#root growth

I potted up my tomatillo seedlings today.

For those who don't know, some nightshade plants like potatoes, tomatoes, and tomatillos will grow new roots from the fuzzies along their stems if they're buried in soil.

So I planted my tomatillo seedlings, which were getting kinda lanky, into bigger, deeper seed cells so they have the chance to grow more roots before I put them in the ground.

Speaking of nightshades, 4 of the 6 tomatoes that got hit by the late frost are not coming back. I should have replaced them with new starts last week honestly but wanted to see if they'd come back.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists identified a gene "hotspot" in the poplar tree that triggers dramatically increased root growth. The discovery supports the development of better bioenergy crops and other plants that can thrive in difficult conditions while storing more carbon belowground. The team used a vast poplar dataset to identify regulator genes that can trigger hundreds of other gene expressions in the tree. They confirmed the molecular function of one hub gene, PtrXB38, and found that plants with the gene produced prolific and deeper roots. The gene even stimulated the growth of aerial roots on stems and leaves. The work is published in the journal New Phytologist. "With more roots, these plants absorb more nutrients, grow larger, are more tolerant to drought and can draw more carbon underground for longer-term storage," said ORNL's Wellington Muchero. The aerial roots may also make the plant more tolerant to flooding. "This naturally occurring gene has implications for biomass production, food production and climate change mitigation."

This year I had 3 tomato seedlings have their stems eaten right through by slugs. Fortunately I was able to regrow roots on each plant by soaking in water with seaweed solution.

Top pic: the 3rd plant this happened to showing the new grown roots prior to potting up.

Bottom pic: the 2 closest plants successfully re grown and replaced into their garden bed.