Burying Tomato plant's main stem horizontally

(bryan) · June 18, 2010

My family has been growing tomatoes for many years. I am a second year vegetable gardner and I love to try new things. I started 4 plants on the dge of my pumpkin pach, when i transplanted them I laid them down horizontally and buried as much of the main stem as I could. Knowing that tomato palnts can reroot along the stem I figured this would be beneficial. I was just wondering if any on has ever tried this before.

one plant is 4 feet long now and the others are 3 feet long. I keep pinning them down with bamboo stakes and burying the main. as I bury I add Mycorhizzal fungi, kelp meal, humic acid, and azomite around the stem to help nourish the new roots. The plants are green as can be. I have not ben picking the suckers off but letting them grow out. there are blossoms evrywhere now and the root system is extensive. I only know this because all the rain we have had some soil got washed away and I saw the roots extending off the stem.

b54red · June 18, 2010

I have been burying the stems horizontally for years when the seedlings are a little too tall; which happens fairly often due to planting delays. I am unable to sprawl tomatoes here because of the humidity, foliage diseases, and pests just make a mess of the plants when I allow them to sprawl on the ground.

**carolyn137** · June 18, 2010

I call it trenching and only do it when my seedlings are too tall to plant vertically and as was just said above, for me that happens when the weather doesn't allow for the plants to go out when they should.

But I'm curious about your comment that you keep pinning them down. I'm not sure what that means. When you say the plants are 3 and 4 ft long I bet you meant to say 3 and 4 ft tall, b/c when one trenches one leaves just a few inches of the top part of the plant sticking out and in a few days that turns upright and all growth is them vertical.

Yes, it is amazing that new roots form whenever stems meet the soil. It also happens when sprawling plants and a nice fibrous , extensive root system develops.

And folks can often see root primordia, aka adventitious roots at the base of the main stem with plants that aren't trenched.

WVTomatoMan · June 18, 2010

I too have been trenching mine for years when they get too leggy.

I don't know about pinning them down. Maybe a picture would help me/us understand what you mean.

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

Randy

beeman · June 18, 2010

The greenhouse crowd tend to do this. When the plants reach the roof they're untied, layered down, then started back vertically again, some getting up to 14 feet in length.. Some cover the lower stems, but most leave them on the surface, otherwise they grow into a jungle with harvesting problems.
Never thought of trying it outdoors. But then our season is so short we're lucky if we get 5 trusses ripened off before frost.

(bryan) · June 19, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVTomatoMan

I too have been trenching mine for years when they get too leggy.

I don't know about pinning them down. Maybe a picture would help me/us understand what you mean.

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

Randy

By pinning them down I mean during the heat of the day when the plant is most flexible. then use stakes to hold it to the ground any vine that will sit flat on the ground gets the myco mix i have made up to help roots along and then buried.

CamuMahubah · June 19, 2015

I would not do what you are doing in the pic. Chopsticks are for noodles not tomato plants.

Someone much smarter than me will be along to say something better i hope.

Mike723 · June 19, 2015

After the initial transplant (nice and deep), I wouldn't continue laying the plant on the soil.. It isn't necessary to continuously encourage adventitious rooting as by now the root system is well on it's way.. You're just begging for a foliar disease by continuously laying those leaves on the soil (possibly contacting bacteria and fugal spores).. It's common practice to prune the lower 2-4 nodes in order to keep the leaves from directly contacting the soil.. First order of business IMO would be to cage and stake that plant in order to get it off the ground.. But kudos on the mycorrhizae mix - I use the same amendments..

**carolyn137** · June 19, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike723

After the initial transplant (nice and deep), I wouldn't continue laying the plant on the soil.. It isn't necessary to continuously encourage adventitious rooting as by now the root system is well on it's way.. You're just begging for a foliar disease by continuously laying those leaves on the soil (possibly contacting bacteria and fugal spores).. It's common practice to prune the lower 2-4 nodes in order to keep the leaves from directly contacting the soil.. First order of business IMO would be to cage and stake that plant in order to get it off the ground.. But kudos on the mycorrhizae mix - I use the same amendments..

I agree with all who said NOT to pin them down.

I assume you would have dug a trench first, about 2-3 inches deep, take of all foliage except the very top part with foliage, then lay the plant IN the trench leaving just that top part above ground,

Yes, it will be flat to start with but in just a few days it will grow upwards forming a very nice plant.

Carolyn

digsdirt · June 19, 2015

Looks to me like your initial trench wasn't nearly long enough or deep enough. Trenching plants is a very common practice when it is necessary (best to avoid the need to do it in the first place) but there are much better ways to do it than is shown in your photo.

A 3' tall plant gets a 6-8" deep, 2.5 foot long trench to begin with and all but the top 6" buried. And as others have said once the plant is properly trenched in nothing is gained by continuing to do it other than to delay blooming and fruit set.

Dave

crmauch · June 19, 2015

My perspective: At planting I try to always bury as much stem as is reasonable without removing too many leaves. (unless the plant is way leggy and then I'll trench [did a lot of that this year]).

But it looks like to me that your continually laying the plant down. Are you training the suckers up? (thereby forming multiple upright tomato plants). If you're laying all the plant down including the new suckers, you're effectively doing a 'sprawl' method which some people use (but tends to run to foliar diseases and rotten fruit for many). Let's hear more about your method.

joseph · June 19, 2015

I like trenching... The one problem I sometimes have with it is that I forget when weeding where the stem is under the soil, and I'll chop off a few plants...

Mike723 · June 19, 2015

The issue I run into with trenching is when feeding I usually soak the base of the plant, but if I forget which plants were trenched I end up missing the root-ball lol.. I've been feeding by hand as I'm in between injectors at the moment.. Only had to trench 3-4 this year..

JRinPA · June 23, 2015

It would be interesting to know if (Bryan) still does his tomatoes that way, five years later.

CamuMahubah · June 23, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRinPA

It would be interesting to know if (Bryan) still does his tomatoes that way, five years later.

I'm sorry I necro'd this thread. I don't know how I did. I clicked something and here we are. At least we got answers now.

June 18, 2010	#1
(bryan) Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Gloucester, Ma Posts: 18	Burying Tomato plant's main stem horizontally My family has been growing tomatoes for many years. I am a second year vegetable gardner and I love to try new things. I started 4 plants on the dge of my pumpkin pach, when i transplanted them I laid them down horizontally and buried as much of the main stem as I could. Knowing that tomato palnts can reroot along the stem I figured this would be beneficial. I was just wondering if any on has ever tried this before. one plant is 4 feet long now and the others are 3 feet long. I keep pinning them down with bamboo stakes and burying the main. as I bury I add Mycorhizzal fungi, kelp meal, humic acid, and azomite around the stem to help nourish the new roots. The plants are green as can be. I have not ben picking the suckers off but letting them grow out. there are blossoms evrywhere now and the root system is extensive. I only know this because all the rain we have had some soil got washed away and I saw the roots extending off the stem.

June 18, 2010	#3
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	I call it trenching and only do it when my seedlings are too tall to plant vertically and as was just said above, for me that happens when the weather doesn't allow for the plants to go out when they should. But I'm curious about your comment that you keep pinning them down. I'm not sure what that means. When you say the plants are 3 and 4 ft long I bet you meant to say 3 and 4 ft tall, b/c when one trenches one leaves just a few inches of the top part of the plant sticking out and in a few days that turns upright and all growth is them vertical. Yes, it is amazing that new roots form whenever stems meet the soil. It also happens when sprawling plants and a nice fibrous , extensive root system develops. And folks can often see root primordia, aka adventitious roots at the base of the main stem with plants that aren't trenched. __________________ Carolyn

June 19, 2015	#8
Mike723 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: CT Posts: 290	After the initial transplant (nice and deep), I wouldn't continue laying the plant on the soil.. It isn't necessary to continuously encourage adventitious rooting as by now the root system is well on it's way.. You're just begging for a foliar disease by continuously laying those leaves on the soil (possibly contacting bacteria and fugal spores).. It's common practice to prune the lower 2-4 nodes in order to keep the leaves from directly contacting the soil.. First order of business IMO would be to cage and stake that plant in order to get it off the ground.. But kudos on the mycorrhizae mix - I use the same amendments.. Last edited by Mike723; June 19, 2015 at 08:55 AM. Reason: I just noticed this post is about 5 years old lol

June 19, 2015	#10
digsdirt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: No.Central Arkansas - 6b/7a Posts: 179	Looks to me like your initial trench wasn't nearly long enough or deep enough. Trenching plants is a very common practice when it is necessary (best to avoid the need to do it in the first place) but there are much better ways to do it than is shown in your photo. A 3' tall plant gets a 6-8" deep, 2.5 foot long trench to begin with and all but the top 6" buried. And as others have said once the plant is properly trenched in nothing is gained by continuing to do it other than to delay blooming and fruit set. Dave __________________ Dave

June 18, 2010	#2
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I have been burying the stems horizontally for years when the seedlings are a little too tall; which happens fairly often due to planting delays. I am unable to sprawl tomatoes here because of the humidity, foliage diseases, and pests just make a mess of the plants when I allow them to sprawl on the ground.

June 18, 2010	#4
WVTomatoMan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West Virginia - Zone 6 Posts: 594	I too have been trenching mine for years when they get too leggy. I don't know about pinning them down. Maybe a picture would help me/us understand what you mean. Good luck and let us know how it works out for you. Randy

June 18, 2010	#5
beeman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 692	The greenhouse crowd tend to do this. When the plants reach the roof they're untied, layered down, then started back vertically again, some getting up to 14 feet in length.. Some cover the lower stems, but most leave them on the surface, otherwise they grow into a jungle with harvesting problems. Never thought of trying it outdoors. But then our season is so short we're lucky if we get 5 trusses ripened off before frost.

June 19, 2015	#7
CamuMahubah Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Alliance Nebraska Posts: 169	I would not do what you are doing in the pic. Chopsticks are for noodles not tomato plants. Someone much smarter than me will be along to say something better i hope.

June 19, 2015	#11
crmauch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Honey Brook, PA Zone 6b Posts: 399	My perspective: At planting I try to always bury as much stem as is reasonable without removing too many leaves. (unless the plant is way leggy and then I'll trench [did a lot of that this year]). But it looks like to me that your continually laying the plant down. Are you training the suckers up? (thereby forming multiple upright tomato plants). If you're laying all the plant down including the new suckers, you're effectively doing a 'sprawl' method which some people use (but tends to run to foliar diseases and rotten fruit for many). Let's hear more about your method.

June 19, 2015	#12
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	I like trenching... The one problem I sometimes have with it is that I forget when weeding where the stem is under the soil, and I'll chop off a few plants...

June 23, 2015	#14
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 963	It would be interesting to know if (Bryan) still does his tomatoes that way, five years later.