Tomato stem primordia

[Shrinkrap]

....Or initials.

I have probably lost my mind, because I am inspecting these plants 5 times a day. I've been growing tomatoes for a long time, and I probably would have ignored this in the past, but these plants have been unusually pristine.

Today I noticed these white bumps on the stems, and recalled it might be "oedema" (I LOVE that spelling!), and reflect overwatering. I've been setting up the automatic watering set-eup on my Earthboxes, and this one was dripping today.

I've also read comments about root primordia or initials, like this quote from KarenO;

"This looks like a stressed/drowned tomato. not sure what is in the container but how is the drainage? The bumps on the stem are called root initials or adventitious roots and while they can be normal, they are often a sign of over watering and poor drainage that damages roots.
We all learned by doing and I doubt that no matter what, this particular tomato is going to be producing any good tomatoes for you as it is too stressed to recover.".

So I've removed the automatic irrigation gadget from this Earthbox (which happened to be dripping today, perhaps because I moved it to an uneven surface) , dumped most of the water from the reservoir, and removed some of the plastic cover.

Anyone have any thoughts about potential root damage?

First pic is affected stem, second is top of that plant, and another in the same box. Third is the entire obsession, I mean garden. Then a few more close ups. In the last picture, the affected plant is on the left.

[AlittleSalt]

The root initials as you and quoted Karen have written is what is going on with the stems. It's the plant wanting to grow more roots because they are wet. It's harmless unless the plant stays wet.

Oedema - I had never seen it written that way. Edema is seen on plant leaves - especially the undersides, but can eventually happen on the stem. Basically put, the plant roots are dying/drowning and is what causes edema/oedema. One of the later symptoms is the leaves turning brown.

From one gardening friend to another - I think you have some root initials going on. Hopefully, I'm right, but check on those leaves to make sure it's not edema too.

[Shrinkrap]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

The root initials as you and quoted Karen have written is what is going on with the stems. It's the plant wanting to grow more roots because they are wet. It's harmless

And.

From one gardening friend to another - I think you have some root initials going on. Hopefully, I'm right, but check on those leaves to make sure it's not edema too.

Best parts!

Nothing on the leaves to suggest edema.

[MrsJustice]

Originally Posted by Shrinkrap

....Or initials.

I have probably lost my mind, because I am inspecting these plants 5 times a day. I've been growing tomatoes for a long time, and I probably would have ignored this in the past, but these plants have been unusually pristine.

Today I noticed these white bumps on the stems, and recalled it might be "oedema" (I LOVE that spelling!), and reflect overwatering. I've been setting up the automatic watering set-eup on my Earthboxes, and this one was dripping today.

I've also read comments about root primordia or initials, like this quote from KarenO;

"This looks like a stressed/drowned tomato. not sure what is in the container but how is the drainage? The bumps on the stem are called root initials or adventitious roots and while they can be normal, they are often a sign of over watering and poor drainage that damages roots.
We all learned by doing and I doubt that no matter what, this particular tomato is going to be producing any good tomatoes for you as it is too stressed to recover.".

So I've removed the automatic irrigation gadget from this Earthbox (which happened to be dripping today, perhaps because I moved it to an uneven surface) , dumped most of the water from the reservoir, and removed some of the plastic cover.

Anyone have any thoughts about potential root damage?

First pic is affected stem, second is top of that plant, and another in the same box. Third is the entire obsession, I mean garden. Then a few more close ups. In the last picture, the affected plant is on the left.

I checked my container, where I am trying out growing a Tomato Plants in a container as this year experiment with an Heirloom Plant and a Hybrid and that Heirloom Plant looks the same. The Plant is stressed from its roots because heirloom plants roots are bigger designed to produce until the first frost.

[Shrinkrap]

Thank you!