Question from GYO Magazine

[rary]

While sitting reading over the GYO mag. Charles Dowding is recommending growing in the greenhouse or poly tunnels he recommends cutting round the main roots of tomato plants and leaving all the other roots in the ground which raises 2 questions, why leave the finer roots and if you do, is there a risk of disease when the same soil is used for growing tomatoes next year

[burnie]

I never grow the same crop in the same soil two years on the trot, I always rotate, in my greenhouse that means it is every third year, I also remove some soil to allow for the addition of manure or compost. I don't completely remove soil from raised beds or the greenhouse, just a partial change, a bit like re-potting a plant in a container, seems to work.

[peanut]

It's all part of his No Dig way of gardening. He recommends cutting off most/all plants at the soil surface and allowing the roots to rot down and feed the soil, you're not meant to disturb the soil at all, just gently make a small hole for planting with a light hoeing or hand pulling for any weeds. You don't get many weeds this way.
With No Dig he has also trialled/is trialling not rotating crops, I believe he has planted various veg including beans and brassicas in the same bed for 4yrs so far without any problems.
I might not be 100% accurate on the above as I've only just switched to his No Dig methods this year and read all this in his veg journal and website a while ago, but that is definitely the gist of it.

[Jungle Jane]

My tomato roots didn’t die down,this is growing from last years plant,I already removed two stems earlier in the summer but I’ve left this shoot because it’s consistent & seems healthy enough,I think it’s kennilworth king George from last years pot notes. I would prefer to pull the plants out but this geranium is in there,I would’ve damaged roots separating them -

[ESBkevin]

I agree with Peanut, the roots decay slowly and provide airways and waterways underground. They are natural cultivation if you will, no dig means minimum disturbance but you can dig a hole to plant or use a fork to ease out your onions. DC has a method of just pushing down and a slight twist to remove carrots, parsnips etc. He makes it look easy.

[Penellype]

With regard to growing tomatoes in the same place year on year, I have sort of done an experiment this year, partly forced on me by the situation with covid 19 and partly due to sheer laziness.

My friend has a 10ft x 12ft greenhouse which she very kindly allows me to use as I wish. I grow lots of tomatoes in there - to be precise I have 3 of the Hozelock waterers with 3 plants each, grown in bottomless pots on top of the tray filled with compost, and 2 gro-beds, again housing 3 plants each. Normally I change the compost, but last year I was lazy and only changed the compost in the bottomless pots and not the gro-beds or trays. I intended to change the lot this year. However, due to difficulties with getting compost I again only changed the compost in the bottomless pots. This means that the plants in the gro-beds are growing in compost that has grown tomatoes 3 years running, while the ones in the hozelocks have some fresh compost. The gro-beds were fed with tomato feed when planted up, and all the plants have been (reasonably) regularly fed since.

The 9 tomato plants in the Hozelock planters are healthy, the only problem being some issues with setting fruit, I presume due to the very strange weather this year. The 6 plants in the gro-beds (which are at opposite ends of the greenhouse) are dead. They produced 1 truss of flowers each, then wilted and died before any fruit could ripen. They have never been short of water.

Conclusion - growing tomatoes in the same compost for 3 years is not a good idea. There is either a disease in that compost which has killed all the plants, or they are suffering from a shortage of something more than the tomato feed can replace. I will not do this again.

I have noticed a similar thing with tomatoes grown in soil at home, when I have grown them 2 or 3 years running in the same place, or 3 times in 4 years. It is difficult to avoid this at home, where sunny places are rather limited.

[Jungle Jane]

Two people have said the roots rot down but how did my tomato plant in the above post grow from the plant I cut down,the roots haven’t rotted at all. I wouldn’t risk doing this,there could be lots of tomato shoots coming up from old plants,as tomato plants are a perennial.

[Snoop Puss]

^Just speculating, JJ, but might it have self-seeded from a tomato that fell to the ground and rotted rather than from the root?

[Nicos]

JJ....I 've just had to remove a 'new plant' which branched off from under the soil.
I planted mine very deep this year to encourage roots from the stem, but this is deffo a side shoot originating from below ground and from the main stem.
Could yours have been something similar if the original plant hadn't rotted?

[Jungle Jane]

Snoop I don’t think so? I stuck my hand in & it goes deep,I’d lift the whole thing out but the geraniums in the way. I might tip it all out & repot the geranium just to see what’s going on?
Nicos there’s no other tomato plant planted in that container,it was just geranium,the only way to find out,will be gently tipping it all out to separate the plants,to see if it is attached to the bigger root,I think it is,this has never happened before but usually I do pull the whole plant out,incase of overwintering blight. We had a very mild winter,the geranium survived outside & maybe it gave some warmth for the tomato root too?

[Nicos]

I'd be interested to see what you do find eventually!
I love a good mystery

Actually ....tbh ,at times , a lot about gardening is a mystery to me!

[Jungle Jane]

I looked at last years photos,the variety is either Chiapas wild or petit moineau (the petit moineau were from you Nicos in the seed swap from a few years back) I just noticed this other tomato shoot coming out too

[rary]

I'd be interested to see what you do find eventually!
I love a good mystery

Actually ....tbh ,at times , a lot about gardening is a mystery to me!

Yes I can understand that

[Nicos]

I looked at last years photos,the variety is either Chiapas wild or petit moineau (the petit moineau were from you Nicos in the seed swap from a few years back) I just noticed this other tomato shoot coming out too

So it's MY fault now is it????

[rary]

Was just out at the greenhouse and took a couple of photos showing some of the roots from some of the plants and when I started with this bed the soil level was about one inch below the top and has now settled about five inches lower I replaced the soil last year and intend growing tomatoes in it again next year but will be removing as many roots as possible