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South Dakota

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=313383

My plants are stretching too much in the window, I plan on putting them out into the cloche today or tomorrow. My question is, Do I bury the excess stem all the way up to the cotolydons, or only bury to the soil line of the pot?

4/25/2020 9:58:59 AM

Grittyville, WA

Personally I wouldnt bury the stem truth is it probably wont matter. In my experience they dont root from the stem as much as a tomato would and there is a slight risk of rot if the soil holds too much water too often. Btw long stems stretching too much is not all bad. . . it makes getting the vine to lay down a lot easier.

4/25/2020 2:22:23 PM

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=65

Short answer is yes but you might want to read this short article.

4/25/2020 2:22:34 PM

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=14&p=390998

Another if you read carefully there are some good tips.

4/25/2020 2:33:40 PM

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=14&p=348155

Here is another discussion to read.
Hope I am not over loading you but knowledge helps and maybe some of the better and more knowledgeable growers will chime in.

4/25/2020 2:38:40 PM

South Dakota

Great articles spudder. Looks like I may have got lemons and made lemonade. Got to love stupid luck.LOL Thanks.

4/25/2020 5:55:29 PM

Western NY

I always bury it up to within a half inch or so of the cots. Careful you don't snap them when moving, they're a bit top heavy.

4/25/2020 7:55:43 PM

Springfield, VT

I wouldn't, root maggots like buried stems and kill the plant. If the stem isn't buried they only eat a few roots and the plant survives them.

4/25/2020 8:47:47 PM

Ohio

I have a 1615 Thompson I started as a test germ a few weeks ago. You can see the root nodes forming on the stem. I’ll post a pic on my diary later today. I wouldn’t be afraid to bury the stem towards the cots at least part way.

4/26/2020 2:51:53 AM

Syracuse, NY

yeah, everybody's experiences vary from person to person, grower to grower - as can be seen in the last 3 replies,
one of go for it, one of caution, one of maybe i should;
even mine would be to go for halfway and hope for the best!
i always use the Weed Block fabric at every plant, so i would see to it that the plant is steered in the right direction and planted at 45 degrees, hopefully with nothing touching the fabric until at least the leaves will anyway, giving any slugs or bugs at least a challenge - i've been planting out before and noticed slugs advancing toward my planting activity, right then and there. scary, in a weigh. - eg

4/26/2020 1:48:29 PM

Central NY

I’d start over

4/26/2020 1:50:39 PM

Western Washington

lol @ Suburban Gardener: "My AG seedlings were rather leggy last season but I still got 574.5 and 616.5 pounds out of 'em." I did bury them partway up the stem to support 'em a bit, and it worked out fine.

It's your call, good luck to you, LJ!

5/6/2020 2:20:13 PM