I was out in the garden setting out some transplants when my friend Lisa dropped by. I was expounding on some theory; I don't remember exactly what it was. Perhaps it was parenting. Lisa has a baby, and I like to be of use.
"You're getting pretty deep," Lisa said.
"Oh, I can be deeper than people realize. I actually have lots of thoughts I don't express."
"That's probably a good thing," Lisa said. "But I meant for that strawberry you're about to put in."
Plants have decided views about what happens to their roots. You can set most container-grown plants at the same level they originally. However, some are quite happy to be drowned in dirt, and others have to be able to breathe.
Tomatoes, we all know, can be planted deeply, because roots will grow along the stem. You can even take off the first set of leaves, and really get a good bit of stem in the ground. Some people plant them at a slant, so that the roots stay up in the warmer soil.
However, if you're planting grafted tomatoes, make sure you don't put the graft below the soil, or you'll lose the benefit that the hardy roots provide. On the ones I got this spring, that splice was not very high on the stem.
Some people plant fruit trees a little deeper than they originally grew. The jury is out on that practice, but you'll want to keep the graft union well above the soil. In order to avoid sapping the roots, you'll also pinch off any suckers that grow below the union.
The cucurbits-squash, cucumbers and melons-can be planted a little bit deeper than they grew in the pots, to a little below the leaves. These plants are notorious for tender roots, so if they are in plastic pots, be very careful how you unpot them. If you start your own seeds, use peat pots.
The first time I started my own squash plants, I made my own planters from tin cans. I poked a hole in the bottom of each can, filled it with potting soil, and planted my seeds. It was a good method-until it came time to plant the little darlings out in the garden. A few of the cans were the old-fashioned kind that opened from either end, so I could just open the bottom, and use the lid to push out the plant. But some were the kind of cans with the rounded bottom. I actually used a spoon to get out a couple of them. They took pity on me and didn't die, but I know I could never get away with such rough treatment now.
Cole (or cruciferous) crops-broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and the like-can be planted fairly deeply. The Bonnie Plants website recommends pinching off the bottom leaves and then planting a portion of the stem as well. These plants have very delicate stems, though, and they must be handled carefully. It's not wise to pull on the stem of any plant to unpot it, but I've been known to tug gently on the stem of an upturned tomato with relatively little damage. The same treatment would kill a cabbage.
Bugs and cutworms love the cruciferous vegetables. My mother recommends planting them with a nail next to the stem, to fend off the cutworms. Other people wrap the stem in a bit of paper, or put couple inches of a toilet paper tube around the transplant. However you guard the stem, you'll want the barrier an inch into the soil, and have protruding from the soil about the same amount. Cutworms are usually operate at the surface of the soil, or a little below it.
Strawberries need to be transplanted so that the crown-the spot where the leaves begin growing-is not buried. Artichoke and cardoon seedlings should also be planted shallowly.
When in doubt, plant at soil level. As my friend Lisa tells me, unless you know what you're doing, it's best not to be too deep.
When Teresa Howell isn't trying to be more intelligent than she actually is, she teaches English at Great Basin College.
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