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Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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Posted by
AiliDeSpain 6a - Utah (
My Page) on
Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 23:32
| Is this a normal size for a tomatillo plant 6 weeks old? I have never grown them before so I'm wondering if this is how they are supposed to look at this age or if my plants are really leggy? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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- Posted by digdirt 6b-7a North AR (My Page) on
Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 23:43
| Yeah they are really leggy for 6 week plants. The internode length on the ones I can see clearly is quite long. But you can correct for it by trenching them in deeply and burying most all the stem. Ideally 6 week old plants would be about 5-6" tall so more light early on will prevent it next time. Dave |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| So when I plant them I should bury the entire stem? |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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They look some what tall. Then 6 weeks olds are about plant out size anyway.
Some varieties grow taller than others. For example, my Siberian and Siletz are much shorter than Matina and bloody butchers (both PL). ==================
So when I plant them I should bury the entire stem?
==================
Al, if the stems are healthy and thick, I would only plant them as deep as just under the first true leaves and provide a temporary small stake(like orchid stake) just to protect them from falling over, until they grow more roots and grab the soil. I have a few of them like yours that need to be planted soon. I will do as I said, No trenching. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| When you plant them just remove all bottom leaves, leave just two-three pairs of the leaves on top. Dig a trench with a normal depth for tomatoes(about 8-9 '' deep) Plant them in the trench facing north (or west) on the angle,(see diagram). Next day they all will be up right, following the sun. Tomatoes actually benefit from trenching - they grow new roots along the buried steam, and it helps them to feed much better. |
This post was edited by galinas on Thu, Apr 24, 14 at 6:20
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| These are San juanito tomatillos. The stems are very thick. Here's a better picture. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| So when I plant them I should bury the entire stem? Yes. Just leave the top couple sets of leaves above the soil line. The existing stem is weak and stretched. Let it become part of the root mass. The new growth will be much stronger and healthier thanks to all the available natural light. Dave |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| They look like a couple of mine. Because I won't be able to plant out for another month, I potted them up, placing the plant almost at the bottom of the larger container burying quite a bit of the stem. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| Started mine April 1st along with the tomatoes, and will be potting them up in a few days. Man, do they grow fast... depending upon my results this year, next year I might plant them a week or two later. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| To prevent this issue next time, hang fluorescent shop lights a few inches above the plants the moment they germinate and keep them on 16 hours a day until they can be planted out. 6 weeks indoors is also a bit much for tomatillos. They grow faster than tomatoes or ground cherries. Target a maximum of 4 weeks indoors next time. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| I feel your pain. So how exactly does one go about giving these critters enough light? My tomatoes, etc., did great with the grow light setup I have, but the tomatillos are SO TALL! I googled for images of seedlings and most I found were tall, too. Maybe only troubled gardeners are posting tomatillo pics. :) |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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- Posted by digdirt 6b-7a North AR (My Page) on
Fri, Apr 25, 14 at 15:46
| Problem arises only because folks start tomatillos at the same time they do tomatoes (not to mention starting their tomatoes way too soon) instead of starting the tomatillos later. Tomatillos will grow 2x as fast as tomato plants so 6 weeks max for tomatoes 3-4 weeks for tomatillos. Same lighting. Dave |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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So, to clarify....it seems that some people are talking about tomatoes, and some are talking about tomatillos.
Both can be planted quite deep, right? Nancy |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| I grew 5 tomatillo plants under lights from seed. They are a very dark green and although the stocks are not very stiff, they are not too "leggy." I transplanted them into the garden yesterday and am govering them at night in Northern VA when the temps get below 50 degrees. I believe they benefit from deep planting so I planted them about 5 inches deep and will hill the soil around them as needed. I am going to use tomato cages to give them support. Did I transplant too early? The temp last night was 47 degrees. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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- Posted by digdirt 6b-7a North AR (My Page) on
Mon, Apr 28, 14 at 10:36
| Both can be planted quite deep, right? Nancy Yes. Or if you can't dig a hole deep enough to bury all the stem then trench them in so that all the leggy stem is buried. Trench-planting leggy plants is the more common practice. Dave |
Here is a link that might be useful: How to trench plant
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| Once I grew some tomatoes in a window sill that had a house over hang outside the window. When I started them they got that low sun(not a lot of hours though)then as they got older the sun went high and they had a lot of indirect sun. When I finally planted them having transplanted them at some point into larger containers(kind lillies come in)they were 4 feet tall! However I buried them as much as I could and they did fine.I'm not familiar with tomatillos but I imagine being a cousin of the tomato like others have said all they want to do is expand. Buring the stems and they shoot roots. I think you'll be okay. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| They are fine. The ones I start inside usually look just like that. Just trench them in as suggested. They build strong root structures once they get going in the garden. |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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I transplated a couple tomatillo seedlings I bought about 4 weeks ago, planted into a large container (25L). They're growing like crazy! Every day they've grown another inch or so. Lots of blossoms, and I think a couple might have already pollinated.
I'm afraid they're already too leggy. One has shot up to over 2" in the past week, but the stalk is pretty think (unlike my tomatoes/ground cerries that are puttering away) Should I try burrying/trenching them a bit deeper now? There's about 2 feet of thin stalk I'm worried about. Or in a couple weeks I might be able to plant them straight in the ground (new garden). I don't want to distrub fruit growth if it's already started though.
Didn't know about trenching. Very good idea! |
RE: Tomatillos plants are extremely tall
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| Yours should already be in the ground. Trench them. I did with mine about a month ago. They now have thick stalls and have tomatillos growing on them. |
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