How to split up my poor tomato buddies

[Armaget]

I have these two little tomato plants that are best friends. They've grown right next to each other in their cup since I transplanted them from their old seed starting cell. Their stems are right next to each other, but I want to separate them so they don't drain each other's nutrients. (On a separate note, would it actually be ok to leave them together?)

I hate to break up such a lovely friendship, but does anyone have any tips to getting these two apart without killing them?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Let the soil dry a bit and then pull them both up. Shake off any clinging soil and replant them deeper than before. They will send out new roots along the trunk.

 

[Armaget]

Let the soil dry a bit and then pull them both up. Shake off any clinging soil and replant them deeper than before. They will send out new roots along the trunk.

thanks! Good part on the drying out thing, I will do it once they're dry : )
On the note about planting them in deeper, my dad said that would rot their stems but I don't believe him on that as I've done it before and they were fine.

My other question is, I have some other tomato seedlings that have quite long stems- would it be bad to just add more soil to the top to cover up some of their stem while they are still in their pot? or does that trick only work when replanting them?

I had tried this with another seeding and it worked reasonably well for that one, but I am hesitant on doing it for the other lanky ones.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It would work. All those find hairs along the stem become roots if covered with soil.
The trick is to not let them get lanky in the first place. More direct light and exposure to cooler temps and wind will prevent them from reaching for the stars.

 

[Armaget]

It would work. All those find hairs along the stem become roots if covered with soil.
The trick is to not let them get lanky in the first place. More direct light and exposure to cooler temps and wind will prevent them from reaching for the stars.

ah thank you. I think it may also be that they are far down in their little cups, but I was gonna start small hardening off sections once a couple new leaves grow

 

[Ridgerunner]

A common method of getting tomatoes from seed to ready to transplant outside is up-potting. Start them in small pots and when they get some true leaves (yours will work) put them into a bigger pot. If they outgrow that pot move them to an even bigger pot. You might do that two or three times before they go out to the garden. Several people over on the sister gardening forum are dong that now. That's a real common method, especially for people so good I call them pros.

One of the reasons for up-potting is that the roots need room to grow too. You can add dirt up on the stem the way you are talking about, but I think in that little cup they are going to get root bound.

People tend to like photos so I'll show my starter set-up. I don't do things a normal way. I start my seeds fairly close to the bottom of this bin. (It is set up so it can drain.) I cut rings from small yogurt cups and use those to show which variety is which. Instead of up-potting I add dirt to the top as they grow and move the rings up so I can tell which variety is which. That gives the roots room to grow.

Sometimes the tomato plants are about 18" tall when I set them out. I use post hole diggers and set them down so deep only a half dozen leaves are showing. If you dig those plants up at the end of the season you can see where roots have grown all along the stem, though they concentrate at what was leaf nodes.

You may notice the white paper at the sides of this. That's to reflect light back in from all directions instead of them just getting light from the top. Mine don't get nearly as leggy as they did before I put up that paper.

Canoe, that can be a fun experiment. At the end of the season dig up some of the stuff you transplanted and see how the roots grew. Not just tomatoes, other plants. It might change how you transplant some of them.

 

[Armaget]

A common method of getting tomatoes from seed to ready to transplant outside is up-potting. Start them in small pots and when they get some true leaves (yours will work) put them into a bigger pot. If they outgrow that pot move them to an even bigger pot. You might do that two or three times before they go out to the garden. Several people over on the sister gardening forum are dong that now. That's a real common method, especially for people so good I call them pros.

One of the reasons for up-potting is that the roots need room to grow too. You can add dirt up on the stem the way you are talking about, but I think in that little cup they are going to get root bound.

People tend to like photos so I'll show my starter set-up. I don't do things a normal way. I start my seeds fairly close to the bottom of this bin. (It is set up so it can drain.) I cut rings from small yogurt cups and use those to show which variety is which. Instead of up-potting I add dirt to the top as they grow and move the rings up so I can tell which variety is which. That gives the roots room to grow.

Sometimes the tomato plants are about 18" tall when I set them out. I use post hole diggers and set them down so deep only a half dozen leaves are showing. If you dig those plants up at the end of the season you can see where roots have grown all along the stem, though they concentrate at what was leaf nodes.

You may notice the white paper at the sides of this. That's to reflect light back in from all directions instead of them just getting light from the top. Mine don't get nearly as leggy as they did before I put up that paper.
View attachment 2100486

Canoe, that can be a fun experiment. At the end of the season dig up some of the stuff you transplanted and see how the roots grew. Not just tomatoes, other plants. It might change how you transplant some of them.

woah that's a really cool setup! Thank you for the advice!

 

[NewBoots]

You can set the pot on it's side and then once the plant has righted itself you plant it that way. That way you don't have to plant so deep but still get the advantage of more root development.