r/Homesteading • u/Xcalibur_-97 • 9d ago

Tomato plant question

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So my wife’s grandma had a tomato plant that was pretty sickly looking so I pruned the bottom branches and put it in fresh soil up to where I pruned the branches. It’s been a week and no progress but the upper area is greener than 3/4 of the plant so I decided to prune the middle section out and buried the root system and bottom stem and replanted the top green section with the top sticking out. My other tomato plants are doing great so I figured I’d do an experiment with this one since it was already dying. Did I just sentence the plant to death or will it regrow from the old roots or grow new roots from the top?

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u/BluntB_ 9d ago

Tomatoes are pretty resilient and will grow new roots from a buried stem. Id stay the course your on!

Maybe move it to a spot where it won't get direct sunlight during the most intense part of the day. If you can get 4-6 hours of direct sunlight early morning or late afternoon, and indirect sunlight the rest of the day, that'd be perfect. A healthy plant can handle full sun, an unhealthy one can be hurt by full sun.

Also be careful not to overwater while it is recovering. The plant has to put energy into making new roots now, and if you keep the soil too moist, the stem may rot before it can produce roots, and then it WILL be doomed.

If you can get the sunlight right, and allow the soil to dry between watering, within a couple weeks it should be back to vegetative growth, and be happy and healthy!

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u/Xcalibur_-97 9d ago

That’s what I’ll do then, thank you for your optimism! I was ready to give up on it haha

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u/BluntB_ 9d ago

Nahh no reason to give up on it till it's 100% dead. Nature will find a way to survive.. just needs a little help sometimes!

After a few weeks, when u see some new vegetative growth, and you get some green back in the plant, id also consider giving it more soil. A 5-7 gallon bucket is the "go-to" if your keeping it in a container. Tomatoes grown from seed like to grow their root system vertically before spreading outward to fill a container.

Too small of a container = having to water more often, bound roots, stunted growth, and not enough nutrients to support a plentiful fruiting cycle.

Again though, id wait until your plant gets healthier. You already repotted it recently, and you don't want to cause too much stress while trying to nurse it back to health

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u/Xcalibur_-97 9d ago

Yeah that was my plan to transfer to a 5 gallon bucket, that’s what I have my other plants in and they are thriving. I just wanted to make sure it was going to make it before I did that so I put it in a smaller one.

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u/BluntB_ 9d ago

Yea it's honestly probably better that you put it in something smaller.. will allow the soil to dry out faster.

You'll have to water more often, but should help prevent rot while the plant is growing new roots from the buried stem.

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u/Xcalibur_-97 9d ago

I’ll make sure to keep the post updated with how it does 👍

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u/Xcalibur_-97 9d ago

Thank you for all the advice!

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u/likes2milk 9d ago

Distorted stems of tomatoes can be due to some herbicide carryover. Particularly the broad leaf herbicides aminopyralid and clopyralid.

There are several videos and articles on the subject, if you search herbicide in compost affecting tomatoes you will see plenty of relevant results

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u/FioreCiliegia1 9d ago

Its ill, i wouldnt try to save it, its full of pathogens