HELP....I bought a Tomato plant without a central stem?

[markcal02]

I transplanted a Tomato plant about a month ago in my garden (I removed it a few days ago) without a central stem and hasn't gotten any bigger and there are no flowering buds or new growth too. The other Tomato plants I transplanted with this one in my garden are doing well, will this Tomato plant ever get any bigger and is it worth keeping it in my garden?

Thanks,
Mark

[applestar]

Oh. This type of seedling failure is usually culled. It IS a defective plant and your should be able to claim a refund or replacement.

For the last three years or so, I used to see at least 3 or 4 of these -- sometimes called "blind" seedlings because they have no "eyes" (please, no offense meant) -- most often happens in the seedleaf stage, when no growth buds develop and the poor plant pumps all its efforts into growing what its got -- so the seedleaves or the only trueleaves grow huge and thick and leathery.

I only had one of these this year though.

Since yours has grown to trueleaf stage, it *might* be possible to release it from the trapped state it's in by cutting off the top leaf. Another *maybe* technique is to injure it, by making a slit on the stem with a sharp razor.

The idea is to force the plant to generate a growth bud, if it is capable of doing so. Injury or cut on the stem ABOVE the seedleaf scars would initiate appropriate cell production IF it is capable of it.

[markcal02]

Oh. This type of seedling failure is usually culled. It IS a defective plant and your should be able to claim a refund or replacement.

For the last three years or so, I used to see at least 3 or 4 of these -- sometimes called "blind" seedlings because they have no "eyes" (please, no offense meant) -- most often happens in the seedleaf stage, when no growth buds develop and the poor plant pumps all its efforts into growing what its got -- so the seedleaves or the only trueleaves grow huge and thick and leathery.

I only had one of these this year though.

Since yours has grown to trueleaf stage, it *might* be possible to release it from the trapped state it's in by cutting off the top leaf. Another *maybe* technique is to injure it, by making a slit on the stem with a sharp razor.

The idea is to force the plant to generate a growth bud, if it is capable of doing so. Injury or cut on the stem ABOVE the seedleaf scars would initiate appropriate cell production IF it is capable of it.

Thank you very much for the information, I will try the techniques you have described and hope for the best.

Happy gardening,
Mark

[PaulF]

Several of these happen to show up every once in a while. My technique is simpler: plant it up to the fork and let it grow. Most of the time it will do just fine. If this is your only plant I would get another from a nursery. If this is one of several, plant it deep and see how it does. If you really want to do apple's suggestion, go ahead for the fun of learning a new technique. I just like simple for my simple mind.

[applestar]

Ooh, interesting!

@PaulF -- So when you bury the stem, does new growth occur at the blind node (base of the trueleaf where it joins the stem where normal growth should occur) or from somewhere buried below?

This particular plant has I think three pairs of nodes below the two existing trueleafs, but they are hardened or scarred (could be from mite damage) so I don't know for sure that there ARE any viable growth points left on the stem without forcing the cells to reorganize. But it's possible that by burying the stem and initiating root genesis, cells could re-org and growing shoot might be generated in the process?

You could also do both and make a shallow slit AND bury to above the slit.

[PaulF]

Ooh, interesting!



But it's possible that by burying the stem and initiating root genesis, cells could re-org and growing shoot might be generated in the process?

.

This would be my guess, and it only a guess. It will be interesting to see what happens. Or maybe just rouge it out.