help me!! i am freaking out because my root ball just broke apart from my tomato plant stem when transplanting?

Bury the upper part of the plant in wet potting soil and keep the leaves above dirt level. Keep the soil damp and the plant should grow new roots. I have done this many times. The soil has to be kept damp.

If it had a small root ball in comparison to the others, in might have been infected with a fungus that weakened the stem...but you said it was the biggest, healthiest seedling, so that may not be the case.

If I break a tomato plant, I usually compost it, but I've always got more seedlings than I really need. While it's true it may root if you bury it in soil and keep it damp, if it does root it will be stunted, and produce less fruit than the other seedlings. When you plant the other seedlings, they'll grow deep roots and lots of foliage, but the injured seedling will have to regenerate its roots first, at the expense of foliage. This is why it's usually better to replace injured seedlings, especially if you've got a short growing season. Summer is fleeting, you want your fittest seedlings growing.

Tell your teacher about it. It may actually be interesting to compare it's growth to the growth of the other seedlings, to demonstrate the cost of recovery. Good luck with the project, and enjoy your tomatoes!

Tomato plants will be set back, not killed, by the loss of their root ball. In tomatoes, the stem and the root are made of the same type of cell, which is very unusual for plants. When you plant seedling tomatoes, you're supposed to plant about 1/4 of the stem underground, because the stem will turn into root and grow tendrils. So just bury as much of the stem in the ground as you think you can get away with (about 2/3 is usually ideal for this situation) and water it gratuitously. The stem might not initially be as robust as you would like, but eventually the plant will recover and you won't be able to tell the difference.

No need for worry it will survive just make sure the plant is watered everyday. And it will grow new roots I did this also last year an it ended up catching up with the other plants.

It only might do while you're rapid. even nevertheless new roots would possibly no longer sprout in time to keep it. it is worth a attempt nevertheless, you do not have something to lose if it does not. attempt using manure or mulched compost to mattress it in and supply it a lot of tomato feed. The old root device may even start to re-sprout itself. possibilities are high it replaced into the two the wind or only gravity that broke your plant (finding on it is length) next time attempt using taller canes or extra advantageous nonetheless a growing to be trellis to hold to

It's toast. Throw it out and get a new seedling at a nursery.