Need advice on repotting seedling.

[AndyAmine.]

Hi all,
Just a quick general gardening question.

I started up some tomato seedlings in jiffy's for spring but they stretched on me a bit so I decided to plant them deep into some 15cm pots so that the stem will root out and give the plant some more strength and root mass.

Anyway, I made a bit of a noob mistake and planted them TOO deep and the tap root has come out the bottom and formed a mat of roots under the drain holes.

This makes it pretty well impossible to remove it from the pot without ripping off a good whack of roots and I really dont want to do that.

So, should I just stack the seedling pots onto the soil in the new pots?

Im worried that if I do that, once the plant matures a bit the holes in the seedling pot will strangle the roots and cut into them?

So far I have cut the pots 2/3's of the way down exposing most of the root ball and burried that 1/2 way into the new pots hoping the roots will find there way and still form an OK root ball.

Or should I avoid any root stress just stack the pots letting the roots come out the drain holes and into the new soil?

[naja naja]

it's a tomato, i'd just rip it out of the pot and bung it in the ground.

[AndyAmine.]

They are heirloom seeds gifted to a friends father and there was only 3 of them, I offered to get them going for him because he was worried about screwing it up. lol. irony.

I want to have the best chances of getting a strong and healthy mother plant so dont want to damage the tap root while they are still young.

[Optimystic]

once tomatoes have several leaves they root easy as taking a crap.. sure preserve as much roots as you can

but you could cut the top of, stick in a cup of soil, keep misted and they'll root again.. shit I put some cuttings in cup this year

and just about forgot about them.. I don't know if mist from nearby waterhose kept them misted or what but they're still there lol

you can bury tomatoes as deep as yo uwant when you replant them... i'll take foot tall seedlings, and bury them deep to where just 3 or 4 inches

is above the soil and they root along the stem really well... don't worry about the tap root man, theres no plant that I know of that can regenerate roots better than tomato plants.. my pops said technically, you can just keep burying the bottom part of the plant until a plant grows around your entire yard haha.. of course I do mine in cages

another thing cool is.. mine seem to do really well when I let 2 or 3 of them grow together in the same peat cube.. and not divide them later, but usually I carefully rip away 2 or 3 in the same cube when they're just a few inches tall, and its rare that one doesn't survive.. same with peppers in fact alot of plants can take it but I don't rip, im careful and thats good enough...

everyone will say you need so much space for each plant, but its bullshit.. i look at how a fruit grows its seeds.. .if theres alot of seeds in one place like with a tomatoe of an ear of corn, then I try alot in one hole and some plants will do quite well, maybe just as well or better that way too... but i'll admit i have only proven that with the yellow pears and romas cause I think it was too late for the older varieties this year.. was my first year trying it andI had more tomatoes of the plants grown in bunches however I will say I lost some when the heat started that just drank the water faster than I gave it to them lol I suppose thats similar to companion planting, creating a micro climate and such... one good plant to grow with them is basil, and nothing in the world is better than homegrown bruschetta... i've made it 3 or 4 times in the last 2 weeks and I eat most of it!

they stop producing in our heat here, except the romas and yellow pears... and the arkansas travelers put out a couple , I planted them late the last two years so im making up for it with a timely fall planting lol ... timing is the biggest deal with tomatoes, and being that our seasons are opposite, I think your timing is pretty good now for a good crop.. mine are about 1.5 foot tall and still in pots half the size of yours maybe 7 or 8 cm some smaller... i've just been so tired i'm probably gonna get them into beds tomorrow.. some have buds already eh

I got a bunch of purple ones going now for the fall... I can't wait for purple bruschetta!

My advice, let them get pretty thick stems the way they are and then plant them deep and they'll be extra healthy

they respond well to kelp and an early organic fertilizing once they show new growth after being transplanted

in fact, go ahead and give them some kelp and fish now if you have it... they'll double overnight (that is if they are a few inches tall already)

lotsa sun too but they got really huge for me in part shade but they're ready for all day sun now that its cooled down here

frankly you can just break off the ends of those bottom roots and they'll just replace with stronger roots

the fact that you have so many roots tells me that you've got nothing to worry about eh

last thing I'll say is what makes them really strong is wind... indoor growing makes them lanky and weak

even when it rains, they can be knocked down and even lay down and they'll usually stand back up.. they get

toughened up quick when exposed to the elements but if they get lanky its a little more stressful

but it can be overcome easily

no worries... best of luck with them

Edited August 18, 2013 by Spine Collector

[Optimystic]

I slept all day so im bored

so I went to play with my flash and my flashlight

These were sewn at the end of June I think

Those pots are 8-10cm , tall and wide, the plants are 40-50 cm

several heirloom varieties and plus the purple ones in the front row

they are not heirloom but not gmo either ...

and in the back I have another tray of Italian Tree tomatos and Arkansas Travelers, more heirlooms

flea beetles attacked them but only when very young I had to pick them off but Its probably my fault

I have way too many solancaes growing around here

anyhow... fish and kelp!!!

just a light dose or two when young and bam

they respond quite well to a good foliar feed... give a dose of kelp when you transplant

and that helps avoid shock, then some fish and kelp once they show new growth in the ground..

can't lose if you planted them at the right time according to your climate...

If it was daylight I would have taken a photo of the huge plants I just pulled out of the ground

and some other huge ones that have a whole new set of yellow pears on them

shouldn't let them get this big in little pots

well at least not if you can't water them a couple times a day until you get them in the ground eh

they'll get planted deep in the ground, maybe half the stem with removed leaves below soil

i'll remove the early buds of course...

and they'll be fucking huge before I know it, purple bruschetta over the holidaze

shit I think I want some right now but its nearly 2 am here... fuckit right lol

maybe not but if I don't fall asleep in the next hour, probably so

[3lliot]

if they're plastic pots, you could cut the pots off the roots with a pair of scissors.