one word answer: YES. :-D

Thanks. :)

Usually when the plant is over a foot tall, i'll add a layer of potting mix & remove the seedling leaves.

tn veggie - maybe I misunderstand your comment above but I can't say I have ever seen a foot tall plant that still had it's seedling leaves? They usually fall off long before then.

But if not, then they should be removed before transplanting. Tomato plants should never be planted, in ground or in containers, with their seedling leaves or even their lower sets of true leaves above the soil level. Personally, I strip off all the lower leaves that may have developed and transplant so that the base of the upper most set of true leaves and the growth tip sit only 1/2 to 3/4" above the soil line. That ways roots can develop all along the buried stem.

Dave

semi-unscientific with a small sample set.

I tried an experiment last year where I removed the leafy parts, but not the cores of the leaves.
the did not grow roots. th core part died off.

this year, in water I tried the same thing.
only the main stem grew roots, no part of the leaves.
In fact the leaf part died and rotted.

elskunkito - thanks for reporting on the experiment. I recently read something online that seemed to indicate that the leaves were to be left on. Glad to know that's not the case.

Do you remove lower leaves when planting deep?

NO

I generally look for those little "hairs". If the leaf stems have a lot of those, I'll leave an inch or so. Otherwise, the leaf stems don't stay. I've never have had that part rot though.

dig: Yea, I should have added, "if they haven't fallen off already." lol I still give the extra layer of Potting Mix no matter what though.

dangould - do you mean that you cover the lower leaves with dirt?

ted - I'll try to look for those little hairs next year - I do remember seeing them, just never gave them much thought.

tn veggie gardner - I always did that with my transplants a few times before planting them out. By the time of actual planting, I had a foot of bushy leaves and a quart container full of good roots. I've no idea if this resulted in earlier production, but my plants were always nice and vigorous.

liz: Yea...I found that out the first time I "refreshed" the soil (especially with MG Moisture Potting Mix) and also picked the seedling leaves that remained, the plant shot up quite quickly. I think that removing those leaves kind of gives it the extra energy & the "go" to move to that next stage where it starts to grow like an inch or so per day (vs. seedling stage where it grows a tiny bit each day). My current tomato plants includes one I've done this with that's 3 & 1/2 ft tall and yet to flower. It's gonna be a monster, i'm sure. I believe I should see buds on it within a week or so. Standard medium sized slicing variety that I forgot the name of...lol

Did a search and caught this thread. It does answer one of my questions but I'd also like to know if I should wait a while for the scars to dry out before planting. Do you just pinch and plant or pinch and wait for a few hours for the wounds to dry out before planting.

Also, are some of you suggesting you use a good potting soil to fill in the planting hole "above" the established root ball, rather than backfill with the garden soil? I'm guessing, if so, the reason would be so the soil remains really loose, to help root development?

My thanks for your time and assistance.

Mary

Mary, I cut or pinch off a few of the very lowest leaves and bury the cuts right after making them. In over 5-years I haven't had any problem associated with doing this.

Some do backfill with potting soil. This year I mixed Gardners Gold potting soil (4 to 5 large scoops per hole) with the garden soil. But Just look at what's in Gardners Gold--Master Nursery brand:

Fir Bark Pines
Forest Humus
Perlite
Composted Chicken Manure...Bat Guano...Kelp Meal...Worm Castings.

This is the first time I did this and my plants are all robust, flowering and the healthiest of green color. At five weeks the tallest is over three feet tall with about a dozen set fruit. The others are right behind it

Just pinch and plant - no problems.

Dave

eldonut and Dave,

Thank you so much for taking the time to clarify for me. Eldonut, I doubt we have Gardner's Gold in our local nurseries but I will call around. It does sound like garden gold, given the ingredients!

I have peat, lots of oak leaf mold and some composted garden soil, plus an aged worm pile consisting mostly of decayed coffee grounds (they used to be coffee grounds anyway) and alfalfa pellets. If I can't locate the Gardners Gold, I might try to mix up something to use as a backfill. This style of planting is new to me and I like to try new things; half the fun of gardening! :-)

Mary

As a follow on to this question...I pinch off any flowers before planting. Once lower leaves are removed and the plant is in the ground, do you at that point let the plants flower as much as they want, or do you pinch off flowers until the plant reaches a certain size?

I've been letting them flower once in-ground or in-container, regardless of size.

tn veggie - maybe I misunderstand your comment above but I can't say I have ever seen a foot tall plant that still had it's seedling leaves? They usually fall off long before then.

Digdirt - I've got 1 foot tall plants with baby fruit AND seed leaves still attached. I gotta pinch those fruit off, but I really don't want to (who wants to kill their first fruit?)

Most of my seedlings still have their seed leaves and are well over 1 foot tall. A few lost their seed leaves due to a nutrient deficiency when they were very young (which I corrected.

And on the topic of removing leaves below the soil line - yes, I cut mine off about 1 inch away from the stem. I don't want direct soil contact with the inside of the main stem so I allow about an inch of the leaf stalk to remain attached.

Last year I broke off the lower leaves right where they meet the stem, and buried most of the stem. Didn't have any disease problems, which would be my only concern with removing leaves directly before burying the stem.

Yea...true, Catman. I'm not exactly sure what causes the cotyledons to fall off, but it's definitely not consistant from plant to plant or type to type, etc..

BTW, the dumb wind & storms yesterday broke off half of one of the lower branches on one of my Cherry tomato plants...pissed me off!!! =) It will be fine though.

You don't HAVE to pinch off the fruit. Gardeners are 50/50 on whether that even helps.

Cotyledon leaves tend to stay on longer with a good fertilization schedule and when less roots are damaged when potting up.

I do remove the leaves that would be underground. No, I don't wait for the scar to heal. Yes, I still have some of the cotyledon leaves still on when my plants are over 1' tall, even almost 2' tall. I do NOT pinch any flowers, nor do I pinch the sucker branches off. I plant several hundred plants and the plants are lucky if they get any attention after getting into ground before time to pick, except to look for tomato worms (hubby's job).

i planted and left the lower leaves on, what is going to happen now? Is it a big mistake?

I wouldn't worry about it. I plant a few hundred tomato plants each year and I don't remove the lower leaves when I bury them. I get plenty of tomatoes. I just picked my first one today!

Zeuspaul

I've read both, I left them on when planting.