Do Tomatoes Have Deep Roots?

Do Tomatoes Have Deep Roots?

Tomatoes come in two broad categories. Determinate tomatoes grow to a specific size, form fruit, and die. I

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determinate tomatoes go berzerk and take over your garden, your neighbor’s garden, and their neighbor’s too. Indeterminate tomatoes grow much like squash – they just sprawl everywhere and take over. 

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If a tomato grows from seed it has a tap root of sorts – I have found these can easily penetrate a few feet into good loamy compost-rich soil. I

If a tomato vine touches the ground, it will root where it touches – these roots are fibrous and do not penetrate as deep into the soil. Most of these roots will penetrate half a foot or so into the soil.

Many commercial tomatoes are grown from cuttings – these cloned tomatoes tend to have fibrous roots – and they do not go very deep.

How To Mix Soil For Tomatoe Tomatoes are heavy feeders. They are actually one of the only plants I have ever seen that can grow on pure manure! If you need to buy a preformulated mix you can buy a product such as this.

I normally just dig compost out of my chicken cage – I put leaves, wood ash, and grass clippings into the chicken cage.

There are also twenty or more chickens and a handful of ducks in there, so the daily “nutrient” input into the soil is significant. This chicken cage “soil” compost material is a great tomato soil. 

Pot Size For Growing Tomatoe I have had quite a bit of success growing tomatoes in old half wine barrels – this is about 20-22 inches in diameter and about a foot of soil – I never fill the pots completely, because what I do is once the plants are growing

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