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Old June 27, 2018   #1
GreenThumbGal_07
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Default Weird stunted seedling with two leaf types

Has anyone ever seen something like this? I have a tiny transplant (transplanted with two true leaves) that's been out a couple of weeks in its new 7-gallon container home, and it isn't "taking off" in the warm sun like the other transplant set out the same time in a nearby pot.

It's a regular leaf type, but instead of getting taller, it remains small and seems to be sending out lots of suckers, and the suckers have potato -- not regular -- leaves. The plant is tiny and stunted, growing sideways rather than up. I'm concerned about this.

With the warmth and sun in the corner of the yard, the other container tomato plants are "bulking up" and growing both wide and tall.

Thanks.
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Old June 27, 2018   #2
KarenO
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A Photo would help a lot
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Old June 27, 2018   #3
oakley
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Probably just a bad seed. A deformity. Did not form properly in the seed coat. All a plant
really wants to do is reproduce. It produces many seeds per fruit to increase the chances.

The two leaf types could be a part of that mixed up seed. A pic would be interesting if it does
hang in there and find its growth spurt. Sometimes a side shoot will push through a
confusion. I took a pic of a weird pom-pom topped seedling and now can't find it among all
the others. (the pic did not show the label, grrr)

Why we often start 4-6 seeds per variety, per cell. Hopefully get 4-5. Clip/cull the
weak ones and pot up the two strongest. Plant one and keep the rest aside for
back-ups. Gift the left-overs to family and friends.

Your plant may survive but possibly will never give you any bounty. May just barely
struggle to do its job.

Late last Fall I noticed a small ripe cherry in my tarragon pot. I thought it had fallen
from a neighboring dwarf variety. Yet it was attached to a sad looking stem. This tiny
volunteer plant did its job and had I left it, maybe the seeds could have
overwintered and given another volunteer...
Not really what we want for our BLT.
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Old June 27, 2018   #4
GreenThumbGal_07
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Hi Oakley, thanks, "pom-pom" describes what I am seeing. I have seen it a long time ago and I believe I discarded the plant. Fortunately I have a few other starts of the same variety and I'll just replace it or set out a new pot.
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Old July 4, 2018   #5
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UPDATE 7/04/2018: This little plant is now sending out regular leaves (true to the variety's type) at the top of the main stem and at the tips of the suckers. I think I'll end up pinching off the suckers. This is an indeterminate variety and it tends to grow tall. I've planted 7/01/2018 (for comparison) the same variety at very small seedling stage (two tiny true leaves) in a neighboring pot. I don't know if it will display the same sort of growth behavior (initially bushy and tiny, with "paddle" type leaves, not really potato-leaf type).
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Old July 8, 2018   #6
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Update on this seedling and another, 7/08/2018:

The outdoor seedling, transplanted while very small with two true leaves, but which then began showing bushy sideways growth with "paddle leaves" rather than regular leaves (Sugar Lump) has now "resolved itself" and is sending forth vigorous new growth with regular leaf type. There are two suckers with strong growth and I think perhaps they should be trimmed; I need to have this plant grow vertically, it's indeterminate but also a tall variety.

The indoor "worm" seedling I referenced in the "Helmet Head" thread (see http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=47357), Cornue des Andes, showed its first true leaves as potato leaf type, then following leaves as regular leaf (this is a regular leaf variety).

Both examples seem to tell me that some seedlings under great stress might revert to PL (or a leaf type superficially resembling PL, call it "paddle leaf" rather than "potato leaf" perhaps?) in initial growth stages and then go back to RL as their strength increases and root systems develop.
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