Bad leaves, no growth...

NarnianGarden · March 9, 2014

I am having trouble with a dwarf that refuses to grow beyond the initial true set of leaves. Those are miniature and even miserable - after a couple of weeks .. no third leaf, nothing visible there.
Should I just give it up - or hope for a 'sucker' to appear beyond the initial leaves?
This is a rare variety I do not have many seeds for. All others germinated fine in the same soil.

bower · March 9, 2014

This is so odd, I seem to have the same problem with a couple of my pepper seedlings... one has cotyledons and no true leaf, another has one set of true leaves and.. no growing shoot...

The leaves look fine though, so I'm going to wait a bit more and see what happens.

Also had three tri-cotyledon pepper plants this year - from different seed sources, no clue how this is caused... They were slower to leaf out but appear to be developing more or less normally.

epsilon · March 9, 2014

Must be radiation

. The meristematic shoots are extremely delicate. And early on Just brushing against them could cause them to pop off. Also in the case where you get the cotyledons and it seems to stall. some times it take the plant a good period of time for the plant to accumulate the energy necessary to start pushing to develop true leaves especially if the plant spent most of it's embryonic nutrition stores to get above ground.

dpurdy · March 9, 2014

NarnianGarden,
Would it be possible for you to post a picture of your plant? I'm sure that you will receive more input from others here if you do. There are many here that grow dwarfs and may recognize your problem and help with a solution.
dpurdy

NarnianGarden · March 10, 2014

I wish, but I don't have a digital camera - my cell phone is archaic. I can try do to with the web cam.
At any case, it seems the plant growth stalled completely after the first set of true leaves came out - and those are still small and pitiable.
So, I will wait and hope that there will eventually be another growing tip - not ready yet to give up on this variety.

Doug9345 · March 10, 2014

My experience with tomato plants that end up with just cotyledons don't go any farther. Two years ago I had one like that and after two monthe the cotyledons where huge, but it never grew any true leaves.

NarnianGarden: Given your description of your plant being miserable, I'd look to start more if you have the seed or try to get some more seed if you don't. If you post what it is maybe someone has some seed they will send you.

NarnianGarden · March 10, 2014

It's a green dwarf and someone kindly sent me a couple of seeds. Don't think it's widely available yet, so I don't like go around asking (and as we know, seeds sent internationally don't always make it in good condition so it might be as waste of postal fees).. Still have one that is waiting germination and one that's not sown yet! Hoping for results.
I can see a minuscule, miniature growing tip - one so small it nearly demands a microscope to see it. Maybe it might still pick up...

pershing · March 10, 2014

I had one like that this year and after my second transplant on all the other seedlings I gave Up and checked the roots on the little stuck seedling with huge first leafs. The roots were very small and undeveloped so I dont think is a viable seedling (in my case).

March 9, 2014	#1
NarnianGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Finland, EU Posts: 2,550	Bad leaves, no growth... I am having trouble with a dwarf that refuses to grow beyond the initial true set of leaves. Those are miniature and even miserable - after a couple of weeks .. no third leaf, nothing visible there. Should I just give it up - or hope for a 'sucker' to appear beyond the initial leaves? This is a rare variety I do not have many seeds for. All others germinated fine in the same soil.

March 9, 2014	#3
epsilon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Desert CA Posts: 400	Must be radiation. The meristematic shoots are extremely delicate. And early on Just brushing against them could cause them to pop off. Also in the case where you get the cotyledons and it seems to stall. some times it take the plant a good period of time for the plant to accumulate the energy necessary to start pushing to develop true leaves especially if the plant spent most of it's embryonic nutrition stores to get above ground.

March 10, 2014	#5
NarnianGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Finland, EU Posts: 2,550	I wish, but I don't have a digital camera - my cell phone is archaic. I can try do to with the web cam. At any case, it seems the plant growth stalled completely after the first set of true leaves came out - and those are still small and pitiable. So, I will wait and hope that there will eventually be another growing tip - not ready yet to give up on this variety. Last edited by NarnianGarden; March 10, 2014 at 03:59 AM.

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March 9, 2014	#2
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	This is so odd, I seem to have the same problem with a couple of my pepper seedlings... one has cotyledons and no true leaf, another has one set of true leaves and.. no growing shoot... The leaves look fine though, so I'm going to wait a bit more and see what happens. Also had three tri-cotyledon pepper plants this year - from different seed sources, no clue how this is caused... They were slower to leaf out but appear to be developing more or less normally.

March 9, 2014	#4
dpurdy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Norwich, New York Posts: 255	NarnianGarden, Would it be possible for you to post a picture of your plant? I'm sure that you will receive more input from others here if you do. There are many here that grow dwarfs and may recognize your problem and help with a solution. dpurdy

March 10, 2014	#6
Doug9345 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Durhamville,NY Posts: 2,706	My experience with tomato plants that end up with just cotyledons don't go any farther. Two years ago I had one like that and after two monthe the cotyledons where huge, but it never grew any true leaves. NarnianGarden: Given your description of your plant being miserable, I'd look to start more if you have the seed or try to get some more seed if you don't. If you post what it is maybe someone has some seed they will send you.

March 10, 2014	#8
pershing Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Mckinney, TX Posts: 41	I had one like that this year and after my second transplant on all the other seedlings I gave Up and checked the roots on the little stuck seedling with huge first leafs. The roots were very small and undeveloped so I dont think is a viable seedling (in my case).