How deep is too deep?

[kenny_j]

I helped a lady at our garden club plant some very tall tomato plants, close to 2 feet tall. I told her to plant them deep, which she had never known. I dug a hole at least 1 foot deep and put them in, now I am wondering if that is too deep for oxygen to penetrate the soil. I always plant deep, but 6 t0 8 inches is the deepest I have gone. Anyone ever plant a foot deep before?
kj

[b54red]

I have done it before with poor results. It is much better to place a tall plant in a trench so that more of the stem is closer to the surface. Most new root growth on a stem will be in that first 5 inches under the soil so if you have a foot of stem buried 3 to 4 inches deep you will get many more roots.

Bill

[heirloomtomaguy]

When the plants are that tall i like to trim off all leaves that will be underground about 1/2 to 2/3 of the plant. Then i dig a hole about 8 inches deep and long enough to lay the plant on its side. Then you just lay the plant flat in the hole and bend it gently upwards until the remaining portion is out of the hole. Sprinkle mycorrhizae in the hole and bam that sucker is on its way to tomatoes.

[kenny_j]

I have trenched before, because my soil bottoms out at 8 inches with white clay that is too hard to dig into. At the club in raised beds the soil dug so easily I took the easy route and dug straight down without thinking. Now I wonder if I should dig them up and re-do trench style.

kj

[PA_Julia]

When I planted my plants they were approx 14 to 16 inches in height. I dug a 12 inch trench approx. 6 inches deep and placed the plant horizontally in the trench . I then bent the remaining few inches of the plant upward above the soil line. The reason is to have the plant develop roots along the entire horizontal portion. A strong and prolific root system is the goal.
This method works perfectly.

I grew and planted some 24" plants this year. I always plant as deep as I can. I use one of those tulip bulb planters to dig my holes. I push it into the soil as far as I can and lift it out of the hole and do it again. My reasoning has been nutrients and minerals tend to stratify at different levels in my raised beds. By planting deep, the roots have access to all levels and the stratified nutrients and minerals. We also have really hot, dry summer days. The deeper soil doesn't get as hot or dry between watering. My plants have always seemed to like the deeper planting.

Over the years, I've noticed the roots balls of my deep planted plants have the shape of an inverted triangle. Roots near the soil surface may spread two or three feet around the plant. Roots at the bottom level may only have spread a few inches. I've never quite figured that out. I would have thought the deep roots would spread wider than the shallow roots.

Ted

[hdrider]

Originally Posted by tedln

Over the years, I've noticed the roots balls of my deep planted plants have the shape of an inverted triangle. Roots near the soil surface may spread two or three feet around the plant. Roots at the bottom level may only have spread a few inches. I've never quite figured that out. I would have thought the deep roots would spread wider than the shallow roots.

Ted

Roots will only grow as far as they need to get what they want for the most part. Deeper down they may have all the moisture they need. I have always allowed my seedlings to get a little leggy and planted them deep as I potted up and on the final plant out.

Now in the raised bed where I plant them I can dig down to about my elbow just by pushing and turning my hand a little bit so that may help the roots to spread out a bit when needed. In that bed I only need to water about 1/4 of what my neighbor does in their bed that is only 15 feet away. My plants have always done great in that bed and the tomato plants regularly reach 10 foot tall.

Tracy

[lexusnexus]

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

When the plants are that tall i like to trim off all leaves that will be underground about 1/2 to 2/3 of the plant. Then i dig a hole about 8 inches deep and long enough to lay the plant on its side. Then you just lay the plant flat in the hole and bend it gently upwards until the remaining portion is out of the hole.

This is my method. Works wonderfully.

Dan

[AaronRiot]

Great info here! This noob had never heard of the trench. I just planted a few inches deeper than I normally do with my peppers. Next season I'm looking forward to trying out the trench! Hopefully with some cool new variteties!

I'm not sure if trench planting or deep planting will work with peppers. I always plant peppers with the root ball just barely below the soil surface. I don;t think pepper plants have the same ability to generate new roots from the stem in the same manner tomatoes do. I may be wrong, but it seems you may harm pepper plants by trench or deep planting.

Ted

[AaronRiot]

Originally Posted by tedln

I'm not sure if trench planting or deep planting will work with peppers. I always plant peppers with the root ball just barely below the soil surface. I don;t think pepper plants have the same ability to generate new roots from the stem in the same manner tomatoes do. I may be wrong, but it seems you may harm pepper plants by trench or deep planting.

Ted

Agreed, fully. I meant that I planted my Tomatoes just a few inches deeper than I would normally plant my peppers. Peppers I plant up to the cotyledons. That said, in my short experience, my annuums, baccatums, and chinenses all will shoot out root from the stem as long as the stem's not wooded up yet. Still, up to the cotys and that's it for my peppers.

Thanks for the reply Ted!

[Cole_Robbie]

I had poor results with deep holes last year, too. I think - as usual with gardening - one's soil impacts the results. The garden I was trying to plant had a very shallow level of top soil, and by digging holes that were a foot deep, I was already down into the sub-soil, a very hard clay. I had to use a post-hole digger, and it was slow work. I'm not surprised in retrospect that the plants didn't do that well.

But some gardeners have soil they've been amending for years. I would venture to guess that if you can plunge your hand a foot deep into your soil, then a tomato plant wouldn't mind being planted so deep. The soil would be loose enough that the roots can still grow freely, even though they are deep.

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I had poor results with deep holes last year, too. I think - as usual with gardening - one's soil impacts the results. The garden I was trying to plant had a very shallow level of top soil, and by digging holes that were a foot deep, I was already down into the sub-soil, a very hard clay. I had to use a post-hole digger, and it was slow work. I'm not surprised in retrospect that the plants didn't do that well.

But some gardeners have soil they've been amending for years. I would venture to guess that if you can plunge your hand a foot deep into your soil, then a tomato plant wouldn't mind being planted so deep. The soil would be loose enough that the roots can still grow freely, even though they are deep.

Tomato plants are amazing in their ability to deal with poor soil conditions. I have a lot of volunteer plants every year in the oddest places. I usually simply pull them and toss them in the compost bin. Occasionally, I will leave a volunteer plant alone just to see what it will do if it is in an unusual place. This year, a seed germinated in very hard soil at the edge of my garden. It gets no water, no nutrients, and the soil is hard as a rock. On very hot days, it will look a little wilted; but it always seems to recover and continue growing.

Ted