Tomato seedling growing very slowly

Karma · May 9, 2017

Hi All,

I planted 26 tomato seedlings about a month ago. All but three have grown between one to two feet. They are growing very fast and filling out. Three of them however are hardly growing at all. I got all three from the same source and now I am wondering if they were hardened off properly. In any case, they are growing, they are green but they have grown literally a couple inches in a month. Do you think I should pull them and start over or do you think eventually they will get going? I would like to keep them if I can as they are a very special varieties I want to try. Whatcha think?

Thanks!

Karma

dustdevil · May 9, 2017

Some of the dwarfs grow very slow in the beginning. What are the three varieties?

Karma · May 9, 2017

None of them are dwarfs. They are red zebra, green doctors frosted and honey drop. I have grown the last two before and they should be a lot bigger by now.

dustdevil · May 9, 2017

I've noticed that saved seeds that are small often make weak plants.

How about the soil?

Were they late to germinate?

Are they getting enough light?

Have they been fertilized?

We're they hat(helmet) heads?

AlittleSalt · May 9, 2017

I had two tomato plants grow slow like that. Sungold and Texwine. I planted them out and the Texwine looks fine and is growing well. The Sungold plant died, but it had RKN in the roots.

zipcode · May 10, 2017

They are stunted most probably due to some conditions. For example, a common one is excess fertilizer near the roots. It happened to me as well. I personally have never seen big differences in the growth of the same variety, no matter how badly it started.

May 9, 2017	#1
Karma Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Santa Monica, CA Posts: 64	Tomato seedling growing very slowly Hi All, I planted 26 tomato seedlings about a month ago. All but three have grown between one to two feet. They are growing very fast and filling out. Three of them however are hardly growing at all. I got all three from the same source and now I am wondering if they were hardened off properly. In any case, they are growing, they are green but they have grown literally a couple inches in a month. Do you think I should pull them and start over or do you think eventually they will get going? I would like to keep them if I can as they are a very special varieties I want to try. Whatcha think? Thanks! Karma

May 9, 2017	#2
dustdevil Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: WI, USA Zone4 Posts: 1,887	Some of the dwarfs grow very slow in the beginning. What are the three varieties?

May 9, 2017	#5
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	I had two tomato plants grow slow like that. Sungold and Texwine. I planted them out and the Texwine looks fine and is growing well. The Sungold plant died, but it had RKN in the roots.

May 10, 2017	#6
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	They are stunted most probably due to some conditions. For example, a common one is excess fertilizer near the roots. It happened to me as well. I personally have never seen big differences in the growth of the same variety, no matter how badly it started.