One really slow seedling

Chucker · May 10, 2010

So I'm just curious as I'm fairly new to growing tomatoes.

I started some Bloody Butcher seeds at the beginning of April. They were all started from seeds that I saved from last year. I tried 3 different methods of saving last year and planted some from each trial. All of them are doing fine except one.

I have one seedling that was very slow to come up (about 2 weeks), slow to develop cotyledons, finally just got one tiny true leaf and it's still very small - looks like it's about a week old.

This seed came from a tomato that I let rot at the end of the season last year - and then re-hydrated and extracted the seeds before planting this year.

So, my questions, what causes really slow seedlings? Is it a genetically damaged plant? Did I damage the seed the way I saved it? Does the fact that it was from one of the very last tomatoes of the season have anything to do with it? Will it ever speed up - or should I just give up on it?

Thanks

ddsack · May 16, 2010

Hi Chuck,

I'd hoped some of the big volume growers with experience with thousands of seeds might jump into this topic, but since no one has, here is my opinion -

I don't think you damaged it, some seeds just produce smaller or weaker plants. If you started, say, 10 seeds of a variety, chances are good that a couple of them would come up late, and not grow as heartily as the early popping ones. I suppose it's theoretically possible that re-hydrating the tomato before extracting the seeds might have given some a false hope of growth, and then aborted the growth stimulus when you dried them again. But if that were the case, I would expect them not to germinate at all.

When grown in a thickly seeded starter cell, I have wondered if the late and weak sprouters could also be somehow affected by the developing root systems of the early sprouters, perhaps some biochemical reaction that say to the late sprouter, "Hey this spot is already taken, don't bother growing, 'cause there ain't no more room."

Sometimes the late sprout will take off once it has it's own quarters, sometimes they stay small and puny. Old seed is sometimes said to be the cause of weak seedlings, but when the seed is all from the same batch like yours is, I think it's just natural genetic variation. You could hang on to that plant if you have the room, and see if it makes a later growth spurt. Chances are good though that it will just stay a runt.

Chucker · May 16, 2010

Thanks for the reply ddsack. Sadly, it didn't make it - it never had more than one tiny true leaf, and then just kind of shriveled up - which I guess is good because now I don't have to decide what to do with it.

creister · May 16, 2010

Sorry for your loss, that is very frustrating. I have had things like that happen about every year. I have yet to discover any solid reason why. Of course this year, I had an Eva Purple Ball and Sioux come up extremely late and slow, now they are looking as good or better than other plants in the garden.

May 10, 2010	#1
Chucker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 180	One really slow seedling So I'm just curious as I'm fairly new to growing tomatoes. I started some Bloody Butcher seeds at the beginning of April. They were all started from seeds that I saved from last year. I tried 3 different methods of saving last year and planted some from each trial. All of them are doing fine except one. I have one seedling that was very slow to come up (about 2 weeks), slow to develop cotyledons, finally just got one tiny true leaf and it's still very small - looks like it's about a week old. This seed came from a tomato that I let rot at the end of the season last year - and then re-hydrated and extracted the seeds before planting this year. So, my questions, what causes really slow seedlings? Is it a genetically damaged plant? Did I damage the seed the way I saved it? Does the fact that it was from one of the very last tomatoes of the season have anything to do with it? Will it ever speed up - or should I just give up on it? Thanks Last edited by Chucker; May 10, 2010 at 10:59 PM.

May 16, 2010	#2
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	Hi Chuck, I'd hoped some of the big volume growers with experience with thousands of seeds might jump into this topic, but since no one has, here is my opinion - I don't think you damaged it, some seeds just produce smaller or weaker plants. If you started, say, 10 seeds of a variety, chances are good that a couple of them would come up late, and not grow as heartily as the early popping ones. I suppose it's theoretically possible that re-hydrating the tomato before extracting the seeds might have given some a false hope of growth, and then aborted the growth stimulus when you dried them again. But if that were the case, I would expect them not to germinate at all. When grown in a thickly seeded starter cell, I have wondered if the late and weak sprouters could also be somehow affected by the developing root systems of the early sprouters, perhaps some biochemical reaction that say to the late sprouter, "Hey this spot is already taken, don't bother growing, 'cause there ain't no more room." Sometimes the late sprout will take off once it has it's own quarters, sometimes they stay small and puny. Old seed is sometimes said to be the cause of weak seedlings, but when the seed is all from the same batch like yours is, I think it's just natural genetic variation. You could hang on to that plant if you have the room, and see if it makes a later growth spurt. Chances are good though that it will just stay a runt. __________________ Dee **************

May 16, 2010	#4
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	Sorry for your loss, that is very frustrating. I have had things like that happen about every year. I have yet to discover any solid reason why. Of course this year, I had an Eva Purple Ball and Sioux come up extremely late and slow, now they are looking as good or better than other plants in the garden.