Only some stunted?

[vermiit]

I started all of my seed at the same time. Same garden, same gardener, but some of my tomato plants are seriously stunted, compared to others! Here are two cages, 3 feet apart. The stuck-in-a-timewarp duo is Mikado and Kellogg's Breakfast. And next door is OR117 and Black Krim! I don't get it!

[veggie babe]

I have had the same problem, don't know why. I chalked mine up to inexperience, it still can be that. But they were all planted at the same time, same environment, same gardener and same soil, treatment etc.

neva

[habitat_gardener]

I planted a lot of varieties, partly to test germination of my saved seeds, in mid-March. All of my saved seeds sprouted and are ready to be potted up. I'd just about given up on the 9-10 varieties that didn't sprout, then this week -- 5 weeks after I planted them in my cold frame -- I noticed tiny quarter-inch sprouts of 3 varieties. So I'd guess some take longer.

Also, until your soil temperature reaches 50 degrees, they'll probably grow more slowly. OR117 and Black Krim are both Russian varieties, perhaps more tolerant of cooler temperatures.

[dice]

Could be root knot nematodes, too, affecting some spots more
than others. Unfortunately there is no way to tell if that is
the problem without pulling up a stunted plant and looking
at the roots for nematode root galls.

Do the small ones tend to wilt more quickly, too, and seem to
need more water? That would be another sign that the problem
is some kind of root damage.

RKN-infected roots look kind of thick and fleshy, like rhizomes,
and they are quite short compared to normal tomato plant
root systems.

Another thing that could cause stunting is phosphorus
deficiency (or very low or very high pH that simulates
phosphorus deficiency by locking up the phosphorus
that is there in insoluble compounds), but that would
probably be less selective (either the whole garden
would be deficient or none of it, because you probably
spread your fertilizers and soil amendments around
evenly when amending the garden).

[vermiit]

Veggie babe, I'm glad that I'm not alone! And I like your theory, Habitatg, about the Russian tomatoes doing better in the cooler soil, which has been the case until this last week.

Dice, I'll have to take note when I pull up the plants after this season to look closely at the roots and see any signs of root knot nematodes.

Aw well, maybe they'll all 'catch up' with each other as the year progresses!

[dice]

Yes, for the sake of your plants I hope that it is not root knot
nematode damage. Your soil looks a little bit sandy, though,
and central California is nematode country. (I remember
someone from Sacramento reporting on GW one year that
their plants were having nematode problems.)

I guess we will see eventually.

[carolyn137]

OR117 and Black Krim are both Russian varieties, perhaps more tolerant of cooler temperatures.

*****

Black Krim is a Russian variety from the Crimean area of the former USSR but Orange Russian #117 was bred by Jeff Dawson who is from CA and is a selection of a cross he made between Russian #117 and Georgia Streak, a typical gold/red bicolor.

So maybe Orange Russian #117 has 1/2 the cold tolerance; who knows.

Actually there is no real correlation between where a tomato variety is from and cold tolerance as I see it. The Crimean area is actually tropical with palm trees swaying in the breezes along the boulevards of Yalta.