Tomatoes: Planting overgrown and leggy tomatoes

I planted my overgrown tomato plants today. I started them way too early and the were very tall and leggy. Ever seen someone plant tomatoes with a post hole digger? LOL That's what I did. I dug a deep, long hole with the post hole digger and planted them deep and sideways, so right now, above ground, they look normal. Do you think they will be okay this way?

That is how I always plant them. You should get extra big healthy plants with extra fruit from the new roots that will form all along the stems that you buried. Good job!

How early? I start mine in February :)

My Uncle Joe swears by this method Joan.In fact he prefers the leggy plants.A tomato will grow roots wherever it's stem touches the soil,so yours will grow nice systems.The deeper planted plants will also withstand drought better.

And now,I've got to confess...you've beat me!! This weekend's rains has reduced my garden to pulp again. I've decided to really cut back on what I plant this year just because of the difficulties I'm encountering.

Thanks Kathy and Melody, I feel better now. I was a little worried when I was burying about 2/3 of the plant underground. I didn't know if they were going to smother or what. Won't they spend a lot of energy making new roots instead of leaves and fruit? Our growing season is pretty short, so if they do that, I might not get such a good harvest. I guess I'll find out though, and hopefully since we had a late spring, we'll have a late fall too. That would help a lot.

Melody, I got to the point that they just had to go in the garden. They were getting so long and straggly. I broke a couple off when I was trying to plant them because they were so long. I'm trying to root those. I hope your weather straightens out for you soon.

JoanJ.....if you buried deeper than a foot or so, and they stay too soggy....you may find the roots rot off and new roots form closer to soil level. This will set your plants back a week or so....have seen it done around here:)

I am not going to plant tomato seeds in my cold frames next year until mid-April....planted at very end of March this year, and that turned out to be really too early; it is just very tempting to get outside and sow seeds too early after the long cold winter weather:)

Owen

Joan,

When I have tall leggy tomato plants, I plant them on their side! I dig a trough, amend it with fertilizer & other good nutrients, then I lay the plant on its side. In fact, I have read that one should remove all the plant leaves, except the top two to four. You will get stronger, sturdier, more productive, greater yielding tomatoes plants. Please let us know how your harvest is after you have planted them the "traditional" and "sideways" method.

Good luck!

I will let you know how they turn out. They are pouting real bad tonight, but I think it's just from being transplanted. They are definitely moist enough.

Soooo... how did they turn out?

They didn't do too well. Many of them died, and the ones that lived didn't set on much fruit. I'm not sure if the lack of fruit was because they were so huge when I planted them or just the goofy year we had. Next year I'm going to try real hard to not start them so soon, and hopefully we'll have a better spring.

I have found that a plant about 6 to 8 inches tall takes off growing and does the best for me. I quit planting in troughs also. Just plant them straight down....leaving a few inches out of the ground. A four or five week old plant is perfect.

Wish all the so-called garden centers (ones that ship in plants & don't know the first thing about growing anything) would quit selling those stupid monsters. We seed our tomatoes about April 1. Transplant into packs or pots when first set of true leaves are there, ready to sell May 20th or so. They will be (like oblambert says)6 + inches. The big thing is tomatoes should never stop growing. When they get to big for their pot they will shut down and only stay alive, then try to produce fruit. You have all seen the blossoms and little tomatoes on plants at some of the "garden centers", they will never be worth anything.
Try a 6 or 8" plant along side one 2 or 3' tall, (Transplanted into your garden the same day), see which one does the best. Little one should beat the big one!
Bernie