Tomato sprouts look malformed

[nickdu]

Hello,

Last year I just did a trial run of starting tomatoes from seeds. It was late in the season and I knew I wasn't going to be able to get any fruit from them, but I thought I might at least learn what works, or didn't work.

This year I started my tomato seeds a couple weeks ago. The first bunch that came up looked "normal", at least to me. However, it seems that the later sprouts are a bit malformed. Most of the later ones don't have well formed cotyledons. Is this expected? I'm wondering whether the seeds that sprouted later, sprouted later because they had something wrong with them to begin with. I purchased the seeds from Heirloom Organics, the same place I purchased the seeds I plated last year.

What I'm expecting is shown in the picture, top row third from the left.

However, some of the later ones look like this:

Not only do I not see the typical cotyledons, but the secondary leaves have appeared while the sprout is very tiny. Has anyone seen this before and know why? By the way, the medium is seed started, no soil. I water from the bottom maybe every two or three days. I try to give them as much sunlight as possible, moving them outside and leaving the cover off when the temp is 70 or above. At night they are inside sitting on some rope lights in hopes to keep them warm. I also have the cover on them while they're inside.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[Chuck]

Hello,

Last year I just did a trial run of starting tomatoes from seeds. It was late in the season and I knew I wasn't going to be able to get any fruit from them, but I thought I might at least learn what works, or didn't work.

This year I started my tomato seeds a couple weeks ago. The first bunch that came up looked "normal", at least to me. However, it seems that the later sprouts are a bit malformed. Most of the later ones don't have well formed cotyledons. Is this expected? I'm wondering whether the seeds that sprouted later, sprouted later because they had something wrong with them to begin with. I purchased the seeds from Heirloom Organics, the same place I purchased the seeds I plated last year.

What I'm expecting is shown in the picture, top row third from the left.

However, some of the later ones look like this:

Not only do I not see the typical cotyledons, but the secondary leaves have appeared while the sprout is very tiny. Has anyone seen this before and know why? By the way, the medium is seed started, no soil. I water from the bottom maybe every two or three days. I try to give them as much sunlight as possible, moving them outside and leaving the cover off when the temp is 70 or above. At night they are inside sitting on some rope lights in hopes to keep them warm. I also have the cover on them while they're inside.

Thanks,
Nick

It looks to me like you have a light problem. On the last pic the plant is reaching for light and the other larger seedling has been reaching for the light as evidenced by it crooked shape. Also you have a photosynthesis issue as the seedlings seem to be a yellowish color instead of a darkish green. IMO they need a lot more direct sunlight

 

[nickdu]

Thanks for the info. And I will certainly attempt to get them more light. However, I think I've been somewhat consistent in how I've been handling the seedlings, in terms of light and water. If that's true, shouldn't I expect the younger seedlings to look and grow the same as the older ones had?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[Kansas Terri]

Nicdu, I am 5' 2" but my Aunt was 5' 11". Even in the same family there will be some variations.

I realize that your tomatos are probably all the same variety, but they are not clones of each other and there will still be some genetic variations, and I believe that is what you are seeing. I do not think that your tomatos are misshapen, I think that you are seeing normal variation from one tomato plant to another.

 

[nickdu]

It's possible I guess, but it would seem unlikely, especially since most of the youngest ones seem to be different from "normal". I'm certainly a noob, but I would expect to see, especially in the first several days, most of the seedlings having the same characteristics.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[nickdu]

I decided to start a second batch. Mainly because my puppy got into my seedlings. She ate every cantaloupe seedling and trampled on and pulled out some of the tomatoes.

I started planted the seeds on 04/08 and on 04/14 they had started to sprout. I have left them on my heating source, rope lights (didn't get to building my heat mat yet) and covered with a plastic see-through cover. They are near a window so they get light throughout the day, but not much direct sunlight. I had built some lights but just got the bulbs today. I have two fixtures with two 6500k t5 bulbs in each. So starting today I had planned to keep the lights on 24/7. Below is a picture of the tomato seedlings.

They look a bit leggy, not sure if that's because they've had mostly indirect light for the first 6 days. Also notice that all the seedlings look the same in terms of the cotyledons. Of course all the seeds have not sprouted yet so who knows what the others will look like, but this batch looks better than my previous batch I think. All from the same seeds and soil.

I've got the lights about 10" from the tops of the containers. I think I've read some posts which say to have the lights very close to the seedlings. Not sure if that goes for all lights or just the ones that are lower kelvin. I purchased the 6500k bulbs as I thought those were supposed to be the best grow lights. Below is a picture.

Looks much darker than it really is. As you can see from the previous picture, there is a bunch of light on the seedlings.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[R.R.]

It looks like they need the light closer.

 

[headfullofbees]

Not enough light.
Start them again on a windowsill.
There's a lot written about not putting young seedlings in direct sunlight, but I have yet to see one plant, which likes sunlight when mature, which has suffered because of it as a seedling.
There again, we don't have such high light levels in the UK as in the USA.

 

[Chuck]

They are reaching for more light. Either lower the lights or put them in direct sunlight. If not you will have extremely leggy and weak plants which does not bode well for production

 

[nickdu]

Not enough light.
Start them again on a windowsill.
There's a lot written about not putting young seedlings in direct sunlight, but I have yet to see one plant, which likes sunlight when mature, which has suffered because of it as a seedling.
There again, we don't have such high light levels in the UK as in the USA.

You think I need to start them again? They have been at an east window for the first six days after germinating, so they've got some sunlight for those first 6 days. I now have lights over them. They do seem leggy now, but I was hoping not to have to start over again.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[Chuck]

You think I need to start them again? They have been at an east window for the first six days after germinating, so they've got some sunlight for those first 6 days. I now have lights over them. They do seem leggy now, but I was hoping not to have to start over again.

Thanks,
Nick

Where do you live and what is the daytime temperature

 

[nickdu]

They are reaching for more light. Either lower the lights or put them in direct sunlight. If not you will have extremely leggy and weak plants which does not bode well for production

While I'm sure there is no replacement for direct sunlight, I was hoping the 6500k lights would suffice until it gets warmer outside. Otherwise I'm trying to move the plants around every hour inside the house to get them into direct sunlight.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[nickdu]

Where do you live and what is the daytime temperature

I'm in Colorado near Boulder. We had some warm days, low 70's, and during that time I would bring the plants outside. Then as I mentioned my puppy ruined a bunch of my seedlings so I started a second batch. The weather is back to normal, 50's or so, so I decided to purchase some lights while I need to keep the plants indoors. Unfortunately the bulbs didn't arrive until 6 days after the seeds germinated.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[nickdu]

I'm in Colorado near Boulder. We had some warm days, low 70's, and during that time I would bring the plants outside. Then as I mentioned my puppy ruined a bunch of my seedlings so I started a second batch. The weather is back to normal, 50's or so, so I decided to purchase some lights while I need to keep the plants indoors. Unfortunately the bulbs didn't arrive until 6 days after the seeds germinated.

Thanks,
Nick

Actually I just looked at the forecast for this week and the temperature is supposed to be in the high 60's or low 70's.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[nickdu]

I'm in Colorado near Boulder. We had some warm days, low 70's, and during that time I would bring the plants outside. Then as I mentioned my puppy ruined a bunch of my seedlings so I started a second batch. The weather is back to normal, 50's or so, so I decided to purchase some lights while I need to keep the plants indoors. Unfortunately the bulbs didn't arrive until 6 days after the seeds germinated.

Thanks,
Nick

Also, since I needed to start another batch and I'm thinking I'm already a bit behind schedule, I figured getting the lights might allow me to catch up by keeping the plants under the lights 24/7.

I got to have my tomatoes for my blt's

Thanks,
Nick