don’t plant your plants like this plant them like this take your tomato plant remove these leaves you won’t need them cuz what you’re going to do is you’re going to bury this tomato plant in a trench that’s because tomato plants will set Roots all along the stem check it out here’s the root system but all of these little bumps are Roots that’s because all along the tomato plant are these hairs and they will set down support Roots which are able to take up nutrients and water leading to a healthier plant take your plant put it down in the soil in the trench slowly Bend don’t do it fast you’re going to break it do it slowly and then bend that plant up and now the root ball might be here but the plant is now buried super deep without having to dig a deep hole I hope you tried this method for a bigger better healthier tomato plant

50 Comments

  1. Trench is good but vertically planting at 1-2 feet deep how would it be? More vigorous growth and tomato production even through the heat of summer?

  2. I never trenched one but I do sometimes plant them deeper to get a more stable plant with deeper roots. Wish I would have seen this before I planned mine this year.

  3. This is wrong. It causes shallow rooting. Just bury your root ball to the depth of the second leaf node that you trimmed off. Tomatoes like to be planted deep. Your tomatoes will be far more hearty and require far less watering.

  4. Burying them deeper rather than sideways is better in my opinion as you have better water retention deeper than just along the surface.

  5. This doesn't really help. Taproot does 90% of the growing work. All you are doing is helping it for wind at the cost of decreased photosynthesis

  6. And you can propagate all those stems that were removed. So you get more tomato plants for a later harvest.

  7. I've heard recently that adventitious roots don't take up nutrients as well as tap roots, but are good for stability. But they do take a lot of energy out of the plant. I planted mine really deep last year and honestly I think it delayed production while the plants had to re-establish themselves. I'm planting some more shallow this year to see if it changes when I get a first harvest. I also didn't start them so early that I have seedlings the size of his in the video, because smaller plants catch up quickly to larger ones and don't suffer as much from shock

  8. If you lay the plants on their sides for a few days before planting, the plant will grow upwards, creating its own bend and then there's no worry of breakage.

  9. I am planting as deep as I can, to encourage deeper roots. Which will help access nutrients deeper in the soil. And help withstand dry days of July and August.

  10. Been doing this for many years, grow my tomatoes under lights so they tend to get lanky, this works beautifully. Production, health, etc is no different.

  11. But then the roots are all at the surface so it makes it more susceptible to watering gaps. Plant it straight down or at an angle to get the roots further down below the surface. My 2 cents

  12. What should night temperatures be to for you to be able to plant tomatoes outside? I thought it was still to early. Could I plant my tomatoes now in central Washington?!

  13. This seems to be trendy. Coffee lady described laying tomato plants this way. I mentioned fruit would vine along the ground. Unhealthy/risk. She was on Pintrest. Im in the camp of buying deeper and upright. ❤

  14. If you have tall plants, lay them on their sides and they will tip their tops to the sun making side planting easier!

  15. I like that idea I think the root ball should stay in that first six inches of soil. I disagree with you about the hairs. The hairs maybe don’t turn into roots. You know we should experiment dig that one up in the fall and see what it did. I’m sure it grows roots from somewhere on the stem. Like those support roots you see. I really like that you don’t bury the root ball. I think the important roots are in the root ball. And if buried a foot down those very important roots are not in the good soil we make in the first foot. Laying it down it’s still in the zone for fertilizer and amendments we added over the years.

  16. Just because they will doesnt mean you should. Thats for when it knocks on its side. Doing this will increase stem rot, theres a reason the morphology is very different above vs below the soil. The tomato doesnt grow its stem in the soil only roots for that reason to prevent rot.

  17. It's so funny. I just watched a video saying not to do this. I did use this technique with quite a few plants this year. So I'll see which ones do better.

  18. The big tomatoes look nice and healthy.
    The hairs on the stem when buried in the soil just get crushed and do not turn into roots. There are root primordia a little under the epidermis of the stem and with water exposure the plant growth regulators in the growing tips make the cells differentiate into roots. In 11 steps of cell transformation, the thin layer of cells surrounding the cambium become roots. They start piercing through the stem and become adventitious roots.
    There are 8 different hairs called trichomes (try-komes) on tomato leaves and stems, but a tomato might only have 3 to 5 of different types or rarely all 8. They are either 4 types of glandular with chemicals to trap insects or for fungus resistance or they release repellent chemical fragrances. 4 other types have functions that help the attached cells beneath become resistant to things like drought, cold damage or water loss.

  19. Burried my plants normal depth AFTER loosening that root ball.
    I had tomato shrubs!
    So many tomatoes off of 6 plants well into October, that after, canning, stewing, frying, pickling, I had to give away tomatoes!

  20. I think that if you have a lot of space in your garden it's ok to use this method, but if you need to space the plants closer together, then deep and vertical is the way to go.

  21. I never do anything to my tomatoes ever. Just fish fertilizered it and water it. I have loads of fruits always and super healthy. And i planted deep down.

  22. You just create a mass of roots that will prohibit water. You should plant tomatoes deep to create the extra roots, not sideways.

  23. If the plant has been grafted do not plant deep because the root system has already been developed and planting deep diverts resources to the new roots that are not needed.

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