I plant in raised beds. I always use the trench method for my tomatoes. I will place the root ends of the tomato towards the middle of the bed with the tops towards the outer part of the bed. By the time I plant on each side of the raised beds, all of the root balls are in the middle of the bed. As the plants get bigger and leaf out, they shade their roots. This allows for targeted watering in the middle of the bed. I have really good results with this method.
This is one of the smartest things I've ever read. I wish I'd thought of it! The middle of my tomato raised bed always seems to be wasted space, and this just makes so much sense. THANK YOU for sharing, I'm definitely doing this next year!
I do the same for cherry tomatoes in a big 20g planter. Usually put 5-7 plants in there, root balls in the center and stalks facing towards the edge of the pot. Instead of the roots all at the edges, the center of the pot stays moist for longer, had great results. Definitely gonna try that in the garden bed next planting
Titanic's root ball is stunted because it's planted too deep to get oxygen and by removing leaves, you also reduced the photosynthesis effect of the leaves feeding the roots.
You know what I tried this year, with raging success?? I planted ONE tomato plant in a 1 gallon container and let it grow. When a sucker was around 12", I snipped it at the base/main stem and transplanted it using the trench method into my raised beds. They looked a little rough for about a week, but then they absolutely TOOK OFF. They are, by far, the healthiest tomato plants I have EVER had, and its so bizarre that they didn't have a single root when I placed them into the ground. I also did not use rooting hormone or anything special. They are absolutely thriving, and I was able to turn one tomato plant into easily 10-15 plants. My plan for this summer is to let my tomato plants grow and as they get taller and more tired, clip a sucker and plant it in the ground right next to the original plant. As soon as it begins to take off, I will remove the old tired tomato that may or may not have fungal or pest damage at that point. I think it's going to work out great!
@@BLT__00 Good question! I actually tried both! The ones with flowers went on to bear fruit and - to be completely honest - the planted suckers look the same healthy as the ones without flowers and fruit. Definitely not what I expected! I thought those with pinched flowers would have been able to focus on making roots, but it seems they're making roots at the same pace anyway. :)
One more idea for your experiment this year is instead of removing all of the tired plants, cut them back to the ground or just a bit above and see if they re sprout and have a new life. My brother accidentally sprayed a tomato one year with something that killed all the above ground foliage and was surprised that after a week it re sprouted from the roots and ended up becoming one of his best, most productive plants I'm guessing you live in an area with a long growing season! In Ohio, "tired" tomato plants are pretty rare 😄
I need to try more experiments. I'm thinking a tomato graft with multiple color cherry tomato on a sweet 100 rootstock next year maybe even do a few and give them as gifts.
We bury deep , not for extra roots, but to put root ball deeper to help keep it cool and prevent drying out. We don’t get rain in summer, only irrigation with mostly 100f+ temps.
Exactly my thoughts. It should be considered what climate people live in and what kind of temperatures they have in Summer for the best planting method. Last few Summers we had temperatures in mid 90s, and I feel that planting my tomatoes deep helped them survive the extreme heat periods. If our Summers were cool, then it would make more sense to plant them trench way, to keep the roots warm near the surface.
Very good point. Location matters! Although videos like this are fantastic and informative for the general community, they can be misleading to those in trickier climates!!
In North Texas we sometimes lay tomatoes on their side because of hard clay. To bend them, we lay them on their side a couple of days before planting so they turn up to the sun.
Grandma said (50 years ago) that you plant in a trench so that the roots are warmer being closer to the top. She was an organic gardener and was constantly reading about new techniques.
@@terrywebb6454 I think this may be dependent on your local climate. Last few years we have temperatures in mid-90s throughout most of June-July, and I feel that planting tomatoes deep with thick mulch on top helps them handle extreme hot temperatures better by consistently keeping roots cool and moist. In cooler climate it probably makes more sense to plant them trench method to keep all roots warm near the surface.
In het verleden experimenteerde ik ook meer met planten als tomatenplanten, zonnebloemen, Maïs, cosmea en Tagettes. Allen planten welke makkelijk wortelen. Ik plantte deze planten in ondiepe greppels, dat is mede makkelijk water geven met een emmer. Naarmate de planten groeien, vulde in de greppel met onkruiden en compost, zodra de planten groot waren begon ik met aanaarden van de plantstengels, door met een hark zand op te harken vanaf beide zijden van de rijën en ontstaan er opnieuw ondiepe greppels, makkelijk om emmers water in te legen. De resultaten waren dat planten tot twee maal hoger en 4 maal breder groeiend, meer bloei en meer vruchten of zaden vormden. Door gebruik maken van greppels en aarde ruggen vergroot je tevens het oppervlak van de grond waardoor deze vlotter meer zonnewarmte kan opnemen. Meer bodem warmte versneld de sapstromen en daarmee de groei van de plant greppels voorkomen dat wortels te lang te nat staan, tevens helpt dit bij water geven, water zakt direct in de grond bij de wortels in plaats van uit te vloeien over grote oppervlakte en direct weer deels te verdampen. Bijkomstig effect van gebruik van onkruiden en compost in de greppels is een natuurlijke vorm van composteren.
3:12 oh, I know EXACTLY why, LOL! Around here, there's areas where the bedrock isn't very far down. Planting at an angle will allow the same kind of bare stem for more root growth, but we don't have to try to bust rock to do it. You didn't need to angle the top so sharply. Go at a very gentle angle, and allow the plant to straighten its growth by itself - which it WILL do.
Excellent observation. I believe James prigioni on his channel has done a lot of gardening with the trench method and what he usually does is he leaves his starts out layed down for a few days so that it naturally begins to turn up before he fully transplants them out into the garden.
Hey I just wanted to share that the majority of soil nutrients is found in the top couple inches, which is why the trenched tomato produced so many roots. The whole stem was located in the nutrient rich region. I've always planted my tomatoes this way, but never had any evidence that it worked. Thanks so much for sharing :)
Ah! That was my first thought - that the trenched stem was able to root out into the nutrient-dense topsoil, which also explains why the deep-sunken plant developed a second root ball higher up. Everyone else jumped on the warmer-soil bandwagon, but I think you’ve hit upon the more likely reason.
Pro tip when planting sideways in a trench: lay the tomato plant sideways a few days to a week before planting. Over time, the plant will naturally bend upward to reach toward the light. No forced bending that risks snapping branches or the whole leader!
im experimenting with plastic containers (cut out stuff) and I basically turn the plant upside down and sideways to encourage roots. Another backyard experiment with no conclusive results just throwing it out there :)
My father once described his experience planting tomatoes when he was a boy in the late twenties-early thirties. Many farmers in the town he grew up in contracted to grow tomatoes for a nearby cannery. Starts were grown in the Moapa Valley (Logandale and Overton), north of Las Vegas, then dug up in mid to late May, rolled, bare root, in damp burlap and sent over 400 miles north by boxcar or truck to the cannery, who distributed them to the contract farmers in Weber and Davis Counties in Utah. My father would be given a bundle of plants, which were at least three feet long, then he would lay them down in a furrow, kicking dirt over all but the last six or eight inches, then lay down the next. That was repeated, bundle after bundle, until the furrow was full, then the field, then on to the next field until all the starts were replanted. There are still some tomatoes grown in large gardens for local markets and restaurants and the town still celebrates Tomato Days, though most farms have shifted crops at least a couple of times in 100 years, soon to end with housing developments.
I always plant ours sideways, and we get amazing results! The shallower planting trench means the base roots stays away from zones that could potentially become more anaerobic in our clay soil, plus it enjoys more surface heat like your pro tip mentioned.
I plant that way as well since it is easier to dig the hole than a straight deep hole (no drill tool), plus I have raised beds, so I'm somewhat limited in depth.
@@theoneandonly1158 People don't understand the struggle of red clay. The way he digs in his soil might be possible for me if I leave a pile of wood chips to break down for 10 years.
About surface heat, I think this may be dependent on your local climate. Last few years we have temperatures in mid-90s throughout most of June-July, and I feel like planting tomatoes deep with thick mulch on top helps them handle extreme hot temperatures better by consistently keeping roots cool and moist. In cooler climate it probably makes more sense to plant them trench method to keep all roots warm near the surface.
I agree. We have heavy clay soil as well. Are you doing any kind of amendments? We started dabbling with tilling in carbon and supplementing calcium to try and flocculate the clay. Seems to be doing pretty good and we are noticing less weed pressure.
I think John might have done so well because he didn't lose leaves when you transplanted him - more leaves, more photosynthesis, more energy for the plant. If you ever repeat the experiment, please add in a fourth condition where you remove the lower leaves and surface plant the plant just like you did with John! I think another possible advantage of trenching might be that the roots can access nutrients from a bigger soil area compared to just planting deeper 🤔
inderdaad, voor een betere vergelijking had plant genaamd John evenveel blad moeten verwijderen als de overige twee planten. Nu had deze plant veel meer blad, dus een voorsprong. Immers blad geeft bij voldoende licht fotosynthese waarbij CO2 uit de lucht wordt opgenomen en er zuurstof vrijkomt wat afgegeven aan de lucht en suikers. Als gevolg van dit proces ontwikkeld de plant suikers welke de plant gebruikt bij de ontwikkeling van de wortels via sapstromen en de goei van nieuw blad, bloei en fruit en zaad vorming. De plant voed de wortelgestel met suikers en de wortels voeden de plant met water en mineralen voedings stoffen uit de bodem. Er bestaat een evenwicht tussen wat er aan wortels in de grond groeiend en wat er aan blad boven de grond groeiend. Bij verstoringen van wortels of blad zal de plant proberen dat evenwicht te herstellen. Door de groei van meer wortels of minder groei van nieuw blad of zelfs bladval.
I mean it might be an interesting experiment but its not a really valid idea for testing out which method actually works best. Because anyone who is surface planting doesn't have reason to remove the lower leaves. You'd just be hindering the plant for no point other than the sake of the experiment itself.
@@TheApplianceDirect that is why it is named an experiment. Starting with the same sized tomato plants, next 2 out of 3 remove 1/2 of the leaves. Next placed those plants in different positions in soil and see what comes next. That is not an experiment! To see difference between two of those, treeded the same is a partial experiment, those thirt plant falls out because of other treatment, twice as much leaves and no recovering needed. So may be next year this could make a real experiment on video. Succes.
@@scholmc1633 yes I know that giving all the plants the same starting point is how you would conduct real scientific research. But ultimately he just wanted to know which gardening technique would allow the plants to flourish most. So he needed to replicate the circumstances of the gardening technique itself, not remove the bottom leaves from all of them.
I asked an Amish farmer if he planted them deep he said "don't waste your time with that nonsense just put it in the soil and water it in". Still if I have leggy starters I go deep with them. I shop at a couple different Amish greenhouses and they are always eager to answer your questions about growing.
Ye apparently I transplanted a tomato plant and it died. It was growing well before, no leggy shoots. Never transplant. Or you can grow it like potato raise the soil level in the pot slowly
@ESHess-gp4wi I get some every year called Amish Paste probably the same. They are bigger than Roma's and San Marzano. The ones I have are Heirlooms. Good luck with them. I'm over in Pennsylvania.
Planting tomatoes sideways has two advantages over deep planting. First the roots are spread over a larger area and so the tomato gets more overall nutrients from the top layers of soil (the most biologically active, and generally more water availability, tomatoes are not deep feeding plants). Oddly the carbon and Cherokee varieties are deeper rooting varieties tending to extend feeders to occupy 10-16 inches. They do generally naturally limit themselves to 5-6 feet however. Second is only for large scale growers, it can be done quickly with tomatoes in a row. Commercial growers take a piece of pvc pipe or something similar and bend all the plants in a row to the side. They then wait for the plants to naturally curve upwards before putting in their supports. Some places bury the bent over stem, others just ensure the stem is touching the ground and let nature handle itself. The additional roots also have advantages when using tension based support systems as commercial growers are not going to be as careful to ensure each plant is properly tensioned, so the extra roots also help resist a bit of tugging. The additional roots do less of a role in nutrient absorption vs moisture absorption (although they both can do a bit of both). However commercial growers like these methods for stability. The plants a noticeable better rooted to the ground and thus are less prone to damage in a large field.
Ashley from Gardening In Canada has a video about this. She cites articles from... Florida? I think? The summary is that if you have WARM soil, planting UP TO the cotyledons (not burying above leaf level) can increase yields. But if you have COLD soils, planting deeply will stunt your plant.
She also mentions that adventitious roots (the ones coming off the stems) are designed for support rather than nutrient uptake, so it’s maybe not worth digging in unless your surface soil is crazy hot.
Yes! Ashley nailed it and the results of this experiment is in line with what she explained. I'm in a cooler climate and while I never buried super-deep, I won't do it at all in the future. It's extra effort for inferior results.
In cold climates we use the trench method because in the effort to extend our growing season the soil is cold when we transplant right after last frost. This keeps roots as warm as we can. It works!
two things come to mind about the side planting: 1. If you have really hard soil and digging down is difficult, you can still get the same effect. 2. If you have shallow raised beds with hardware cloth on the bottom for gophers(me, last year), same benefit. Thanks for doing the hard work for us!
Also in colder climates, particularly early in the season soil is warmer close to the surface, so you get to bury your tomato without it getting frosty roots.
I think in certain soil types, it's best to get that depth. The upper regions of my soil profile dry quickly, and it's sandy, so nutrients wash down. They do better when they're buried. I would bet that Clown did so well because it had access to more surface area, rather than just a column, for nutrient access
Those short green stakes can be very dangerous. If you end up growing some other plants around or behind those tomatoes, you can easily get poked in the eye while attending them. From above, those stakes are easily overlooked as their visible profile is just the diameter of the stake. Its happened to me but luckily I was wearing glasses at the time. A short piece of white tape around the top will go a long way in prevention. You never realize how easily this could happen until its too late. I pretty much only use very tall 7'-8' stakes now so that the tips will always be above my eye level.
Great point! Similar happened to me with a bamboo stake as I was feeding my ducklings. It hit the bone below my eye and ricocheted up to my brow bone. I think it’s going to leave a scar but at least it missed my actual eye 👀
So, I've done this experiment actually quite a few ways about the years and what I have learned is this: always surface sow determinate tomatoes. They only get so big and burying them will really set you back at best, but really you'll cut into your crop yield. Indeterminate tomatoes are ground crawling vines that constantly shoot out new roots so I'm warmer climates where you can plant really early a trenched tomato directly in the ground (not raised bed) tends to grow better longer term, especially if you do the grow and drop method. If you have a raised bed, the whole of the soil mass is warmer, so dig down and plant the root ball at the bottom of the bed and bury up, in my slightly raised beds, this means I get the best results planting at a 45° angle. This also helps with the wind in my area because the lower the plants are to the ground in early spring, the less wind damage I get because I wait to stake mine. TLDR: the three or four different techniques all have different uses for different areas and I encourage personal experimentation.
@michellejester9734 room basically, you can plant deeper in the raised bed and the whole of the soil is warmer, but if you plant shallow and long, now you have less room to plant other things
Dude I have no clue how this keeps happening but every time I have a "I wonder if epic gardening has a video about this" moment in the garden, here you are with a video about that exact subject! Legend
I think I know why my tomatoes haven’t done well for years because I have buried my tomatoes deep or trenched. And I have a shorter season in the PNW. Thanks for this.
I live in condo and have a little garden on by balcony which is covered,and when I transplant my tomatoes onto my balcony I put them in diagonally in a trench so I can "push" the plant outside my balcony railing where they are trellised, so it gets more sunlight than they would otherwise get. I have better results than just growing them straight up initially.
I just wanted to leave a comment about the side planting technique. We used to do this when we only had shallow raised beds to plant them in. That way we could get more roots for the tomato even though the dirt was very shallow.
Trench method is amazing, always produces a mass amount of fruit and the root system is huge. The 1st time I fried this way at end of season the roots had extended straight across the garden for 6 feet, I was sold when I seen that. Take Care
Out of curiosity, I planted a San Marzano horizontally without pruning or bending the top. The side branches that were exposed straightened reaching for the sun and the plant is fantastic!! It has lots of green fruit and is twice the size of the regularly planted tomato plants. I'm pretty impressed with the growth.
The results for the sideways planting was so interesting. I can see someone with clay or really compacted soil really preferring that method. It would be easier to dig and lets the plant closer to the surface to take in all the water and nutrients.
There’s a reason for Trenching : deep planting puts the roots down into cold soil. Trenching keeps those roots up in the warmer zone of soil, yielding a quicker start.
Might be that sewing from seed is the way to go. It's the only way that wasn't tested in this experiment and the exact way that Mother Nature would do it. That really would have been interesting to see.
I have had this experience as well! I always try to dig up transplants and put them in the garden - my volunteer transplants are currently twice the size of my stuff from the store
@peachykeen7634 my first year for volunteers! They are sturdier and bushier than the transplants for sure. The only problem is guessing the variety, although this year there were only 4 options to choose from.
@@Nikki-mx5my There's a couple on Bumblebee Junction that keeps a dedicated raised bed just for volunteers. A cherry variety that's her favorite. She let's the plants die back completely, cleans the plant material out leaving any tomatoes in the bed. Covers the tomatoes with 1/2 a bag of Black Cow and potting soil in November and many come back up in the Spring.
First of all, really enjoyed this video but I can't help but feel the results are inconclusive because it was ended so early into the growing season! The whole point of the deep hole method is it provide season long resilience because it can access deeper soil and thus more moisture when it's dry. It reduces the need for irrigation and when it gets very hot in mid-late summer the cooler temperature is actually a bonus. I totally agree that this method causes a later start, but the reward is realized late in the season. Roots grow exponentially, so while the extra rooting might have looked unimpressive now it would look much different after another two months of growing. For anyone interested, I've also found that doing the deep whole method with containers completely eliminates the slow start because (obviously) you are filling it with ambient temperature soil and there is more air circulating it. I like to do a few plants in containers that I can put out much earlier and bring them in if there is a cold snap and adjust the location depending on temperature and wind. The down side of this is you do have to water more, just because of the nature of container gardening. As for the trench method, I think this is also sound but to me it is just awkward to design a bed and digging a sideways hole and bending it stresses me out a bit. I find something very satisfying about the deep hole method, maybe because it hides the fact that most of my seedlings tend to be on the leggy side but you'll never tell once I plant ;-) Thank you for this content!
I totally agree. I loved this video and really appreciate all of the experiments you’ve done. This one I did feel missed the point. I’d like to see the results for this experiment where the endpoint was the end of the tomato season, not when it just started to get a few ripe fruit. Please repeat next year! 😁😊🙏
I agree the experiment ended too soon to be useful. I'm interested in total production and plant health, not just the first six weeks! I will add that I've done this experiment with bell peppers I want fully ripe, using the two ends of my garden. In my very sandy soil the buried peppers need less water once they get established, which really helps me out! I get the same or more peppers with less added water.
The downside to planting deeply is that the adventitious roots (the additional ones) are not as good at nutrient uptake, but are mostly for moisture uptake. If you don't fertilize/amend your whole soil profile, all the way down to the bottom of the tomato hole, there's less nutrition for the plant to use. In addition, planting past the cotyledons can lead to reduced harvests.
@@CWorgen5732 I agree with you on needing good soil all the way down, I would imagine almost every garden has at least 12". And if you choose to amend / fertilize it's easy enough to do when you dig the initial hole Curious on your last point on planting past the cotyledons, is there a study or experiment you can recommend?
Anecdotally, my harvests were always equal or larger, with enough difference that I stopped shallow playing completely. It works for me in my soil, which I do amend deeply for the veg. Doesn't mean it's best for everyone!
Burying in a trench allows for more surface roots. Its said that they use surface roots more than deep roots which is why they produce roots so easily. And if you leave the plant on the side days before planting, the new growth will bend for you. I love experiments. Thanks for extra knowledgeable. Super fun.
My understanding of the trench one is that you can get them out early into warm soil. The soil is more warm shallowly. And should get quicker growth. But I prefer having deep roots to resist not getting as much rain in the summer.
Haven't watched to the end yet, but I used to (30+ years ago) follow the trench method. I got it from a book on growing tomatoes. As well as I can remember, the reasoning was that that sun would warm the soil, and thus the roots and the stem where the roots should be growing. Okay, I'm up to the final comparison, just before they are dug up. So far all the comparisons and explanations are based on the roots. But please remember how much more foliage John had from the start. It takes roots AND leaves to grow, so of course John had a head start on one of those. And of course, a different variety might act differently. And summers vary. (When I had a garden I only planted tomatoes. Lots of them. I took a week of vacation in August to eat tomatoes. Lightly toast rye bread, cover with sharp cheddar, put in the toaster over to melt the cheese, then top with THICK slices of fresh ripe tomato.)
I loved this experiment! I’ve used the Trench on one plant and pulled it up weeks ago. It almost looked like your roots. Difference with mine was it was a cherry Tom… I had plenty of side shoots and suckers and I buried it shallow. My observation was I can cut the trench at 3 points and have 3 new plants. Like yours it didn’t grow as fast as regular style. Cheers
I found that if you transplant straight down into the ground like titanic that it was not as productive because of a longer period of cold ground temps. But if you burry the plant like titanic deep down in an earth bucket or barrel sized self watering container, the growth is far more because of a warmer soil bed at a deeper depth. The secret to going deeper in a self watering container is that the root mass in deep, and close to the watering source that where water is wicked up into the soil bed. The roots will even grown into the lower water basin of the bucket. This is where the use of liquid fertilizers are then used to give a tremendous boost to the plant throughout the growing season.
One thing that comes to mind as to why the trenching method produces more roots than deep burying: tomatoes naturally have very shallow root systems. So even if you deep bury the plant's stem, it will only produce new roots in soil conditions that suit them (i.e. within a few inches of the surface where heat/nutrient/water access are prime for the tomato to grow). The trench method has 100% of the buried stem in the tomato's natural root development zone. If you want to test this, you could setup another experiment with two deep buried tomatoes: one in ground and the other in a container/growbag nearby.
The adventitious roots are also not very good at nutrient uptake, but are primarily for moisture and stability. So long-term, the plant will do better with trenching because the original roots are still up where the best soil is.
I've planted in a trench, for a couple years. They end up much more stable & I've gotten plants that are 8'-15' tall. The stems can get around 4" around near the ground.
I believe some of the theory behind the angled/laying flat tomato planting method is that the majority of many planting beds have their nutrients and often their water applied to the surface, and by laying the plant flat you force many of the roots to start growing from from the surface. If any compost or mulch is added, there are far more roots far closer to it spread over a wider area. its also quite strange, because here in scotland, laying flat is the only way ive heard people plant tomatoes, and I wonder if it is in part because of water availibility and avoiding drowning the plants by planting deep and allowing the soil to dry out to some reasonable amount on the surface, meanwhile where you live its clearly very hot and dry and water availibility is more of a struggle so having the roots forced deep underground, youre more likely to have access to water for more of the year and avoid the soil drying out entirely within a day on the surface.
I live in Oklahoma where we tend to have long, hot and dry summers. One of the advantages of this is that you can transplant into the soil earlier because the nights usually start staying warm enough by early-mid April and depending on the type of tomato may even have fruit still ripening until late October or even mid November.
I really enjoy the experiment videos, I am always trying different ways to grow everything, a few extra seeds well let’s see how they do over here or in a smaller container or more light etc.
If you're like me and plant too many tomatoes, placing a portion deeper/entrenched may spread out the initial onslaught of ripening fruit (so you can get your neighbors hooked...), and possibly give the deeper plants a longer production season as it gets both hotter/drier and later cooler towards fall.
Our family and friends have always planted tomatoes on their sides with a tablespoon of epsom salt into the soil. All of the plants grow with vigor and overflowing with fruit. My late mother-in-law said that they did it this way because sometimes the soil was really cakey and they didn't have time or means to dig the plants deep, so they laid the plants on their sides allowing the water and nutrients from the top soil feed the plants, rather than waiting for any fertilization or water to get down through the cakey soil.
I love the experiment garden! So, I garden up in Quebec, Canada, and I have a shorter growing season. I can't plant anything outside before late May, and my first frost is in mid-September. I used to plant my tomatoes deep, but I'd have to spend the entire gardening season waiting for my tomato plants to put out new roots, resulting in a very small, very late harvest! This year, I went basic and planted my tomatoes at surface level, and my plants have never looked better. I'm already getting blooms! So yeah, do what works best in your context and keep trying!
I think part of the point of the trenched method is to do with efficiency when planting a row. You can dig one trench, place all of the plants then cover the root balls in a production line manner. Another consideration besides the temperature of the upper 8 inches of soil is likely more oxygen and microbial activity which would tend to greater availability of nutrient resources as well as better water availability.
Great experiment! Thanks for sharing the results and your insights. It was really good to see your changing opinion over the course of the trial. I have noticed similar things with my tomatoes, using all three methods in the past, but have never dug up the roots to compare, so it was really cool to see your results. I suspect there are a number of things going on, and wanted to know what you and others thought. The warmer soil that you mention is definitely one of them, and probably extra important with the cooler climate that I am growing in. A few other people have commented about the greater amount of soil life, fertility and oxygen closer to the surface, and I think this is a big factor, which may be why you saw the root development along the full length of the 'Clown' root, compared to the ring of roots at the top of the buried stem of the 'Titanic'. One other factor that might have affected the different growth rates early on, is that removing the leaves of the two buried stems will reduce the amount of photosynthesis that can occur, which will slow there plant down. I suspect there would also be an issue with an imbalance between the amount of leaves and the amount of roots on the young plant, with the reduced leaves not being able to support or feed the roots the sugars needed to maintain the existing roots, or grow new roots. I have read that pruning the leaves can cause a plant to drop off some of the roots to bring things back into balance. If this is the case with tomatoes, then I would not be surprised if those plants are set back initially, and don't catch up to 'John'. I have also come across the idea that the roots that develop along the stem are good for support and water but generally are not great feeding roots, and this could have been a factor for 'Titanic' with most of the feeding roots buried below where a lot of the fertility will likely be in the soil profile. Your experiment really got me thinking! Now I want to do a similar trial, to see if I get similar results.
I have problems with a relatively shallow hugelculture bed: tomatoes do not thrive despite lots of good amendments. I think the deep planting puts roots into a woody nitrogen-deficient zone. Going to try shallower planting next year.💚
The experiment you made is an experiment in natural garden conditions, like we all have at home. I have been growing tomatoes for years. My grandfather always taught me to transplant tomatoes horizontally. A problem that often occurs with horizontal planting is that the first flowering branch is very close to the ground and that, very often, the first fruits lie on the ground. In this way, it happens that some of the fruits start to rot or are eaten by small animals. Thank you for the video and the experiment you did. You have solved many tomato transplant dilemmas I have had.
I’ve tried both methods- burying deeply and on the side. Both creates stunted plants. I have heavy clay so plants really have to work to grow roots. I’ve been growing tomatoes exactly like John for years. It’s good to see some validating content as much of the content around gardening is recycled and sometimes just doesn’t jive.
Last couple of years I run a 10” auger 30” down yet still transplant near to the surface. It’s getting so much hotter every year and churning the soil beneath allows the plant to send its roots deep without slowing down it’s growth off the surface. I plant about 30” from stalk to stalk so that by the time it gets hot they are developed enough to shade the surface which keeps it cooler and aids with water retention.
A lot of us in the south trench yard maters because they need good roots to survive the summer, especially if you can't water regularly. The leggy ones won't thrive with a small root ball.
I’m in a northern climate with a very short season. And I’ve done a similar experiment… my results were very similar with the surface planted one doing better faster. As a result I don’t burry my tomatoes deeply, I just throw a bit of organic fertilizer in when I’m planting them. I find that gets the best results, fastest. And faster development is better here in Eastern Canada.
We always used the trench method when I growing up in the Texas hill country because of shallow top soil. I'm blessed with deeper soil where I live now but still use the trench method and always get more tomatoes than I can use.
I knew about all the methods you showed in your video...I decided to just barely loosen soil and placed the tomato plant on top and place soil all around up to first set of leaves, then mulched...will see how that works. Thanks for the video.
Great video. I usually use the trench method. This year I tried the deep planting and noticed the plants are behind schedule for being planted 6 weeks ago. I'll be going back to trenching. Thank you for your experiment.
Hello. Actually, in the case of trenching, one does not bend the plant up. Leave it sticking out at an angle and in one or two days it will straighten up. Great vid
Wow That is Fascinating !! Just a beginner gardener here but I will definitely surface plant my Tomatoes next year for Sure !! Thanks Man !!! Checking out more of your Vids now.
I’m not sure why this is a surprise to you, it has little to do with soil warmth. What is the most important thing to do once it has been planted? Feed and water. Where do you feed and water? The first 4 inches of the soil. The trenched is most exposed to these positive amendments, so it will be the most productive. There is little water and nutrition below 6 inche s of soil, so you actually stunted the titanic.
@@videodistro not saying it isn't important, but not critical. It is critical during germination. The water and nutrient uptake plays a bigger role when the plants are more mature.
Excellent research project - thank you👍. I have a box garden (3 feet wide by 10 feet long) that is approximately 12 inches deep - so actually quite shallow. I planted 12 plants with 2 x 6 different varieties on May 7, 2024. Each plant was buried using the trench approach. Today in July 2, 2024 and I must say, each plant is doing unbelievable well - the absolute best that I’ve ever seen. Each plant has numerous flowers, look very healthy, and have actually outgrown the box. Each plant is about 3 feet in height and fairly soon I’ll need to top them. Without actually doing any research I’m surmising that they are doing this well, WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THIS SHALLOW GARDEN, because I planted them sideways. My reasoning is that the roots cannot penetrate the almost rock-solid ground underneath the 12 inches of topsoil that the plants are in. Instead, the roots are using all the near surface area nutrients within the soil around the plant which would be, in my case, significantly greater than the 12 inches directly below the plant. It’ll be interesting to see the root system when I remove the plants in a few months time.
74 here. Taught the trench method. The John methed for me did also left unripened tomatoes as you found. Think trench method also allows for less and quicker effect to plants from watering and fertilizing. Nice experiment.
Besides root development in the buried tomatoes, the surface-transplanted plant started with a few extra leaves , allowing them to kickstart and produce more fruit. A nice experiment to do would be to remove the same number of leaves from all plants to determine whether the difference is because of root development or by having less leaves to start with. My bet would be the latter. Thanks for the vid!
Hi there, I am 72, never planted a tomato, but I remember my Slovak grandmother cutting the upper end of a tomato plant once the first/lowest fruits were well formed. The nutrients were this way redirected to the new fruits, supporting its size and ripening colour. Even the uppermost were nearly same size as the first ones.
I grow trench every year in my community gardener! My plants always look small and everyone laughs because the plants look so small. By the end of the season, my harvest has been abundant and the laughs become oohs!
I was taught the trench method. I was told it is better in the long run. The plant produces new roots along the burried stem. It makes for a stronger plant better to withstand the extream heat and strong winds in the area where I live. More roots also mean more ability to absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil. I have found this method works best for me. There is a short period of little to no growth while the plant developes new roots. But when the high winds and extream heat hit, it is definatly worth it. 👍
My grandmother taught me the trench method. Why? Better access to the warmth of the shallow soil temperature plus (especially) whatever water falls on the ground.
I appreciate you doing this experiment. I have about 50 years of gardening behind me. I bury the root ball about 1 inch deeper than it was in the pot, similar to your "John" tomato. HOWEVER, I have found that the most effective thing you can do at the time of transplant is what I call the MUD method--fill that hole with water and stir it to make it gushy. This compensates for the shock to the roots that happens whenever you transplant anything. I only bury the tomato at depth for 2 reasons...if the vine is broken or damages, I bury it up to and beyond the broken point, and if I am transplanting a cutting, I trim leaves and bury about a foot of the vine underground. PS, I don't "prune" tomatoes or pinch suckers, this is a waste of time (I only grow indeterminant tomatoes). I also pick the fruits when they start showing color, because vine ripening just increases your losses to animals without changing the taste of the tomato.
Don’t understand stand why removing suckers is “a waste of time”? It takes very little time and greatly increases the growing season and the health of the plant ( by allowing better air circulation).
Eric, here at Papaw's Place I always plant my tomatoes deep here in the south because it gets so hot. By planting them deep the tomato is slowing to get going but seems to last way longer in the heat of summer. Especially the indeterminate ones, they just keep growing much long than the service planted ones. Like you said though, it's just garden science/opinions. LOL
Really enjoyed this experiment, confirms my suspicions about planting too deep. I live in South Carolina right on the edge of the coastal plane. We can put our tomatoes in the ground in early to mid April most years with no worries. The only problem with setting them out that early is that, only the first few inches of soil have warmed enough for Tomatoes to thrive. None of my gardening friends have ever mentioned putting the existing root ball deep like "Titantic" early on. For our climate my money would be on the trench or "clown" method. You can always mulch all of those shallow roots with wheat straw or something later when it gets really hot.
This was a fascinating experiment. For John, perhaps having the extra leaves that were not removed helped maintain the overall faster growth/fruit production pace?
Mom taught me the trench method and showed me the roots long ago. Her reasoning was that the plant would not be as fussy about consistent watering. We only watered when it was unusually dry. I still plant them the same but I water my garden more often than she did so it probably doesn't matter.
I've been growing my tomatoes by doing a John-style method where I only bury it like 3-5 inches deeper so that it doesn't spend a month throwing out roots but it'd have more roots than plain John. Best of both worlds. Works out pretty well for me.
Burying in a trench is best for cold climates. That's how I was taught. Since it takes the soil a long time to heat up in the spring, the roots stay warmer closer to the surface.
Unless you deep water your soil I would think trenching is going give more roots due to moisture, temp and less compaction. What the plant does with that can greatly vary from even the same seed packet. Great video showing results!👍🏻
Thanks for doing these experiments. I do the deep bury method when I plant early. I've went so far as to plant with the tops in the hole just barely peeking out but I fill the hole gradually over time as the plant grows. I do this because in the harsh and short gardening environment of 7000 ft alt Colorado, I have nights still in the high 30s and high gusty winds. This method allows me to get them in the ground early and allows them to survive. Never tried digging up a mature plan to check root development. Maybe I'll try that this year.
My leggy seedlings in 5" pots had a couple that flopped over and I just put the dirt over the stems and they grew like crazy. I really wanted to experiment with them. Two were already growing sideways. Alas, along came some critter thru the fence and munched the top of the one I had a direct match of type of tomato!! I had a tomato I planted from seed in the garden to replace that one and a volunteer tomato. Something ate the tops of those, too!! So much for my experiment!
ive done the trench unintentionally when the plant got larger quicker than expected. i can see how it might be helpful if you have a shallow bed and want to maximize root structure and absorb more nutrients, especially if you found that you started the plants a little too early before the weather cooperated.
I always planted mine using the surface method but when I cut my lawn I put the grass clippings in the area as a mulch. The cut grass became very hot as it decayed and every week was covered by more clippings. The yield from those plants was way more than my neighbors who kept the surface clear and weeded the area as well. I also didn’t water as much but my tomatoes were double the size and were delicious. My belief is that these plants love the heat.
For my experiment, I used beefsteaks. They grow to 6' - 8' where I live. I used a 3x4 wood beam (I get a LOT of them) and built 4x4 wood boxes. I attached the boxes to the beam like steps on a spiral staircase and filled them with dirt. I used three beams and threes boxes to each beam. Because my experiment was considered dumb, I was given the poorest looking tomatoes and planted them in the most-shaded area of the patch. One was attacked by the cat and the other probably got shaded out (still bore some fruit), but the third grew and yielded as much fruit as the strongest and best sunned tomatoes. It was quite difficult to land the vine right on the dirt. The most successful tomato only rooted in the first two boxes. I would like to explore this method in the future, but it took a lot of effort to make happen in the first place.
this was an amazing backyard experiment and thank you so much for taking the time to make it! i will never again trench tomatoes. as i've been watching my tomatoes this year, they have grown well but not nearly as well as i feel they should have with "more roots" in the ground and have thought maybe i shouldn't even bother. i'd much rather have more fruit and call it good -- they're annuals, not perennials. we are in it for the short term with these guys and we want the biggest yield. again, thanks for this!
To have well-rooted tomato seedlings, you need a long pots (I recommend cut two-liter plastic bottles). After removing them from the recycled pot, plant them in a hole at the same depth as they were in the pot. I got this tip from an experienced gardener, check it out, I had tomatoes very quickly thanks to it .
I find that the trench method allows all of that length of stem down to the root ball to grow additional roots, which bring in more nutrients and water, and actually strengthen the stem and stability of the tomato plant. I only do one trenched tomato plant per season, because I don't have as large a garden area as you do, though I sure wish I did.
I love videos where they actually compare these ideas. I did an experiment where I pruned half of my tomatoes and left the others unpruned and I got triple output from the unpruned tomatoes and less disease on the plants. I wasted so much time pruning before.
Love seeing these experiments! Few people have the time or resources to do this themselves and are left wondering if they're doing it right. Some notes on these methods, since each DOES have specific benefits. Plants collect most of their nutrients near the surface where the most organic matter is. The trench method optimizes this. Deep roots are good for water- deep planting optimizes for water. Surface planting is just letting the plant decide. In a garden that has decent organic matter for both nutrients and water holding, and receives irrigation, there is little need for deep or trench planting. With plenty of water and nutrients available near the surface, just stick them in. Now if you are early on in gardening and still working on building your soil, trench planting will maximize the plants ability to take from your thin topsoil and amendments. Likewise, if you aren't able to provide very regular irrigation, deep planting can help reduce water stress.
I plant in raised beds. I always use the trench method for my tomatoes. I will place the root ends of the tomato towards the middle of the bed with the tops towards the outer part of the bed. By the time I plant on each side of the raised beds, all of the root balls are in the middle of the bed. As the plants get bigger and leaf out, they shade their roots. This allows for targeted watering in the middle of the bed. I have really good results with this method.
This is one of the smartest things I've ever read. I wish I'd thought of it! The middle of my tomato raised bed always seems to be wasted space, and this just makes so much sense. THANK YOU for sharing, I'm definitely doing this next year!
I do the same for cherry tomatoes in a big 20g planter. Usually put 5-7 plants in there, root balls in the center and stalks facing towards the edge of the pot. Instead of the roots all at the edges, the center of the pot stays moist for longer, had great results. Definitely gonna try that in the garden bed next planting
I find that I get way less leaf curl than my parent who just plan it normally.
Titanic's root ball is stunted because it's planted too deep to get oxygen and by removing leaves, you also reduced the photosynthesis effect of the leaves feeding the roots.
Well get cracking and show us all! Upload a video and you will get lots of hits, im sure. Greets from Australia.
You know what I tried this year, with raging success?? I planted ONE tomato plant in a 1 gallon container and let it grow. When a sucker was around 12", I snipped it at the base/main stem and transplanted it using the trench method into my raised beds. They looked a little rough for about a week, but then they absolutely TOOK OFF. They are, by far, the healthiest tomato plants I have EVER had, and its so bizarre that they didn't have a single root when I placed them into the ground. I also did not use rooting hormone or anything special. They are absolutely thriving, and I was able to turn one tomato plant into easily 10-15 plants.
My plan for this summer is to let my tomato plants grow and as they get taller and more tired, clip a sucker and plant it in the ground right next to the original plant. As soon as it begins to take off, I will remove the old tired tomato that may or may not have fungal or pest damage at that point. I think it's going to work out great!
Did the 12” sucker have flowers at the time you transferred it? did you trim those off or leave them on?
@@BLT__00 Good question! I actually tried both! The ones with flowers went on to bear fruit and - to be completely honest - the planted suckers look the same healthy as the ones without flowers and fruit. Definitely not what I expected! I thought those with pinched flowers would have been able to focus on making roots, but it seems they're making roots at the same pace anyway. :)
@@heidiwheeler9917thats great to know! Thanks so much!
One more idea for your experiment this year is instead of removing all of the tired plants, cut them back to the ground or just a bit above and see if they re sprout and have a new life.
My brother accidentally sprayed a tomato one year with something that killed all the above ground foliage and was surprised that after a week it re sprouted from the roots and ended up becoming one of his best, most productive plants
I'm guessing you live in an area with a long growing season! In Ohio, "tired" tomato plants are pretty rare 😄
I have done this with 50/50 success. I've also taken cuttings to winter over in the house.
The experiment patch in the garden has been a great idea
Yes! Every year I have done an experiment in the garden. It's so much fun and educational.
I love seeing these videos. I am participating in some tomato breeding and have my own little experiment patch. You do any?
Thank you!
I agree, love these experiments!!
I need to try more experiments. I'm thinking a tomato graft with multiple color cherry tomato on a sweet 100 rootstock next year maybe even do a few and give them as gifts.
We bury deep , not for extra roots, but to put root ball deeper to help keep it cool and prevent drying out. We don’t get rain in summer, only irrigation with mostly 100f+ temps.
Exactly my thoughts. It should be considered what climate people live in and what kind of temperatures they have in Summer for the best planting method. Last few Summers we had temperatures in mid 90s, and I feel that planting my tomatoes deep helped them survive the extreme heat periods. If our Summers were cool, then it would make more sense to plant them trench way, to keep the roots warm near the surface.
Very good point. Location matters! Although videos like this are fantastic and informative for the general community, they can be misleading to those in trickier climates!!
In North Texas we sometimes lay tomatoes on their side because of hard clay. To bend them, we lay them on their side a couple of days before planting so they turn up to the sun.
Grandma said (50 years ago) that you plant in a trench so that the roots are warmer being closer to the top. She was an organic gardener and was constantly reading about new techniques.
Also, there is no need to really bend it , as it will in a few weeks straighten up on its own.
Temperature is the reason in high altitude Colorado. Digging deep is way too cold, but the trench gives them warmer soils.
@@terrywebb6454 I think this may be dependent on your local climate. Last few years we have temperatures in mid-90s throughout most of June-July, and I feel that planting tomatoes deep with thick mulch on top helps them handle extreme hot temperatures better by consistently keeping roots cool and moist. In cooler climate it probably makes more sense to plant them trench method to keep all roots warm near the surface.
In het verleden experimenteerde ik ook meer met planten als tomatenplanten, zonnebloemen, Maïs, cosmea en Tagettes. Allen planten welke makkelijk wortelen. Ik plantte deze planten in ondiepe greppels, dat is mede makkelijk water geven met een emmer. Naarmate de planten groeien, vulde in de greppel met onkruiden en compost, zodra de planten groot waren begon ik met aanaarden van de plantstengels, door met een hark zand op te harken vanaf beide zijden van de rijën en ontstaan er opnieuw ondiepe greppels, makkelijk om emmers water in te legen. De resultaten waren dat planten tot twee maal hoger en 4 maal breder groeiend, meer bloei en meer vruchten of zaden vormden. Door gebruik maken van greppels en aarde ruggen vergroot je tevens het oppervlak van de grond waardoor deze vlotter meer zonnewarmte kan opnemen. Meer bodem warmte versneld de sapstromen en daarmee de groei van de plant greppels voorkomen dat wortels te lang te nat staan, tevens helpt dit bij water geven, water zakt direct in de grond bij de wortels in plaats van uit te vloeien over grote oppervlakte en direct weer deels te verdampen. Bijkomstig effect van gebruik van onkruiden en compost in de greppels is een natuurlijke vorm van composteren.
3:12 oh, I know EXACTLY why, LOL! Around here, there's areas where the bedrock isn't very far down. Planting at an angle will allow the same kind of bare stem for more root growth, but we don't have to try to bust rock to do it.
You didn't need to angle the top so sharply. Go at a very gentle angle, and allow the plant to straighten its growth by itself - which it WILL do.
I'm pretty much on
Good point! I'm pretty much on bedrock and have been doing mainly container/raised bed planting but may try one using your suggestion. Thanks!
Nice context. A lot of advice needs to be contextualized otherwise people misapply and then complain about bad advice.
I just plant it the normal way and take the leaves off that hit the ground because I only have a short time of growing things!
Excellent observation. I believe James prigioni on his channel has done a lot of gardening with the trench method and what he usually does is he leaves his starts out layed down for a few days so that it naturally begins to turn up before he fully transplants them out into the garden.
Hey I just wanted to share that the majority of soil nutrients is found in the top couple inches, which is why the trenched tomato produced so many roots. The whole stem was located in the nutrient rich region. I've always planted my tomatoes this way, but never had any evidence that it worked. Thanks so much for sharing :)
Ah! That was my first thought - that the trenched stem was able to root out into the nutrient-dense topsoil, which also explains why the deep-sunken plant developed a second root ball higher up. Everyone else jumped on the warmer-soil bandwagon, but I think you’ve hit upon the more likely reason.
Pro tip when planting sideways in a trench: lay the tomato plant sideways a few days to a week before planting. Over time, the plant will naturally bend upward to reach toward the light. No forced bending that risks snapping branches or the whole leader!
Thank you! I will try this next season
im experimenting with plastic containers (cut out stuff) and I basically turn the plant upside down and sideways to encourage roots. Another backyard experiment with no conclusive results just throwing it out there :)
Yeah rather than pro tip that's the normal instruction for planting that way not as shown in video.
And you never want your leaves to touch the dirt.
Never had a problem with breaking over decades
Woah, catty gardeners in here.
My father once described his experience planting tomatoes when he was a boy in the late twenties-early thirties. Many farmers in the town he grew up in contracted to grow tomatoes for a nearby cannery. Starts were grown in the Moapa Valley (Logandale and Overton), north of Las Vegas, then dug up in mid to late May, rolled, bare root, in damp burlap and sent over 400 miles north by boxcar or truck to the cannery, who distributed them to the contract farmers in Weber and Davis Counties in Utah.
My father would be given a bundle of plants, which were at least three feet long, then he would lay them down in a furrow, kicking dirt over all but the last six or eight inches, then lay down the next. That was repeated, bundle after bundle, until the furrow was full, then the field, then on to the next field until all the starts were replanted.
There are still some tomatoes grown in large gardens for local markets and restaurants and the town still celebrates Tomato Days, though most farms have shifted crops at least a couple of times in 100 years, soon to end with housing developments.
Cool share.
I always plant ours sideways, and we get amazing results! The shallower planting trench means the base roots stays away from zones that could potentially become more anaerobic in our clay soil, plus it enjoys more surface heat like your pro tip mentioned.
I plant that way as well since it is easier to dig the hole than a straight deep hole (no drill tool), plus I have raised beds, so I'm somewhat limited in depth.
I live in red clay so sometimes there just no way to dig.
@@theoneandonly1158 People don't understand the struggle of red clay. The way he digs in his soil might be possible for me if I leave a pile of wood chips to break down for 10 years.
About surface heat, I think this may be dependent on your local climate. Last few years we have temperatures in mid-90s throughout most of June-July, and I feel like planting tomatoes deep with thick mulch on top helps them handle extreme hot temperatures better by consistently keeping roots cool and moist. In cooler climate it probably makes more sense to plant them trench method to keep all roots warm near the surface.
I agree. We have heavy clay soil as well. Are you doing any kind of amendments? We started dabbling with tilling in carbon and supplementing calcium to try and flocculate the clay. Seems to be doing pretty good and we are noticing less weed pressure.
I think John might have done so well because he didn't lose leaves when you transplanted him - more leaves, more photosynthesis, more energy for the plant. If you ever repeat the experiment, please add in a fourth condition where you remove the lower leaves and surface plant the plant just like you did with John!
I think another possible advantage of trenching might be that the roots can access nutrients from a bigger soil area compared to just planting deeper 🤔
inderdaad, voor een betere vergelijking had plant genaamd John evenveel blad moeten verwijderen als de overige twee planten. Nu had deze plant veel meer blad, dus een voorsprong. Immers blad geeft bij voldoende licht fotosynthese waarbij CO2 uit de lucht wordt opgenomen en er zuurstof vrijkomt wat afgegeven aan de lucht en suikers. Als gevolg van dit proces ontwikkeld de plant suikers welke de plant gebruikt bij de ontwikkeling van de wortels via sapstromen en de goei van nieuw blad, bloei en fruit en zaad vorming. De plant voed de wortelgestel met suikers en de wortels voeden de plant met water en mineralen voedings stoffen uit de bodem. Er bestaat een evenwicht tussen wat er aan wortels in de grond groeiend en wat er aan blad boven de grond groeiend. Bij verstoringen van wortels of blad zal de plant proberen dat evenwicht te herstellen. Door de groei van meer wortels of minder groei van nieuw blad of zelfs bladval.
I mean it might be an interesting experiment but its not a really valid idea for testing out which method actually works best. Because anyone who is surface planting doesn't have reason to remove the lower leaves. You'd just be hindering the plant for no point other than the sake of the experiment itself.
@@TheApplianceDirectthats a good point as well. Free speech ftw.
@@TheApplianceDirect that is why it is named an experiment. Starting with the same sized tomato plants, next 2 out of 3 remove 1/2 of the leaves. Next placed those plants in different positions in soil and see what comes next. That is not an experiment! To see difference between two of those, treeded the same is a partial experiment, those thirt plant falls out because of other treatment, twice as much leaves and no recovering needed. So may be next year this could make a real experiment on video. Succes.
@@scholmc1633 yes I know that giving all the plants the same starting point is how you would conduct real scientific research. But ultimately he just wanted to know which gardening technique would allow the plants to flourish most. So he needed to replicate the circumstances of the gardening technique itself, not remove the bottom leaves from all of them.
Fascinating and surprising results. A unique ‘look’ at what’s happening below the surface. Extremely well done experiment and recap.
I asked an Amish farmer if he planted them deep he said "don't waste your time with that nonsense just put it in the soil and water it in". Still if I have leggy starters I go deep with them. I shop at a couple different Amish greenhouses and they are always eager to answer your questions about growing.
Yeah, I always get leggy seedlings and bury my tomatoes.
Amish were right.
Ye apparently I transplanted a tomato plant and it died. It was growing well before, no leggy shoots. Never transplant. Or you can grow it like potato raise the soil level in the pot slowly
the most productive plants I had last year in central Ohio was a Roma variety called "Amish Pasting" from a local nursery.
@ESHess-gp4wi
I get some every year called Amish Paste probably the same. They are bigger than Roma's and San Marzano. The ones I have are Heirlooms. Good luck with them. I'm over in Pennsylvania.
Planting tomatoes sideways has two advantages over deep planting. First the roots are spread over a larger area and so the tomato gets more overall nutrients from the top layers of soil (the most biologically active, and generally more water availability, tomatoes are not deep feeding plants). Oddly the carbon and Cherokee varieties are deeper rooting varieties tending to extend feeders to occupy 10-16 inches. They do generally naturally limit themselves to 5-6 feet however.
Second is only for large scale growers, it can be done quickly with tomatoes in a row. Commercial growers take a piece of pvc pipe or something similar and bend all the plants in a row to the side. They then wait for the plants to naturally curve upwards before putting in their supports. Some places bury the bent over stem, others just ensure the stem is touching the ground and let nature handle itself. The additional roots also have advantages when using tension based support systems as commercial growers are not going to be as careful to ensure each plant is properly tensioned, so the extra roots also help resist a bit of tugging.
The additional roots do less of a role in nutrient absorption vs moisture absorption (although they both can do a bit of both). However commercial growers like these methods for stability. The plants a noticeable better rooted to the ground and thus are less prone to damage in a large field.
Ashley from Gardening In Canada has a video about this. She cites articles from... Florida? I think?
The summary is that if you have WARM soil, planting UP TO the cotyledons (not burying above leaf level) can increase yields. But if you have COLD soils, planting deeply will stunt your plant.
Aye I love her
She also mentions that adventitious roots (the ones coming off the stems) are designed for support rather than nutrient uptake, so it’s maybe not worth digging in unless your surface soil is crazy hot.
In south Texas I do plant to the cotyledons and it works great. Our plants get up to 5-6 feet and cherries even bigger
@@victoriabarclay3556 that makes sense. I live close to Canada and shallow planting worked great for me this year
Yes! Ashley nailed it and the results of this experiment is in line with what she explained. I'm in a cooler climate and while I never buried super-deep, I won't do it at all in the future. It's extra effort for inferior results.
In cold climates we use the trench method because in the effort to extend our growing season the soil is cold when we transplant right after last frost. This keeps roots as warm as we can. It works!
This. And it even helps in warm climates. Maybe not for crazy hot, but does help in warm climates. Tomatoes love HEAT
two things come to mind about the side planting: 1. If you have really hard soil and digging down is difficult, you can still get the same effect. 2. If you have shallow raised beds with hardware cloth on the bottom for gophers(me, last year), same benefit. Thanks for doing the hard work for us!
Yep, hardware clothed two of three raised beds... regretting not doing bed three which was a 4 foot high lasagna bed...😢
How do you deal with gophers? Do they eat just as much as groundhogs?
Also in colder climates, particularly early in the season soil is warmer close to the surface, so you get to bury your tomato without it getting frosty roots.
I think in certain soil types, it's best to get that depth. The upper regions of my soil profile dry quickly, and it's sandy, so nutrients wash down. They do better when they're buried. I would bet that Clown did so well because it had access to more surface area, rather than just a column, for nutrient access
Those short green stakes can be very dangerous. If you end up growing some other plants around or behind those tomatoes, you can easily get poked in the eye while attending them. From above, those stakes are easily overlooked as their visible profile is just the diameter of the stake. Its happened to me but luckily I was wearing glasses at the time. A short piece of white tape around the top will go a long way in prevention. You never realize how easily this could happen until its too late. I pretty much only use very tall 7'-8' stakes now so that the tips will always be above my eye level.
I put my worn out garden gloves on my stakes😊
Good use for single shot rum bottles 😊
Great point! Similar happened to me with a bamboo stake as I was feeding my ducklings. It hit the bone below my eye and ricocheted up to my brow bone. I think it’s going to leave a scar but at least it missed my actual eye 👀
@@FLSunshineSuegreat idea!
I paint the tops bright orange.
Excellent experiment! You never mentioned rainfall or watering. I wonder if the deep planting methods outshine in drought.
So, I've done this experiment actually quite a few ways about the years and what I have learned is this: always surface sow determinate tomatoes. They only get so big and burying them will really set you back at best, but really you'll cut into your crop yield. Indeterminate tomatoes are ground crawling vines that constantly shoot out new roots so I'm warmer climates where you can plant really early a trenched tomato directly in the ground (not raised bed) tends to grow better longer term, especially if you do the grow and drop method. If you have a raised bed, the whole of the soil mass is warmer, so dig down and plant the root ball at the bottom of the bed and bury up, in my slightly raised beds, this means I get the best results planting at a 45° angle. This also helps with the wind in my area because the lower the plants are to the ground in early spring, the less wind damage I get because I wait to stake mine.
TLDR: the three or four different techniques all have different uses for different areas and I encourage personal experimentation.
Thanks!
Great comment, loving your summary! In watching the video, I had wondered about the 45° angle, I guess a hybrid planting between Titanic and Clown.
Why not a raised bed?
@michellejester9734 room basically, you can plant deeper in the raised bed and the whole of the soil is warmer, but if you plant shallow and long, now you have less room to plant other things
Dude I have no clue how this keeps happening but every time I have a "I wonder if epic gardening has a video about this" moment in the garden, here you are with a video about that exact subject! Legend
I wish I could search just Epic Gardener videos, but search is only available for all channels at once. That I know of…
I think I know why my tomatoes haven’t done well for years because I have buried my tomatoes deep or trenched. And I have a shorter season in the PNW. Thanks for this.
Properly done trench is the best for short seasons. Don't trench very deep. Just a 2 or 3 inches deep.
Thanks for the teaching
I live in condo and have a little garden on by balcony which is covered,and when I transplant my tomatoes onto my balcony I put them in diagonally in a trench so I can "push" the plant outside my balcony railing where they are trellised, so it gets more sunlight than they would otherwise get. I have better results than just growing them straight up initially.
I just wanted to leave a comment about the side planting technique. We used to do this when we only had shallow raised beds to plant them in. That way we could get more roots for the tomato even though the dirt was very shallow.
Trench method is amazing, always produces a mass amount of fruit and the root system is huge. The 1st time I fried this way at end of season the roots had extended straight across the garden for 6 feet, I was sold when I seen that. Take Care
I trenched 6 tomato plants of all different varieties this season and they are doing amazing!
Out of curiosity, I planted a San Marzano horizontally without pruning or bending the top. The side branches that were exposed straightened reaching for the sun and the plant is fantastic!!
It has lots of green fruit and is twice the size of the regularly planted tomato plants. I'm pretty impressed with the growth.
The results for the sideways planting was so interesting. I can see someone with clay or really compacted soil really preferring that method. It would be easier to dig and lets the plant closer to the surface to take in all the water and nutrients.
There’s a reason for Trenching : deep planting puts the roots down into cold soil. Trenching keeps those roots up in the warmer zone of soil, yielding a quicker start.
Nicely shown demo! Very cool. 😀
It’s fun to experiment. Seems like the volunteers grow the best in my garden with no transplanting.
Might be that sewing from seed is the way to go. It's the only way that wasn't
tested in this experiment and the exact way that Mother Nature would do it.
That really would have been interesting to see.
I have had this experience as well! I always try to dig up transplants and put them in the garden - my volunteer transplants are currently twice the size of my stuff from the store
@peachykeen7634 my first year for volunteers! They are sturdier and bushier than the transplants for sure. The only problem is guessing the variety, although this year there were only 4 options to choose from.
My volunteers are always the healthiest plants in the garden, for sure!
@@Nikki-mx5my There's a couple on
Bumblebee Junction that keeps a
dedicated raised bed just for volunteers.
A cherry variety that's her favorite. She
let's the plants die back completely,
cleans the plant material out leaving any
tomatoes in the bed. Covers the tomatoes with 1/2 a bag of Black Cow and potting
soil in November and many come back up in the Spring.
My tomatoes started flowering really fast this summer too. I’ve noticed that alot of plants are growing faster than I’ve ever seen this summer.
First of all, really enjoyed this video but I can't help but feel the results are inconclusive because it was ended so early into the growing season! The whole point of the deep hole method is it provide season long resilience because it can access deeper soil and thus more moisture when it's dry. It reduces the need for irrigation and when it gets very hot in mid-late summer the cooler temperature is actually a bonus. I totally agree that this method causes a later start, but the reward is realized late in the season. Roots grow exponentially, so while the extra rooting might have looked unimpressive now it would look much different after another two months of growing.
For anyone interested, I've also found that doing the deep whole method with containers completely eliminates the slow start because (obviously) you are filling it with ambient temperature soil and there is more air circulating it. I like to do a few plants in containers that I can put out much earlier and bring them in if there is a cold snap and adjust the location depending on temperature and wind. The down side of this is you do have to water more, just because of the nature of container gardening.
As for the trench method, I think this is also sound but to me it is just awkward to design a bed and digging a sideways hole and bending it stresses me out a bit. I find something very satisfying about the deep hole method, maybe because it hides the fact that most of my seedlings tend to be on the leggy side but you'll never tell once I plant ;-)
Thank you for this content!
I totally agree. I loved this video and really appreciate all of the experiments you’ve done. This one I did feel missed the point. I’d like to see the results for this experiment where the endpoint was the end of the tomato season, not when it just started to get a few ripe fruit. Please repeat next year! 😁😊🙏
I agree the experiment ended too soon to be useful. I'm interested in total production and plant health, not just the first six weeks!
I will add that I've done this experiment with bell peppers I want fully ripe, using the two ends of my garden. In my very sandy soil the buried peppers need less water once they get established, which really helps me out! I get the same or more peppers with less added water.
The downside to planting deeply is that the adventitious roots (the additional ones) are not as good at nutrient uptake, but are mostly for moisture uptake.
If you don't fertilize/amend your whole soil profile, all the way down to the bottom of the tomato hole, there's less nutrition for the plant to use.
In addition, planting past the cotyledons can lead to reduced harvests.
@@CWorgen5732 I agree with you on needing good soil all the way down, I would imagine almost every garden has at least 12". And if you choose to amend / fertilize it's easy enough to do when you dig the initial hole
Curious on your last point on planting past the cotyledons, is there a study or experiment you can recommend?
Anecdotally, my harvests were always equal or larger, with enough difference that I stopped shallow playing completely. It works for me in my soil, which I do amend deeply for the veg. Doesn't mean it's best for everyone!
Burying in a trench allows for more surface roots. Its said that they use surface roots more than deep roots which is why they produce roots so easily.
And if you leave the plant on the side days before planting, the new growth will bend for you.
I love experiments. Thanks for extra knowledgeable. Super fun.
My understanding of the trench one is that you can get them out early into warm soil. The soil is more warm shallowly. And should get quicker growth. But I prefer having deep roots to resist not getting as much rain in the summer.
Haven't watched to the end yet, but I used to (30+ years ago) follow the trench method. I got it from a book on growing tomatoes. As well as I can remember, the reasoning was that that sun would warm the soil, and thus the roots and the stem where the roots should be growing.
Okay, I'm up to the final comparison, just before they are dug up. So far all the comparisons and explanations are based on the roots. But please remember how much more foliage John had from the start. It takes roots AND leaves to grow, so of course John had a head start on one of those.
And of course, a different variety might act differently. And summers vary.
(When I had a garden I only planted tomatoes. Lots of them. I took a week of vacation in August to eat tomatoes. Lightly toast rye bread, cover with sharp cheddar, put in the toaster over to melt the cheese, then top with THICK slices of fresh ripe tomato.)
Love it. Add some basil leaves and olive oil, sheer perfection!
I loved this experiment!
I’ve used the Trench on one plant and pulled it up weeks ago. It almost looked like your roots. Difference with mine was it was a cherry Tom… I had plenty of side shoots and suckers and I buried it shallow.
My observation was I can cut the trench at 3 points and have 3 new plants.
Like yours it didn’t grow as fast as regular style.
Cheers
I know it was just backyard science, but I found it very fascinating. Definitely something to think about when transplanting my tomatoes
You know you have to trust the science. 😂
We did the sideways method in our grow bags, and they grew just fine. They are producing a lot of tomatoes.
I found that if you transplant straight down into the ground like titanic that it was not as productive because of a longer period of cold ground temps. But if you burry the plant like titanic deep down in an earth bucket or barrel sized self watering container, the growth is far more because of a warmer soil bed at a deeper depth. The secret to going deeper in a self watering container is that the root mass in deep, and close to the watering source that where water is wicked up into the soil bed. The roots will even grown into the lower water basin of the bucket. This is where the use of liquid fertilizers are then used to give a tremendous boost to the plant throughout the growing season.
One thing that comes to mind as to why the trenching method produces more roots than deep burying: tomatoes naturally have very shallow root systems. So even if you deep bury the plant's stem, it will only produce new roots in soil conditions that suit them (i.e. within a few inches of the surface where heat/nutrient/water access are prime for the tomato to grow). The trench method has 100% of the buried stem in the tomato's natural root development zone. If you want to test this, you could setup another experiment with two deep buried tomatoes: one in ground and the other in a container/growbag nearby.
The adventitious roots are also not very good at nutrient uptake, but are primarily for moisture and stability. So long-term, the plant will do better with trenching because the original roots are still up where the best soil is.
I've planted in a trench, for a couple years. They end up much more stable & I've gotten plants that are 8'-15' tall. The stems can get around 4" around near the ground.
I believe some of the theory behind the angled/laying flat tomato planting method is that the majority of many planting beds have their nutrients and often their water applied to the surface, and by laying the plant flat you force many of the roots to start growing from from the surface. If any compost or mulch is added, there are far more roots far closer to it spread over a wider area.
its also quite strange, because here in scotland, laying flat is the only way ive heard people plant tomatoes, and I wonder if it is in part because of water availibility and avoiding drowning the plants by planting deep and allowing the soil to dry out to some reasonable amount on the surface, meanwhile where you live its clearly very hot and dry and water availibility is more of a struggle so having the roots forced deep underground, youre more likely to have access to water for more of the year and avoid the soil drying out entirely within a day on the surface.
I live in Oklahoma where we tend to have long, hot and dry summers. One of the advantages of this is that you can transplant into the soil earlier because the nights usually start staying warm enough by early-mid April and depending on the type of tomato may even have fruit still ripening until late October or even mid November.
I really enjoy the experiment videos, I am always trying different ways to grow everything, a few extra seeds well let’s see how they do over here or in a smaller container or more light etc.
If you're like me and plant too many tomatoes, placing a portion deeper/entrenched may spread out the initial onslaught of ripening fruit (so you can get your neighbors hooked...), and possibly give the deeper plants a longer production season as it gets both hotter/drier and later cooler towards fall.
Our family and friends have always planted tomatoes on their sides with a tablespoon of epsom salt into the soil. All of the plants grow with vigor and overflowing with fruit. My late mother-in-law said that they did it this way because sometimes the soil was really cakey and they didn't have time or means to dig the plants deep, so they laid the plants on their sides allowing the water and nutrients from the top soil feed the plants, rather than waiting for any fertilization or water to get down through the cakey soil.
Gotta love old timey boomer science nonsense 😂.
Nice practical application of the technique!
@@HawkXe More like advice from a woman born in 1892.
@@bdctrans70 Makes sense. Boomers did have to learn those old wives tales methods from someone.
@@HawkXe This "Boomer" learned a lot of things from the greatest generation.
Also gotta say, I'm learning so much from yourself and other gardeners doing tests to break down myths. Fantastic, and thank you for sharing!
Just put it in...don't be scared 😅
That's what she said 😂😂😂 sorry couldn't help myself
Neither could that Ecuadorian in NYC....be careful😂😂😂😂
@@nafisahbrawner654
😂😂😂😂
Aye yo
More than the tip
I love the experiment garden! So, I garden up in Quebec, Canada, and I have a shorter growing season. I can't plant anything outside before late May, and my first frost is in mid-September. I used to plant my tomatoes deep, but I'd have to spend the entire gardening season waiting for my tomato plants to put out new roots, resulting in a very small, very late harvest! This year, I went basic and planted my tomatoes at surface level, and my plants have never looked better. I'm already getting blooms! So yeah, do what works best in your context and keep trying!
I think part of the point of the trenched method is to do with efficiency when planting a row. You can dig one trench, place all of the plants then cover the root balls in a production line manner. Another consideration besides the temperature of the upper 8 inches of soil is likely more oxygen and microbial activity which would tend to greater availability of nutrient resources as well as better water availability.
haha as a fellow ordinary John... I approve Kevin's message lol
A lot of the older gardens years ago all buried their tomato seedlings in a long trench laying down with great results here in Australia .
Great experiment! Thanks for sharing the results and your insights. It was really good to see your changing opinion over the course of the trial.
I have noticed similar things with my tomatoes, using all three methods in the past, but have never dug up the roots to compare, so it was really cool to see your results.
I suspect there are a number of things going on, and wanted to know what you and others thought.
The warmer soil that you mention is definitely one of them, and probably extra important with the cooler climate that I am growing in.
A few other people have commented about the greater amount of soil life, fertility and oxygen closer to the surface, and I think this is a big factor, which may be why you saw the root development along the full length of the 'Clown' root, compared to the ring of roots at the top of the buried stem of the 'Titanic'.
One other factor that might have affected the different growth rates early on, is that removing the leaves of the two buried stems will reduce the amount of photosynthesis that can occur, which will slow there plant down. I suspect there would also be an issue with an imbalance between the amount of leaves and the amount of roots on the young plant, with the reduced leaves not being able to support or feed the roots the sugars needed to maintain the existing roots, or grow new roots. I have read that pruning the leaves can cause a plant to drop off some of the roots to bring things back into balance. If this is the case with tomatoes, then I would not be surprised if those plants are set back initially, and don't catch up to 'John'.
I have also come across the idea that the roots that develop along the stem are good for support and water but generally are not great feeding roots, and this could have been a factor for 'Titanic' with most of the feeding roots buried below where a lot of the fertility will likely be in the soil profile.
Your experiment really got me thinking! Now I want to do a similar trial, to see if I get similar results.
I have problems with a relatively shallow hugelculture bed: tomatoes do not thrive despite lots of good amendments. I think the deep planting puts roots into a woody nitrogen-deficient zone. Going to try shallower planting next year.💚
The experiment you made is an experiment in natural garden conditions, like we all have at home.
I have been growing tomatoes for years. My grandfather always taught me to transplant tomatoes horizontally. A problem that often occurs with horizontal planting is that the first flowering branch is very close to the ground and that, very often, the first fruits lie on the ground. In this way, it happens that some of the fruits start to rot or are eaten by small animals.
Thank you for the video and the experiment you did. You have solved many tomato transplant dilemmas I have had.
I’ve tried both methods- burying deeply and on the side. Both creates stunted plants. I have heavy clay so plants really have to work to grow roots.
I’ve been growing tomatoes exactly like John for years.
It’s good to see some validating content as much of the content around gardening is recycled and sometimes just doesn’t jive.
Last couple of years I run a 10” auger 30” down yet still transplant near to the surface. It’s getting so much hotter every year and churning the soil beneath allows the plant to send its roots deep without slowing down it’s growth off the surface. I plant about 30” from stalk to stalk so that by the time it gets hot they are developed enough to shade the surface which keeps it cooler and aids with water retention.
I love gardening, from my head tomatoes!
_~ba dum tiss~_ Well played, LOL!
A lot of us in the south trench yard maters because they need good roots to survive the summer, especially if you can't water regularly. The leggy ones won't thrive with a small root ball.
I’m in a northern climate with a very short season. And I’ve done a similar experiment… my results were very similar with the surface planted one doing better faster. As a result I don’t burry my tomatoes deeply, I just throw a bit of organic fertilizer in when I’m planting them. I find that gets the best results, fastest. And faster development is better here in Eastern Canada.
We always used the trench method when I growing up in the Texas hill country because of shallow top soil. I'm blessed with deeper soil where I live now but still use the trench method and always get more tomatoes than I can use.
I knew about all the methods you showed in your video...I decided to just barely loosen soil and placed the tomato plant on top and place soil all around up to first set of leaves, then mulched...will see how that works. Thanks for the video.
Great video.
I usually use the trench method. This year I tried the deep planting and noticed the plants are behind schedule for being planted 6 weeks ago.
I'll be going back to trenching.
Thank you for your experiment.
9:15 John being absolute Gigachad 🗿
Him: *confused noises* 😱
Hello. Actually, in the case of trenching, one does not bend the plant up. Leave it sticking out at an angle and in one or two days it will straighten up. Great vid
They’re freakin with the weather man! 😵💫
Wow That is Fascinating !! Just a beginner gardener here but I will definitely surface plant my Tomatoes next year for Sure !! Thanks Man !!! Checking out more of your Vids now.
I’m not sure why this is a surprise to you, it has little to do with soil warmth. What is the most important thing to do once it has been planted? Feed and water. Where do you feed and water? The first 4 inches of the soil. The trenched is most exposed to these positive amendments, so it will be the most productive. There is little water and nutrition below 6 inche s of soil, so you actually stunted the titanic.
Soil warmth is critical during the early development of the root system, which is why trenching works so well.
@@videodistro not saying it isn't important, but not critical. It is critical during germination. The water and nutrient uptake plays a bigger role when the plants are more mature.
Excellent research project - thank you👍. I have a box garden (3 feet wide by 10 feet long) that is approximately 12 inches deep - so actually quite shallow. I planted 12 plants with 2 x 6 different varieties on May 7, 2024. Each plant was buried using the trench approach. Today in July 2, 2024 and I must say, each plant is doing unbelievable well - the absolute best that I’ve ever seen. Each plant has numerous flowers, look very healthy, and have actually outgrown the box. Each plant is about 3 feet in height and fairly soon I’ll need to top them. Without actually doing any research I’m surmising that they are doing this well, WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THIS SHALLOW GARDEN, because I planted them sideways. My reasoning is that the roots cannot penetrate the almost rock-solid ground underneath the 12 inches of topsoil that the plants are in. Instead, the roots are using all the near surface area nutrients within the soil around the plant which would be, in my case, significantly greater than the 12 inches directly below the plant. It’ll be interesting to see the root system when I remove the plants in a few months time.
74 here.
Taught the trench method.
The John methed for me did also left unripened tomatoes as you found.
Think trench method also allows for less and quicker effect to plants from watering and fertilizing.
Nice experiment.
Besides root development in the buried tomatoes, the surface-transplanted plant started with a few extra leaves , allowing them to kickstart and produce more fruit. A nice experiment to do would be to remove the same number of leaves from all plants to determine whether the difference is because of root development or by having less leaves to start with. My bet would be the latter. Thanks for the vid!
I really like these experiments. Thank you. Would have been interesting to see what each weighed.
Hi there, I am 72, never planted a tomato, but I remember my Slovak grandmother cutting the upper end of a tomato plant once the first/lowest fruits were well formed. The nutrients were this way redirected to the new fruits, supporting its size and ripening colour. Even the uppermost were nearly same size as the first ones.
I grow trench every year in my community gardener! My plants always look small and everyone laughs because the plants look so small. By the end of the season, my harvest has been abundant and the laughs become oohs!
I love this experiment and I’m so glad you dug them back up so we could see the results.
❤
I was taught the trench method. I was told it is better in the long run. The plant produces new roots along the burried stem. It makes for a stronger plant better to withstand the extream heat and strong winds in the area where I live. More roots also mean more ability to absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil.
I have found this method works best for me. There is a short period of little to no growth while the plant developes new roots. But when the high winds and extream heat hit, it is definatly worth it. 👍
My grandmother taught me the trench method. Why? Better access to the warmth of the shallow soil temperature plus (especially) whatever water falls on the ground.
This is fantastic!! Thank you for this experiment! I've started trenching my tomatoes and can tell a difference...
I appreciate you doing this experiment. I have about 50 years of gardening behind me. I bury the root ball about 1 inch deeper than it was in the pot, similar to your "John" tomato. HOWEVER, I have found that the most effective thing you can do at the time of transplant is what I call the MUD method--fill that hole with water and stir it to make it gushy. This compensates for the shock to the roots that happens whenever you transplant anything.
I only bury the tomato at depth for 2 reasons...if the vine is broken or damages, I bury it up to and beyond the broken point, and if I am transplanting a cutting, I trim leaves and bury about a foot of the vine underground.
PS, I don't "prune" tomatoes or pinch suckers, this is a waste of time (I only grow indeterminant tomatoes). I also pick the fruits when they start showing color, because vine ripening just increases your losses to animals without changing the taste of the tomato.
Don’t understand stand why removing suckers is “a waste of time”? It takes very little time and greatly increases the growing season and the health of the plant ( by allowing better air circulation).
Eric, here at Papaw's Place I always plant my tomatoes deep here in the south because it gets so hot.
By planting them deep the tomato is slowing to get going but seems to last way longer in the heat of summer. Especially the indeterminate ones, they just keep growing much long than the service planted ones.
Like you said though, it's just garden science/opinions. LOL
Proughet farms in Bridgeton, Mo. was a pioneer in trench planting tomatoes over 2 decades ago.
Really enjoyed this experiment, confirms my suspicions about planting too deep.
I live in South Carolina right on the edge of the coastal plane. We can put our tomatoes in the ground in early to mid April most years with no worries. The only problem with setting them out that early is that, only the first few inches of soil have warmed enough for Tomatoes to thrive. None of my gardening friends have ever mentioned putting the existing root ball deep like "Titantic" early on.
For our climate my money would be on the trench or "clown" method. You can always mulch all of those shallow roots with wheat straw or something later when it gets really hot.
This was a fascinating experiment. For John, perhaps having the extra leaves that were not removed helped maintain the overall faster growth/fruit production pace?
Mom taught me the trench method and showed me the roots long ago. Her reasoning was that the plant would not be as fussy about consistent watering. We only watered when it was unusually dry. I still plant them the same but I water my garden more often than she did so it probably doesn't matter.
I've been growing my tomatoes by doing a John-style method where I only bury it like 3-5 inches deeper so that it doesn't spend a month throwing out roots but it'd have more roots than plain John. Best of both worlds. Works out pretty well for me.
Burying in a trench is best for cold climates. That's how I was taught. Since it takes the soil a long time to heat up in the spring, the roots stay warmer closer to the surface.
Unless you deep water your soil I would think trenching is going give more roots due to moisture, temp and less compaction. What the plant does with that can greatly vary from even the same seed packet. Great video showing results!👍🏻
Thanks for doing these experiments. I do the deep bury method when I plant early. I've went so far as to plant with the tops in the hole just barely peeking out but I fill the hole gradually over time as the plant grows. I do this because in the harsh and short gardening environment of 7000 ft alt Colorado, I have nights still in the high 30s and high gusty winds. This method allows me to get them in the ground early and allows them to survive. Never tried digging up a mature plan to check root development. Maybe I'll try that this year.
My leggy seedlings in 5" pots had a couple that flopped over and I just put the dirt over the stems and they grew like crazy. I really wanted to experiment with them. Two were already growing sideways. Alas, along came some critter thru the fence and munched the top of the one I had a direct match of type of tomato!! I had a tomato I planted from seed in the garden to replace that one and a volunteer tomato. Something ate the tops of those, too!! So much for my experiment!
ive done the trench unintentionally when the plant got larger quicker than expected. i can see how it might be helpful if you have a shallow bed and want to maximize root structure and absorb more nutrients, especially if you found that you started the plants a little too early before the weather cooperated.
I always planted mine using the surface method but when I cut my lawn I put the grass clippings in the area as a mulch. The cut grass became very hot as it decayed and every week was covered by more clippings. The yield from those plants was way more than my neighbors who kept the surface clear and weeded the area as well. I also didn’t water as much but my tomatoes were double the size and were delicious. My belief is that these plants love the heat.
For my experiment, I used beefsteaks. They grow to 6' - 8' where I live. I used a 3x4 wood beam (I get a LOT of them) and built 4x4 wood boxes. I attached the boxes to the beam like steps on a spiral staircase and filled them with dirt. I used three beams and threes boxes to each beam. Because my experiment was considered dumb, I was given the poorest looking tomatoes and planted them in the most-shaded area of the patch.
One was attacked by the cat and the other probably got shaded out (still bore some fruit), but the third grew and yielded as much fruit as the strongest and best sunned tomatoes. It was quite difficult to land the vine right on the dirt. The most successful tomato only rooted in the first two boxes. I would like to explore this method in the future, but it took a lot of effort to make happen in the first place.
this was an amazing backyard experiment and thank you so much for taking the time to make it! i will never again trench tomatoes. as i've been watching my tomatoes this year, they have grown well but not nearly as well as i feel they should have with "more roots" in the ground and have thought maybe i shouldn't even bother. i'd much rather have more fruit and call it good -- they're annuals, not perennials. we are in it for the short term with these guys and we want the biggest yield. again, thanks for this!
To have well-rooted tomato seedlings, you need a long pots (I recommend cut two-liter plastic bottles). After removing them from the recycled pot, plant them in a hole at the same depth as they were in the pot. I got this tip from an experienced gardener, check it out, I had tomatoes very quickly thanks to it .
I find that the trench method allows all of that length of stem down to the root ball to grow additional roots, which bring in more nutrients and water, and actually strengthen the stem and stability of the tomato plant. I only do one trenched tomato plant per season, because I don't have as large a garden area as you do, though I sure wish I did.
I love videos where they actually compare these ideas. I did an experiment where I pruned half of my tomatoes and left the others unpruned and I got triple output from the unpruned tomatoes and less disease on the plants. I wasted so much time pruning before.
Love seeing these experiments! Few people have the time or resources to do this themselves and are left wondering if they're doing it right. Some notes on these methods, since each DOES have specific benefits.
Plants collect most of their nutrients near the surface where the most organic matter is. The trench method optimizes this. Deep roots are good for water- deep planting optimizes for water. Surface planting is just letting the plant decide. In a garden that has decent organic matter for both nutrients and water holding, and receives irrigation, there is little need for deep or trench planting. With plenty of water and nutrients available near the surface, just stick them in. Now if you are early on in gardening and still working on building your soil, trench planting will maximize the plants ability to take from your thin topsoil and amendments. Likewise, if you aren't able to provide very regular irrigation, deep planting can help reduce water stress.