Today we took on an enormous task, up-potting all of our tomatoes and peppers into 5.5 inch pots. This gives these plants just shy of a gallon of soil to grow into!
Now, this task is somewhat unique to our growing style. As we mentioned the other day, plants like peppers and tomatoes are some of the last that we deal with in our gardens. This is primarily to allow us to be very safe with any late frosts, we just can’t take any chances.
Since we tend to start our tomatoes and peppers quite early in the season, by the time we get to this point, our plants are desperately root bound. While we could ride this out for another few weeks, the watering requirements become quite significant.
More soil means less watering, less watering means less labor. So, while this does take time and labor, it’s much less than watering very frequently because the plants are exhausting their available moisture. It basically allows them to be on autopilot for several days as opposed to needing daily attention.
When we do this, we practice something called “burying the stem.” All nightshades, like tomatoes and peppers, will grow roots from their stems when covered with soil. We’ll usually trim any lower branches and actually bury a good portion of the stem with dirt. This greatly shortens the height of the plants, which makes them easier to manage.
We’ve had seasons where this task has literally saved our tushes, especially with peppers. When we’re past last frost and the low temperatures stubbornly will not warm up to above 50 Fahrenheit, we still need to keep our peppers protected. This effort takes almost all the stress out of that situation.
In a word, this up potting effort gives us flexibility. Which, as subarctic growers, we’ve definitely come to appreciate. Having options is a lot better than not and a simple up-pot gives us several.
Oh, one last thing. We also usually do this with artichokes, too. But, we have been running into a number of issues with that crop’s seed this year. We’re trying a new to us variety and let’s just say, it’s not going well. We’ll have artichokes, but it’s been a battle to get them to germinate and perform like other varieties we’ve grown!
