I grew some tomato seeds, two kinds, on a heat mat under a grow light. They’ve just got their second set of true leaves, and I’m wondering if I can bury them deeper now. They don’t quite stand up by themselves, but bend to greet the sunrise and sunset. I may have been too slow to put them in full sunlight, I’m acclimating them (too) slowly so they dont’ burn up.
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Just saw this, so maybe too late, but I still think you can always bury them deeper. I have some in containers for three weeks that I am hoping to “hill up” this weekend.
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Thanks! it’s supposed to hit 100 degrees next week so I’ll bury them up and keep my fingers crossed.
insufficient light - artificial lights are not really a good match for Mother Nature.
as to burying the deeper - absolutely. they will put out roots all along the buried stem…but note - not so much “deeper” as “same depth just longer.”
I would intentionally cut off the lower branches to get a longer stem so I could do a
‘long’ garden transplant - the increased root mass methinks made for a stronger plant/crop.
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Update- I transplanted the tomatoes, they looked droopy at first but now look pretty darn good- just in time for the temps to go triple digit. They have a screen enclosure over them. I don’t expect anything from them except growth for a while. Or at least that they don’t die.
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Well done!
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7/29
These are the four that survived. They’ve been trying to bloom but to no avail, not surprising since it’s been mostly over 103 since I transplanted them. Yesterday I pulled off the screen cover and used an old cast iron decorative piece as support. Not ideal, but it has a pretty finial, lol. They’re still quite spindly but otherwise healthy looking. They all have several side shoots, which I’m told to remove but I’m wondering if I could leave them, at least until they start blooming again. They’re in new soil with timed release fertilizer. Do I really need to remove all the side shoots?
well, “spindly” would indicated insufficient sun - tomatoes (given adequate water) will take full sun.
with temperature extremes / prolonged ‘spells’ - pollination can be problematic.
from my CIS | gardening forum notes:
Optimum fruit set occurs within a very narrow night temperature range of between 60° F and 70° F. When tomato plants experience night temperatures lower than 55° F or above 75° F, interference with the growth of pollen tubes prevents normal fertilization. The pollen may even become sterile, thus causing the blossoms to drop.
edit to add: the other issue you may encounter in potted tomatoes . . . they don’t like ‘hot roots’
if the pot/soil heats up too much, they turn turtle . . .
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I don’t recall all the specifics, but I’ve never done that, I think because that advice doesn’t apply in my climate. At this point I wouldn’t remove any side shoots unless there were too many flowers setting fruit. I might leave just one plant in that pot, though.
@HappyOnion , I second your comments about temps for fruit set. While I think the plant might have gotten spindly for lack of sun, tomatoes (the fruit) , in my full sun look like this!
which is one of the reasons I save as much leaf cover as possible.
Most of July has been in the 100’s here. @ewsflash , does your climate allow for tomatoes to ripen in the fall?
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Yes, Sept-November are good months, usually. I’m glad to hear you mention the leaf cover, I’ve always thought that helped, and the nearby you-pick farms don’t do it, obviously. June and July are usually WAY over 100- we got up to 117 one day a couple of weeks ago. I’m tired of watering and am grateful for anything that survived.
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Wow- I found A tomato on the big mass of plants. I’m hoping for more, but we’ve been breaking heat records all week- it was 108 at least two days in a row this week.
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Awwww. Well one is better than none!
We cooled off a bit for a week or two, and I had some flowers and tomatoes. I took out any plants without fruit, and we are back in the triple digits for the near future.
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Update, 2/19/25 (hilarity ensues)
Last post, I think, I was wailing about the hot that turned into the cold. They were covered during the cold, in the meantime they’d sprawled all over the place and were setting fruit like mad during the mellow weather period between the too hot and too cold. A couple of weeks ago I picked some green ones and brought them inside, hoping they’d ripen. They did, and I can’t believe how good they were. They’re Japanese Black Trifele from Johnnyseeds. There are several more out there on the most raggedy looking plants ever, and the weather here is getting favorable for them. I’m amazed. They soldiered through a horrible summer and set a bunch of fruit in a short amount of time that took months to ripen, but amazingly, they’re doing it. They are small, in a normal environment they’d be plum sized.
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What a great update! 
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Up from the tomato graveyard…
And found these ready-to-eats
They were outstanding- tomatoey, spicy, a little sweet
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