42 Days with no discernable growing tip

[Labradors2]

My 42 Days seedling is very odd. It wasn't a helmet head, but grew as if it had been one, with its cotyledons all curled. A tiny "shoot" came out sideways, and I thought that was the growing tip, but it grew into a leaflet so there doesn't seem to be a growing tip (or central leader, I don't know the terminology in tomatoes!)

I took several pictures, but sadly I couldn't get one in focus.

Has anyone come across this and do you think anything will happen, or is this a dud? I've heard that patience is a virtue and I know that I will find out eventually, but just thought I would ask.

Linda

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

My 42 Days seedling is very odd. It wasn't a helmet head, but grew as if it had been one, with its cotyledons all curled. A tiny "shoot" came out sideways, and I thought that was the growing tip, but it grew into a leaflet so there doesn't seem to be a growing tip (or central leader, I don't know the terminology in tomatoes!)

I took several pictures, but sadly I couldn't get one in focus.

Has anyone come across this and do you think anything will happen, or is this a dud? I've heard that patience is a virtue and I know that I will find out eventually, but just thought I would ask.

Linda

Take a real good look to see if "there doesn't seem to be a growing tip" or if there is none. If absolutely none, it's a dud, of which I've had a few, and once let one "grow" just to to find out how long it would survive (not long).

Gary

[carolyn137]

If you can see a small green knob in the center where a stalk should be, then yes, it seldom goes nowhere, no matter how long you wait.

Rarely does a small stalk come out from the side of that knob, but that's rare, and IMO is not worth keeping/

I've seen a lot of them over the years and can find no correlation to seed age or environmental conditions, probably just a random mutation that was the cause.

Carolyn

[Labradors2]

Oh no! It sounds as if this could be my first "dud" tomato seedling. Sniff!

Thanks Carolyn and Gary.

Linda

[heirloomtomaguy]

I have never had one until this year and all of a sudden i had two. One roma and one abracazebra.

[bower]

Have yet to see one in a tomato but had several peppers that did this, this year, first time ever. They never developed a growing tip, no more than a couple of leaves. Sad!

[aclum]

Hi,

When I was out in the garden yesterday doing a little pruning and trellising of my 6 weeks old transplants, I came across this Magi-Qo (shown in the attached photo). It seems not to have a growing tip on its main leader and you can see the 3 way split at the top directly to the right of the bamboo stake. As I recall, it was a perfectly normal looking seedling when I transplanted it.

Two new leaders are coming off the main stem towards the bottom of the plant. Both have growing tips and suckers that I will just let take over. This is a grafted plant, BTW. I have a second Magi-Qo (ungrafted) that looks normal and is doing great and starting to blossom.

Just another curiosity from my garden....
FWIW,

Anne

[Labradors2]

Curios indeed Anne. Thanks for sharing!

I decided that I had nothing to lose, so I fertilized "42" which made the one leaf that it had bigger. I cut it off, not wanting to put all its energy into that one leaf and hoping that I would force it to do something. It sent out a small leaf that never really grew, followed by a shoot from the side! I am nursing it along and hoping that it will normalize!

Linda

[Ed of Somis]

Anne, Now that you posted...I believe I have had similar situations with my trees and garden. Unknowingly. I instinctively pruned back to one of the side shoots that had a growing tip. I directed the shoot upward...eventually leading to a new central leader.