Whether a determinate or indeterminate both can benefit from a few more roots. I am trying bush early girl this year for the first time. Last summer was so cool here no one did well with tomatoes. Al

plantem deep.

The best thing you can do, originally a tip from a local organic farmer in Tomato Land (Central CA), is plant the seedling at a 45 degree angle with as much stem under soil as possible. This provides horizontal surface area for rooting, since roots grow down primarily this is fairly significant.

You can also bury the first set of leaves and they will turn into large roots and provide boosted nutrient uptake much faster than roots of equivalent size could ever grow from the bare stem. These roots are also in a different location on the stem than such beefy roots would normally grow.

These two techniques together provide a massive root structure that grows more quickly than just sticking a tomato in the ground vertically, however deep. If your soil does not drain extremely well (clay based) you may not want to plant a tomato too deep or it may get soggy feet.

Thanks for the responses. I did plant it deep but don't see much additional leaf growth since planting, although I do have two green tomatoes. I also left it in the biogradable pot (said to on the packaging) and wish now I hadn't.

Sorry, I forgot at the end there that this is for a container, soggy feet should not be a real problem if you have a potting mix.

I normally plant them an inch deeper than previous pot. The only time I go deeper is if the transplant is too tall. I have 8 toms and more flowers on my one eg already.

Any opinion on biogradable pot - I'm thinking it would have been better to cut it off before planting.

I agree with you, carefully remove the biodegradable pot and throw it on the compost pile.

greentiger87, compost pile seems like the best place for it - !!