do it deep, but much longer than that, I'd probably do it horizontally.

In 2015, I purposefully grew some enormously long tomato plants under lights. I planted most of them about three feet deep, a couple about five feet deep, and others at varying depths below three feet. We had very compact soil. I used an auger post-hole digger to dig the holes. I believe I gave them all worm castings, basalt rockdust, and potassium sulfate, and some of them mycorrhizae and rock phosphate (in the bottom of each hole)--I'm not recommending that, I'm just telling you what I did.

We had the hottest year on record (probably), it being about 116 to 118 degrees F. on June ~29th, I think it was, and it was very hot thereafter for a really long time (but not quite that hot); no rain during the heat, of course, IIRC. The weather said 118 during the fact, but they changed that number a bunch of times after the fact. Normally 113 is about as hot as it gets at the most on a very hot year, and normally that's in late July or early August (not June). It was an unusual year.

Anyway, the result was this: The deeper the plant, the slower it grew, but as the season progressed to the end, they seemed to have a late-season advantage. I could see this being beneficial in a climate with a very long season.

The shallowest plants grew the fastest.

None of the plants (I grew 29 kinds) seemed to complain notably about the drought (but only a few set any fruit in the heat: mostly just Black Plum and Galapagos Island, but we got a few fruits from Sugar Lump; the five-foot deep tomatoes didn't set in the heat). I watered moderately, that year (not just a little like I usually do now, nor a lot like I did in 2016). In theory, the deeper ones would need less water, but none of them complained.

My hypothesis was that the colder temperatures at the lower depths inhibited growth, but that as the plants got more used to it, it turned out to be an advantage later on.

I experimented with planting Shark Fin Melon and watermelons 5 feet deep, too (in 2015). It worked okay for the Shark Fin Melon, and they fruited fine (but when I grew them another year with black plastic without planting them deep they took over almost the whole plot, instead of growing about the size of a normal squash, as they did when they were really deep; the shallow ones were direct-seeded, though, and they got squash bugs, and no fruit). I didn't know enough about watermelons to know what I was supposed to do there; so, the ones I planted five feet deep mostly just died, I think, and the ones I planted deep, but not that deep didn't have remarkable results from this method.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

User avatar
Cornelius_Gotchberg
Reactions:
Posts: 3102
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:19 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#24

Post: # 69728Unread post Cornelius_Gotchberg
Sun May 15, 2022 8:34 am

@Shule; thanks for the detailed response, and YOIKES...that's some SERIOUS HEAT!

From Friday: "The near death Namio Heirloom plant I got from my Main Man Abdullah @Felly's West was a très leggy (~ 24 inches/.61 meters), and I done trenched it; if it makes it, it's beaten all the odds."

Anyone care to lay odds on its survival?

thumbnail_IMG_1288.jpg
[/url]

The Gotch
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Madison WESconsin/Growing Zone 5-A/Raised beds above the Midvale Heights spade-caking clay in the 77 Square Miles surrounded by A Sea Of Reality

Setec Astronomy
Reactions:
Posts: 716
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:12 pm
Location: New Jersey, 6b

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#25

Post: # 69733Unread post Setec Astronomy
Sun May 15, 2022 9:17 am

I have to say, after looking at that Namio and the 3 seedlings I bought from Burpee (to replace a runt in my litter) that were fairly curlicued, I think I'm getting the hang of this and did a pretty good job with my seedlings this year. And I think that Namio is going to make it, now that you've got it in the ground.

rxkeith
Reactions:
Posts: 1194
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:57 pm
Location: keweenaw peninsula

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#26

Post: # 69759Unread post rxkeith
Sun May 15, 2022 3:06 pm

i had a few plants i had planted deep one year. when i pulled them at the end of the season, i noticed there was a small root ball
at the end of the plant then a gap where the stem was bare, nuthin but stem. above the bare stem was where all the substantial root
growth was. very interesting to see. that is where i got the idea that planting shallow is the way to go for me.

gotch, that plant looks like it has some foliage issues, sun scald maybe plus a bad case of scoliosis. if it seems prudent, consider lopping
off a few inches off the top to encourage new side growth. hold off on fertilizer for a couple weeks till the roots get established. too soon
for me to call. planted, it has a chance.



keith

User avatar
DriftlessRoots
Reactions:
Posts: 268
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 3:07 pm
Location: Wisconsin Zone 5

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#27

Post: # 69915Unread post DriftlessRoots
Tue May 17, 2022 7:10 pm

From Friday: "The near death Namio Heirloom plant I got from my Main Man Abdullah @Felly's West was a très leggy (~ 24 inches/.61 meters), and I done trenched it; if it makes it, it's beaten all the odds."

Anyone care to lay odds on its survival?
It’s totally going to make it. Tomatoes are tough as nails plus I have a selfish vested interest in the form of wanting seeds since my trip to Felly’s yielded jack. I clearly don’t know the secret handshake.
A nature, gardening and food enthusiast externalizing the inner monologue.🍅

Setec Astronomy
Reactions:
Posts: 716
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:12 pm
Location: New Jersey, 6b

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#28

Post: # 69917Unread post Setec Astronomy
Tue May 17, 2022 7:23 pm

DriftlessRoots wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 7:10 pmIt’s totally going to make it. Tomatoes are tough as nails plus I have a selfish vested interest in the form of wanting seeds since my trip to Felly’s yielded jack. I clearly don’t know the secret handshake.
The password is...swordfish

User avatar
Cornelius_Gotchberg
Reactions:
Posts: 3102
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:19 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#29

Post: # 69976Unread post Cornelius_Gotchberg
Wed May 18, 2022 8:46 pm

@DriftlessRoots; "my trip to Felly’s yielded jack."

Their starts got...um...started late (planter Greg whiffed) and I haven't gotten any other than the one either; I'll let you's know when they are.

In possibly related news, just yesterday I scooped the seeds out of three (3) ripe Namios that came with that plant and they're dark/dry curing as we speak; I'll set some aside for you's.

The Gotch
Madison WESconsin/Growing Zone 5-A/Raised beds above the Midvale Heights spade-caking clay in the 77 Square Miles surrounded by A Sea Of Reality

User avatar
Cornelius_Gotchberg
Reactions:
Posts: 3102
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:19 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#30

Post: # 70246Unread post Cornelius_Gotchberg
Sun May 22, 2022 8:18 am

The...um...uptick in deeper digging proved serendipitous; many Many MANY hardworking earthworms were evident, which I take as a good sign.

Anchored deeper, they don't seem so top-heavy, either; plenty of time for that moving forward, am I right?

The Gotch
Madison WESconsin/Growing Zone 5-A/Raised beds above the Midvale Heights spade-caking clay in the 77 Square Miles surrounded by A Sea Of Reality

User avatar
Cornelius_Gotchberg
Reactions:
Posts: 3102
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:19 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Planting Leggy/Tall Tomato Plants

#31

Post: # 70569Unread post Cornelius_Gotchberg
Fri May 27, 2022 6:14 pm

Rumors of the demise of the Leggy/Tall Death_Suckin'_On_A_Lifesaver Namio Heirloom (despite selfless encouragement from the thriving Jefferson Giant in the background) have...um...NOT been exaggerated; it's been...er...unplugged and is now in the compost bin.

It coulda been a contendah...!

thumbnail_IMG_1335.jpg
[/url]

The Gotch
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Madison WESconsin/Growing Zone 5-A/Raised beds above the Midvale Heights spade-caking clay in the 77 Square Miles surrounded by A Sea Of Reality

Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”