Removing cotyledons

Tomatovator · March 18, 2007

I tried to remove a stuck seed coat a from an emerging seedling (4 days after planting) and ended up pulling about 90% of the cotyledons off. Only about 1mm remained but it still grew. It grew very slowly for the first 3 weeks or so. Now the plant is about 5" tall and is very stocky. The remains of the cotyledons are still there but even now are only about 20mm long. So...., what I'm wondering is if I remove the cotyledons from a normal healthy seedling when I transplant it (after it has developed 2 sets of true leaves) will I slow down its vertical growth and maybe end up with a stockier plant?

March 18, 2007	#1
Tomatovator Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pennsylvania Zone 6 Posts: 461	Removing cotyledons I tried to remove a stuck seed coat a from an emerging seedling (4 days after planting) and ended up pulling about 90% of the cotyledons off. Only about 1mm remained but it still grew. It grew very slowly for the first 3 weeks or so. Now the plant is about 5" tall and is very stocky. The remains of the cotyledons are still there but even now are only about 20mm long. So...., what I'm wondering is if I remove the cotyledons from a normal healthy seedling when I transplant it (after it has developed 2 sets of true leaves) will I slow down its vertical growth and maybe end up with a stockier plant?