I want to stress - the stem does make roots. but these roots are stress induced AR roots. Aka post embryonic aka not the natural root System. I’m interested in developing the natural root system. If you want to cultivate AR go wild, it’s just a suggestion. The depth you plant outside would heavily depend on your location in the world and your soil type. General rules to think about, but not necessarily follow (you know more about your soil than I ever will). - warmer climate plant = to 1st true leaf - cooler climate = closer to the surface. - sandy soils are warmer = plant deep. - Clay soils are cooler = plant higher. - raised beds, containers etc maybe warmer. Plant them deeper. - leggy seedlings = deeper give them the support. - if you are convinced I’m crazy (which mind you might be a good call) do whatever you want. If you plant deeper in a cooler soil you could experience a delayed harvest. If you plant higher in a warmer soil you may experience BER. If you are still reading hello 👋 how is your day going? Just a couple notes in this because I can see a bit on confusion in the comments. 1. You will see roots coming off of the stem. Again, they are not from the Hair they are from the warty looking things. These roots act the “same” but perform differently in the soil when compared to a tomatoes, natural root. 2. If you do a tomato cutting and you get roots off the base of a tomato from this. These are considered a fibrous roots . It is a adventitious roots. They provide a similar role to that of which the plants natural taproot would. (Give or take a few things.) I will list all the different types of adventitious roots below. 👇 3. I was speaking specifically to the process of bumping up. And how that should be planted on the surface more so. This does translate in some cases to the outdoors. This video would be a good place to start if you were looking at it from an outdoor perspective. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y8honq1h2NWpn6c.html 4. AR can appear naturally but can also be stress induced. Types of AR 1. Tuberous Roots - potatoes Fasciculated Root (asparagus) Nodulose Roots (tumeric)) 2. Stilt roots 3. Prop roots 4. Epiphytic (yes this type of AR is VITAL to the plants nutrient and water uptake) monstera is an example. 5. Assimilatory roots photosynthetic so orchids 6. Parasitic

Ashley....where was this video last week when I up-potted my toms????? Poor things are screaming at me from the bottom depths of their soil filled existence now.

Just had to drop a comment to tell you that the Trudeau headshot completely took me by surprise and cracked me up 😂😂😂

Love the JT insert less than a min in 😂 I like you even more now 😂😂

YT is mainly vids parroting what other vids say as if they invented it. It's nice to see anybody here actually thinking for themselves.

For years I have buried a 4 litre milk jug to the top beside each Tomato plant. Before I do that I drill several holes near the bottom and in the middle on the side facing the plant. It makes it very easy to then water them by just filling up the milk jug, also you can fertilize them by just mixing up what ever you use and pour that into the jug as well. Before anyone says ewe plastic remember you are drinking your milk out of that same jug.😂

😮 dear Ashley shameless to say I did it wrong but love your channel you are an endless source of information your hard work is deeply appreciated thanks 🙂🌻

I appreciate the range of advanced topics in your videos. I am impressed at how good you are at communicating them. Thank you.

So glad you made that! I've been thinking about this logically for ages and makes so much more sense 😂 Thanks from the UK!

BAHAHAHA the subtle Trudo shade 😂😂😂

Potting an (often leggy) tomato plant deep, outside in the garden, still makes sense to me, since the proper roots can extend deep down. In the pot, where there is limited amount of overall space it doesn't make sense to plant the stem deep, I agree.

Even though I planted tomatoes every year for a decade, I still get new knowledge through my experiences and from others. What I realize this year is how much the science around plant growing is still not based on solid fundamentals . Think about it, physics can predict the next solar eclipse to the second years before the event but how to grow food science is still baffled by belief and false conclusion based on correlation. Thank you Ashley for your genuine approach, you bring science perspectives and yet still show that as most human we mostly rely on our beliefs or what "experts" said. This science vs common knowledge paradox is overwhelming.... or are we just overdoing it? Well, with this I will try not to plant my seedling too deep! :) Happy spring everyone!

I love that you update with new information and new ideas. I quit burying my tomato plants when transplanting a couple of years ago too after I saw another gardeners experiment. Her theory was that unless you are burying the roots to keep them cool that it sets the tomato back a few weeks. It works for me. Thank you for clarifying why. It makes sense that the bottom roots grow down. Here on the Canadian prairies we need all the time we can get and strong roots.

YES! When I pot up tomatoes I always give them the room to grow those roots, contrary to a lot of advice out there. However, and this is difference between gardening in Canada and gardening in Texas: I always plant them in the ground as deep as I can. Why? Because it gets so hot and so dry here so early, that moisture is much more consistent deeper down, even with a ton of mulch. If I'm planting on the early side or they are really small, I just leave them in hole which I fill in when they get big enough.

Recent subscriber here. I appreciate all your experience and expertise! These videos are fantastic. Your sense of humour makes it a blast to watch too. Many thanks from another Canadian gardener!

I have to bump up a few hundred seedlings this week! Perfect timing and it makes logical sense.

Thank you sooooooooo much! This is what I am doing today, bumping up my tomato and pepper plants. I absolutely love your channel! Much love from BC ❤

Well, obviously, I am potting mine up as you do, because this video came on the perfect day! Once again, thank you for helping me garden better in Canada!

You mentioned this in an earlier video so I did it the other day, combined with using your information about bottom watering for several weeks and using bottomless translucent cups to bump up. Holy cow! The roots just took off. I'm seeing growth I usually see in a week but in 3 days. The bottomless cups and putting water into the tray makes that process so much faster too.

Thank you for this. I have decided to sink one of my tomatoes deeper when I pot it to its 20 inch pot to shorten it a bit and for stability. It is a tall pot, maybe two feet tall, so I think it will be fine. The other ones will be at soil level since they are growing more compactly. I am on a balcony so this is an experiment with three tomatoe plants.

Very interesting. Another great reason to LOVE my soil blocks!!!!! I'll keep this in mind when potting into their grow bags though!!! Thank you for continuing to learn, and not be stubborn and set in your ways, that's something we can all learn from. Gardening is always a learning experience.

i see, i was wondering why my tomatoes didn't get that boost i expected when i planted them deep in the past, thank you for the information!

lol love the JT insert. Hilarious

Good to know, and it DOES make sense!! I was doing it all wrong 🤦‍♀️ I'll remember this for next year! Thanks for the tip!

👏 JT burn is much appreciated!

Thanks for the info. Makes sense. 👍

I normally plant only root ball deep. However, two weeks ago i dropped a mater plant and broke it 😢 so i planted it anyways, but went deep so the break was under the dirt so it would mostly stand up… is still growing 🤷‍♂️

I wish you'd done this video a couple of weeks back when I started potting up. 😂 I can say I haven't planted them ALL the way down, but of all the gardeners I watch, NO ONE has ever mentioned this before. HOW?! 😭 I've been labouring under the impression that the hairs were potential roots for the past 3 seasons. Silver lining: I know better now, thanks to you. ❤ Thanks for making so many informative videos, especially ones that others haven't touched on. It'll be a huge help for my gardening future.

I am soooo glad to find your channel! Love it! Great information and humor. What’s not to like? Plus, information on cool weather growing! YES! I live in the PNW - Puget Sound. Yeah, rain, clouds, night temps? 40’s for what seems like months. Well, actually it is months. It’s so hard to find good gardening information when your summer is lucky to see a week or two of 80’s. So Thank you Ashley! I’m 71 and I’ve never thought of the soil ‘under’ my transplants. Game changer

Great information I just started my tomatoes this will help heaps 🇳🇿❤️

I see videos of people putting tomato seeds in half full containers and as the tomatoes grow, they incrementally add soil to cover the root hairs on the stem.

I’ve grown a lot of tomato seedlings this year and they’ve all grown according to the pot size they are in. The very tallest, strongest have hands down been the large double cup ones I’ve potted up in. Wonderful root systems with the bottom watering. I will only be using this method of growing in future years. You live and learn.

Going to be potting up soon getting my next size pots ready. Going from 72 cell tray size. Great video almost scifi in the middle of the night! Browsing around the greenhouse!

I started my tomatoes in soil blocks and am glad to know how to bump them up. I am on sandy soil so will transplant them deeper when it’s time to put them in the ground.

Sharing is caring 😊

Great information; thanks for sharing! 🤗🇨🇦

Phew, you were getting me worried. Potted on my tomato seedlings deeply just this morning BUT they're in nice long yoghurt pots so roots have enough space. 😊

What a great video! As always, thank you!

That makes a lot of sense! I'm going to share this with my gardening group--thanks for making me look smart! (I will of course give them a link to this video, lol!)

Bahahaha that was some awesome shade thrown! Back to tomatoes…. I always thought we did it because if we let tomatoes grow naturally they grow along the ground and will root themselves in as they grow along the ground…..? Thanks for the tip!

finally someone that knows what she is talking about, how refreshing. It's almost like common sense. too many videos on misinformation out there, lol

I agree 100%! Every study that I've seen were they used both planting techniques side by side, there was only a moderate difference in root Mass and a moderate increase in the bulk of the plants stock for the ones that were buried deep, the deeper planted ones also took much longer to reach harvest Time, and there was no overall noticeable difference in harvests. So I guess the bigger question would be, do you want to grow the plants just for the sake of growing them? Then go ahead and bury them deeper, you'll end up with prettier, slightly stockier plants. However, if you want a earlier harvest with your determinants, or if you want to start your harvest earlier with your indeterminates, then just plant them like you would anything else.🤗

Interesting. Thanks for the tip.

When I put the plants outside I have now gone to putting them right on top of the garden. In TN we have heavy clay and rock. Minerals are there but it gets virutually impenetrable for roots about 10in down. For support I just put rotting straw tightly all around them and put them inside a cattle fencing cage. Working great so far.

I once had a broken tomato plant while transplanting outside. (roots were fully disconnected) I put it in the soil anyhow, and it grew just as good as the other plants. So I wonder if it is really correct that the advantageous roots are mostly structural? Also when you put a tomato plant in a glass of water, you can see how fast a new root system develops. To mee it seems these roots really do benefit the plant for nutrient intake.

Hey that is so interesting! I will for sure give shallower planting a try this year 👍🏼

I've always tried to double the height of the container the plant's going into using the upper half to replace the previous container (but wider) and the lower half to be the space the new roots will grow into . Only planting out into the garden will i dig down under the mulch layer till i get to the strata i feel will mimic the pots layers and may be deeper than the pots height. And in a warmer climate i find putting the plant a bit into a hole to keep the new roots well away from the suns heat is a good thing.

Gosh! Thanks! Great info!

Dear Ashley, your information is amazing. I have a sweet million tomato plant that I am about to transplant, it is very leggy, should I still not plant them too deep? How do I fix it then? I use Promix HP solid and liquid fertilizers. Thank you!

This is only my second year stating plants from seed indoors, myself, but I have not potted up anything, even tomatoes which grow roots out of their stems, any deeper than the cell soil depth they came out of. The only time I planted them deeper was when the “pot” was the soil of my garden. Then I used a post-hole digger to plant some, last year, because the plants had gotten SO tall before I could get them into the ground because of all the rain we got. They produced like crazy…but later than some of my tomatoes I managed to get in, earlier.🤷‍♂️

well, what you said makes sense. Really good to know. Thankyou.

I watched a vid showing planting deep three times during repot with one specimen and keeping at level with another and the resultant root structures showed it all: the deep repotted one has whole new root structures at each level but none as developed as the one that kept the same level. I keep em at the same level now.

Good information.

Love the poke at tiny nub trudeau😂

Impressive.

Excellent Video!

3:45 👏 I've always thought planting them all the way at the bottom was silly. Common sense has always told me, "even if the tomato plants will produce roots along the stem, above the root ball, that it going to TAKE TIME. I know that RIGHT NOW, my plants' roots need more room... so it I put it ALL THE WAY at the bottom, it's not going to have much more soil to grow into!?!" So what I have always done, is sink it about 1/2 way into the new pot. This does 3 things- it give it more room/soil at the bottom, for the roots currently growing, it gives it room at the top, for new roots to form, & 3rd- it makes the tomato plant MORE STABLE! If you plant the tomato ALL the way at the top of the container, I find that it's more susceptible to being knocked over in the wind, & then the entire root ball comes toppling out... but if I plant it in the middle, then it's much less likely to tip over in the wind, but if it does, the root ball is more likely to stay put in the container! 😊

Does this apply to rooting suckers and planting them? As a trial for my own plants, I was able to root end of season branches, allow them to grow (some up to 10ft in height), then remove another decent sucker which was rooted and is ready to be planted out as a comparison to fresh seed. Along the way I initially used straight hydro to get the 1st roots and growth, then rooted suckers in hydro and then into soilless mix which are now in organic fertilizers/worm castings/Pro Mix. So far I have no real differences between each plant and root balls seem comparable. Would love any thoughts or feedback on my methods.

In the past, I've sunk them down just a little bit when planting in-ground just to keep them from falling over after they are planted. But I'll try planting them at the tip-top of the soil and see if I get a noticeable difference.

I’ve got 500 4.5” tomatoes of various ages all potted all the way to the bottom at work. Some are already flowering and a few have fruits. (Our last freeze date is June 1.) Imma pull a few of the ones we did a month ago out of the pot and see how much root is in there. I bet they are full of roots, top to bottom.

well then next season i guess it will do it the right way....Thanks for your insight.

I literally spit up my drink at the trudeau joke

I potted mine up last week. I tend to give plenty of room for root development. Once in the garden I will plant them deeper in the soil. I always have and get plenty of fruit each year. I went overboard and kept 3 dozen seedlings.

Amazing info! Just planted some of my tomatoes deep AF yesterday though lol. I am going to plant the rest like you describe here. Will be interested to see the results. They are in raised beds and my soil is incredibly sandy (coastal North Carolina) i wonder how soil type might affect results.

After a little research, I don't think the advantages roots only add stability. I think they do help in the uptake of nutrients. But I do get your point. When you transplant, you should leave plenty of room th continue root growth down. But I think a little extra dirt on top to encourage advantages roots is a benefit too.

I love the term " Bunny Hood," and you are definitely a Prairie Girl!!

Hey Ashley great video! Do you have a good link that I could read more about what advantageous roots are good for? You said they're only good for support but wondered where you read that!

FINALLY, someone that KNOWS that the "hairs" on the stem DO NOT turn into roots!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Hi there love your channel ❤ I have a question about leggy tomato seedlings. Should I plant them deep or like you are here in this video?

Hey I am so tempted to put my starts into the greenhouse which is not heated and I am live in Alberta and it is still -1 some nights. What do you think

The only time I bury my tomatoes is when they go into the garden, I figure there is more moisture down there. And they are so big sometimes cuz I start seeds tooo early. 😊

I don't pot up. I plant in 2.5" wide x 2.5" wide x 3.5" tall small pots. I grew my tomatoes for about 8 weeks. They were nearly 18" plus (6-8 true leaves). I just finished planting them all out. I planted them near to the bottom of the 10-gallon fabric container pots due to our high heat during summer and the extra stem length. I do it because I've trialed different methods. Guess where most of the roots were in those tiny pots when I planted today? Most were at the top half of the container and a few roots traveled down into the 1020 below where I kept nutrient water. At the size mentioned, none were root bound. I remember well where the roots were because I dabbled them in micos where most roots were. In the past when I examined tomato roots post harvest, they did create new roots near the top that were somewhat extensive, but not like the bottom. At post season examination, full grow tomatoes, that grew all season long, were not root bound in 5-gallon containers. Before the 10-gallon pots I use now, I used 5-gallon plastic containers. I took the tomatoes out and rinsed the roots to examine. The thing that's missing from your assessment is that if tomatoes are fed properly, they don't create tons of roots. I've never had a root-bound tomato in any container even growing to full size in 3/4-gallon pots which I did to send of for genetic testing. A lot of watering for sure. I mean, there was a lot of roots in that small container, but nothing like a root-bound house plant. I noticed this in all my hydroponic growing as well. Additionally, I've taken suckers from mother plants and grown them to the same standard as the mother plant--always healthy and robust. It's because tomatoes are vining plants and often root from the advantageous roots (and from none seen even) to become normal roots once they make contact with moist soil. They are no longer advantageous at this point. All said, it is true that depth is really only meant for the environment. Deeper for hotter, shallower for cooler. That's about all that matters if fed properly and in a growing environment otherwise. Don't pot up unless you start in 78-cell trays or something tiny like that. I use 32-cell trays for all plants. The key for real growth is post-transplant when it gets ideally warm and the days are longer. On the flip side, my cucurbits were circling the bottom of the small pots. Anyone can see how I do things if they like and make their own judgement. This is my experience on the subject.

On the floor laughing at the little bumps

Now you tell me! I had no idea. I wish I had seen this earlier.

That makes a lot of sense 🤔

Ok thanks

I sow tomatoes in a seed tray! Then I repot them in a p9 pot and place it at the same height as they came from the seed tray! After ice hollies I plant them outside! So I never plant them deeper! With good results!

I am a few weeks from putting in my greenhouse and they seem to be struggling since the last transplant. Planted deep to get more roots. Should I repot again but moving them up higher ? Would there be an advantage or a waste of time for this year ?

When I have buried tomato plants deep in the past, i noticed that the roots didn't grow all along the stem. Rather, they were only in the original root ball and about a fist size from the surface. So, this makes sense.

Thanks for explaining this. I knew the hairs don't make roots. X

A truly interesting video. But I'm thinking that this is more of a hypothesis than a conclusion. For me, the conclusive point is when I can show that the hypothesis results in observable results. In this case, I'd like to see a trial that compares the "traditional" method of potting up the seedling to the cotyledon versus not doing that. As a home gardener, I'm not interested in relatively minor improvements when I change a variable in my methods. The measure, for me, is will it give me an improvement that is significant and observable. That being said, I think I'll do my own trial on my next crop of approximately 12 tomato seedlings. I admit that's not even close to a sizeable enough trial to be conclusive, but, as I said, if I don't notice a significant improvement in half my seedlings, frankly, it's not worth me worrying about. Thanks for your many interesting videos.

Dang. I already up planted and put em in deep. Been doing it for years, that's how I was taught. I will have to remember for next year. QUESTION: What about calcium uptake in seedlings? Should I be adding bone meal now so they will not get blossom end rot later?

Next year I'm going to try starting my tomato seeds in tall 3-inch pots from the beginning. I just finished up-potting the rest of my tomatoes today and it felt like an unnecessary extra step. They grow so fast that they would fill the bigger pots in just a few weeks anyway. I'm already careful about not overwatering and use extra perlite in my seedstarting mix, so I'm not sure what I'm gaining from all this extra effort. I didn't bury the stems this year, because I was thinking the same thing you said, that there wouldn't be any space left for the roots to go down. Actually, the reason I was thinking about this was because I accidentally ripped off the bottom half of the roots of one seedling (oops! they got stuck in the pot) and I realized that I needed to leave plenty of room for new roots to grow downward. And then I did the same thing for all the rest.

I transplant tomato seedlings into red beer cups, double cups, pull cups apart and put water in lower one. anyway ,I make half of cup is dirt for roots to grow down thru. worked for years, did that with my pepper plants witch I started mid February. maybe started to soon this year, its 4/28 now and peppers are 5 to 6 inches tall and half have flowers.

Potted up a tray of 72 tomatoes today into 3" pots. They go on top of the pot not into it, just has always made sense to me the roots need more dirt. To be honest, I have done it both ways. Tomatoes are tuff, they survive and thrive no matter how hard we try to kill them. Stay well!!!

What about side planting at the potting up stage? It would seem plausible that side planting would maximize the container availability of the normal roots (even beyond soil-level planting because all would be higher up) while also activating some adventitious roots. I’ll probably run a three-style trial given the number of tomatoes I’m potting up.

So when you do plant them in the ground, that would be the time to sink them? If nothing else, I have a few plants on the edges of my tray that do not receive the best light therefore they are leggy. So just wondering when the best time to sink them is (if any)

Love your videos, wish you were in the states!

I fill the pot with soil, Take the pot or similar size pot I'm up potting from press that into the soil of the new pot, loosen the soil a little in the indent, then put the plant in, fill it and water.

that makes sense, but when you put them into the ground outside where the roots have an unlimited amount of space below them, is it advantageous then to bury them as low as possible?

I just sunk my tomatoes in pots grrr. You make so much sense, so now what ? Lol will have the same tomatoes as last year but hopefully we get more rain here in saskatchewan

Great info! thank you! I love your glasses! Where are they from? ❤️ fox a fellow blind one lol

I started tomato plants in 3-4 inch cells this year, thinking I wanted to avoid multiple transplantings and they've done really well. A lot of gardening channels say to start in small containers to avoid root rot. It is a balancing act, with watering...

I've also seen it suggested to plant deep in a pot to help with a seedling that has become leggy. Curious what you think about planting deep in that scenario.

I feel like this lesson applies to cannabis plants too. A lot of people transplant them deep, and I have too. But now I wonder if it's a good idea.

As a fellow Canadian the Trudeau part has me 😂😂😂👏👏👏

Interesting. I’m having a very hard time finding any information that supports the notion of not burying tomatoes deep. I’ve been doing it deep for 30 years. The prevailing opinion has been the hairs, when buried, grow into roots. Can you post links to research. It would be an interesting read. Glad to have a Canadian posting gardening info. Thanks.

My soil tends to dry out easily on top, which is another reason i bury deep once they go in the ground. The water table here is rather shallow, and plants that root low can more easily get to the below ground water, creating longer, even stronger and healthier, roots. It's also why i don't constantly water my garden. I want the roots of my plants to grow long, seeking that water down below rather than depend on me top watering. Also since my soil is so loose and friable, plants need all the structural support they can get to anchor them as solidly as possible. And so, they do well.

As an American, I don’t know what’s going on with Trudeau right now, but that was hilarious

I got to this video just a few days after me doing this wrong. 😅 Shoot! Would you please make a video on how to handle tomato seedlings that have brown spotting on the leaves? I am dealing with some stress on my Brandywines after up potting up and am concerned it may be disease.