Cherry Tomato seedlings not growing

[Juliuskitty]

Yes, I tend to generalize. Not all the hairs, just lots of them! I need to watch doing that! Great photo.
My word for the day is primordia! Yesterday is was thigmotropism!

[imafan26]

Tomatoes are true warm season crops and like temps between 70 and 85 degrees to do best. They grow very slowly when the soil and air are cool. Too much water and a poorly draining (and drying) medium can kill seedlings. Good air circulation and watering judiciously helps a lot.

[priscilla384]

A few of them have grown true leaves. It's still slow. It's now Day 58. True leaves started growing at Day 30. But I noticed that those more exposed to sunlight grew faster than those blocked by the walls of the pot or by other plants. I'm trying to raise the soil along with the plants. Waiting for results... Thanks for your help^^

By the way, I watered the plants more (in amount) and the bottom leaf of the plant is turning yellow but yet the top leaves are starting to grow (seemingly faster). Why is it so???

[rainbowgardener]

Wow, you do have patience! I would have likely given up on them a long time ago. Day 58, if that is from seed sprouting, you should have a full sized plant with ripe tomatoes by now. If day 58 is from when you planted the seed, you still should have a full sized plant with tomatoes on it. Something isn't working right.

Tomatoes are full sun plants. They need at least six, preferably more like 8 hrs of direct sun daily.

You said these are outdoors. Are they still crowded in the one pot? I would consider giving some of them their own pots at least 10 cm in diameter (if the plants are still small). While you are up potting take a look at the root system. In my experience, when plants are just sitting there, not growing but not dying, often something has happened to the root system. It should have a healthy amount of roots, as deep underneath as the plant is tall and bushy and well branched, white and firm.

[applestar]

If the "bottom leaf" is the seed leaves, they turn yellow and drop off if there is sufficient soil fertility and they are not needed to feed the plant. By watering more, you may have allowed the fertilizer (if dry pellets as described in the cosmos thread) or existing nutrients in the soil to be released.

I'm wondering if they have not been getting enough water if they are being cared for in the same way as cosmos. Aphids and mites will also attack tomato seedlings. Are there ants on them too?

[priscilla384]

If the "bottom leaf" is the seed leaves, they turn yellow and drop off if there is sufficient soil fertility and they are not needed to feed the plant. By watering more, you may have allowed the fertilizer (if dry pellets as described in the cosmos thread) or existing nutrients in the soil to be released.

I'm wondering if they have not been getting enough water if they are being cared for in the same way as cosmos. Aphids and mites will also attack tomato seedlings. Are there ants on them too?

The bottom leaf is the first pair of true leaves.

When I watered by spraying a little, it grows slowly. But when I poured water (a lot), it grows even faster but also the bottom leaves start to turn yellow. This time it didn't turn brown or dry. It drops off still yellow in colour. Could it be overwatering?

There are ants but not much. Maybe just one or two. No aphids too. But somehow those more exposed to light grow much faster. Those under the shade remained the same. I'm trying to shift their positions so they can get more exposed to light.

Thanks^^

[priscilla384]

Wow, you do have patience! I would have likely given up on them a long time ago. Day 58, if that is from seed sprouting, you should have a full sized plant with ripe tomatoes by now. If day 58 is from when you planted the seed, you still should have a full sized plant with tomatoes on it. Something isn't working right.

Tomatoes are full sun plants. They need at least six, preferably more like 8 hrs of direct sun daily.

You said these are outdoors. Are they still crowded in the one pot? I would consider giving some of them their own pots at least 10 cm in diameter (if the plants are still small). While you are up potting take a look at the root system. In my experience, when plants are just sitting there, not growing but not dying, often something has happened to the root system. It should have a healthy amount of roots, as deep underneath as the plant is tall and bushy and well branched, white and firm.

OMG! I only realised now how slow my plants are growing... haha^^

No wonder those exposed to more light are growing so much more quickly^^ I'll try to find a place with more light^^

I separated half of them to two other smaller 10cm diameter pots. The bigger rectangle pot has slightly more than half the previous number of seedlings. The other two pots has 5 each. As for the roots, if it's not like what you said, what is causing it and what can I do? I haven't checked yet though.

Thanks for helping^^

[applestar]

Very interesting. They look healthy, with good internodes (distances between leaf nodes) on the stem. Not elongated or spindly like they are lacking light. There is one in the back that DOES look a little bit light starved, but not enough to be concerned.

They actually look somewhat as though they could be dwarf varieties with shorter internodes, and if so, the one in the back could be a regular indeterminate stray. Did you mention what variety these are? Are they sold as container or patio type? If they are genetic dwarfs, it could explain the slow growth to some extent.

[priscilla384]

Very interesting. They look healthy, with good internodes (distances between leaf nodes) on the stem. Not elongated or spindly like they are lacking light. There is one in the back that DOES look a little bit light starved, but not enough to be concerned.

They actually look somewhat as though they could be dwarf varieties with shorter internodes, and if so, the one in the back could be a regular indeterminate stray. Did you mention what variety these are? Are they sold as container or patio type? If they are genetic dwarfs, it could explain the slow growth to some extent.

Oh oh... I don't know the variety. I lost the seed packaging... But I don't think they are dwarf varieties because now they are growing really quickly compared to before although there are still some which are small seedlings with only a small pair of true leaves. Good news! I guess it's either because of more water or more fertiliser because it grew faster after I listened to the advices given on the forum (giving more water until surface turns dry). But those still small seemed to be less exposed to light... I don't know... Never mind^^ Thanks for your help^^ I would have felt really lost without your help

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah LIGHT, eight hours of direct sun a day! Even if you can get them to grow with less, they will never fruit. I know from experience, because my backyard is pretty shady and getting more so each year as the trees get bigger. I used to grow tomatoes back there fairly successfully even though it wasn't quite enough light. But now it is down to just a few hours of afternoon sun. I still tried growing tomatoes this year. The plants grew pretty well on 3-4 hours a day of direct afternoon sun, but produced very little fruit.

Be careful with fertilizer. Right now since they are so slow growing, they could probably use a boost. Once they get well established, you don't want to overdo the nitrogen. Too much nitrogen can lead to big leafy plants at the expense of fruiting. Look for Tomato Tone or something like it, that is higher on the PK end of NPK and has some micro-nutrients.

[Juliuskitty]

They are big enough now to transplant each into their own final pot, if you do, along with all the great water and fertilizer instructions given here, they will take off in a big way. I think a pot at least 5 gallons (20 liters) in size because cherry tomatoes get very large, 8-10 feet (~3+meters) is not unusual). Bigger pot-even better. They look healthy, nice job so far.

[priscilla384]

Thanks for your help!!! It grew really tall now and flower buds (I assume) are appearing^^ But it has been 2-3 weeks since then and the flower buds looked the same. Is that something I should worry about?

And there are white and black spots appearing below the lower leaves. I check online and looked for pictures for powdery mildew but they don't look like what's growing on my plant. I wanted to attach the picture but it looked blurry. It's white clumps with some black spots in the middle of each clump. Insect eggs???

[Juliuskitty]

Yes those are flowers. If the flowers are not turning yellow then don't worry that they seem not to be growing, they will. really could use a picture of the white and black spots to be able to see whats going on. Could be insect eggs, but some insects are beneficials that you don't want to kill.