Benefit?

Hey guys, quick question...What are the benefits of putting soil up to the first set of true leaves? Is it purely just for structural support, or will the stem that's been covered up become a part of the root system? Or is it just based off of preferences per person?



Thanks in advance!

I have done that with soil and hydro from seed and never had a problem. They sprout and sometimes reah for light than get to top heavy. I have been doing it with tomatoes for years also and never had a problem. I did it to a new seedling this morning.

If you do it early enough or cut off the shoots at the first node you'll actually end up with roots all the way up to the soil line. I do it for structural support but mostly to keep my plants that much shorter while offering them that much more soil. It really just comes down to preference.

With tomatoes it has a much larger impact. Will fairly drastically increase root structure and support.

Well....I had 2 seeds in an AeroGarden, they're now 19 days old, and one of them showed signs of calcium defiency...I messed around with the pH of the reservoir, it wouldn't stay stable, so I decided to transplant the 2 plants, into 1 gallon pots, and they're now under a 150w HPS....I know...I should've got a MH for veg state, but funds depreived me of being able to buy both HPS and MH from the start..HPS is better than the AG lights anyway so no biggy. But anyways...their stems are pretty tall, and essentially I'm just wondering if I should top up the soil to first set of leaves, or just leave it at where it is (stem is sturdy enough to hold up straight as is)...

its for support and also becomes part of the root system. usually only done if the plant stretches to much as a seedling.

Even after being this old the stem would in turn become apart of the root system? They're 19 days old...18 days of their lives was in the AG, and have been in soil for a day now. Even now, it would work? Because the way I've read...The bigger the root system, the faster and better growth you'll get, which is what I'm aiming for seeing as the pH seems to have stunted some growth..I've seen plants 2x bigger at the same age using nearly same amount of lighting and everything from other growers..