My neighbor's comment about my tomato setup made me switch things up

I had my tomatoes in those tall, skinny pots because I thought they looked neat, but my neighbor Frank, who grows prize winners, said 'You're starving the roots, they need room to spread out, not just go down.' I swapped them into wider, shallower planters last weekend and they already look happier. Do you think pot shape matters more than we give it credit for?

2 comments

2 Comments

michael39816h ago

My buddy did the same thing with his peppers last year, kept them in those deep buckets. They grew tall but never really bushed out or gave him much fruit. He finally listened to his grandma, who told him pepper roots like to stay near the surface where it's warm. He switched to low, wide bowls and it was like a totally different plant, just covered in peppers. So yeah, the shape absolutely matters, it's not just about how much dirt you have.

kelly_hart2815h ago

Oh man, @michael398, that's wild. So his buddy basically gave his peppers a deep apartment when all they wanted was a cozy ranch style house. Grandma always knows best, I guess it's all about that shallow, warm root zone. Makes total sense now why my own bucket peppers were so stingy.