When can you tell the difference between varieties?

[cythaenopsis]

OK, I was pretty good for the most part, labeling my pots by variety. But... I wasn't perfect. I got a little lazy. And what happened was some seedlings didn't make it and I transplanted replacements into their pots (which worked great, btw), while forgetting to update the labels!

So at what point can you tell one seedling from another? I know with some it is obvious from the very beginning. When the Sara's Galapagos sprouted, the leaves were very small and ellipsoid, and they're growing rather slowly. However, the Russian Oxheart, Black Krim, and Black Plum all look about the same. The Russian Oxheart seems to have a slightly different foliage pattern, most of the time. But it's still close enough to get mixed up. So at what point should I be able to tell? Such as matching up known ones to unknown ones? The reason I'm asking is that I can't grow all of my seedlings and will have to give some away. I'd just like to avoid giving away unknowns.

[KarenO]

Hmmm. Many would be hard to tell apart until fruiting and some even until ripening. Tomato seedlings have a way of looking very much the same I'm afraid.
Kareno

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by KarenO

Hmmm. Many would be hard to tell apart until fruiting and some even until ripening. Tomato seedlings have a way of looking very much the same I'm afraid.
Kareno

Second that...

[clkeiper]

unless you had potato leaf and reg. leaf varieties I don't think you will be able to tell much of anything until they are about ready.

[taboule]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

unless you had potato leaf and reg. leaf varieties I don't think you will be able to tell much of anything until they are about ready.

The only other distinguishing mark just looking at the leaves would be of hearts which have a very light "wispy" foliage, small, thin and delicate.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by taboule

The only other distinguishing mark just looking at the leaves would be of hearts which have a very light "wispy" foliage, small, thin and delicate.

While most heart varieties do have have wispy, droopy foliage, not all of them do, so I don't think that would be a good criterion to use to ID varieties.

And I never would ID a new variety as being PL until there were at least 3-4 stems off the main stem.

Also, there have been about 5 different PL leaves described, but let's not go there.

And once a person has grown a variety with rugose foliage and can ID it, that;s a pretty good one to keep in mind for the future.

Carolyn

[cythaenopsis]

Thanks for filling me in, everyone. Sounds like I'll just have to take my chances then.

To my eye I could swear I saw a slight difference between the Russian Oxheart and Black Krim, but if anything the most pronounced difference was with comparing them to Sara's Galapagos. Very definite and unique leaf pattern. I'll have to take some more photos.

[taboule]

Thanks Carolyn for the correction Re heart tomato foliage.

[cythaenopsis]

Sara's Galapagos, 1 week after photo above


So to me, the Russian Orange Oxheart 117 has a slightly more "fringey" quality about the leaf edging in comparison to the Black Krim. I can still pick them apart without looking at the labels. And then there's the Sara's Galapagos... well, very noticeable difference in leaf appearance (I'd consider that more an exception). I also have a Black Plum growing that looks pretty much identical to the Black Krim--can't really tell that apart, except for the label on the pot.