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15-05-2003, 06:44 PM

(Pat Kiewicz) wrote:

DigitalVinyl said:

I just received my tomato transplants. The grower and many sources
recommend deep planting an additional 4-6 inches of stem.

My question is do you do anything specific with the branches on the
bottom 4-6 inches?

I assume I should completely bury them?
Do I leave the leaves on the branches I bury?

I remember reading an article in National Gardening years ago which put the
'strip and deep plant' tomato technique to the test vs. 'plant only as deep as
the lowest healthy leaf.' Strip and bury came in second. The verdict: never
sacrifice healthy foliage.

What I've found, when digging up the remnents of last year's tomatoes, was
that only small, minor roots formed on the buried stems. The largest, most
robust roots all originated from the original root ball. (And those roots were
WHOPPERS.)

That's the best information I've read.not just a recommendation, but
someone who took the time to examine the result.

DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)