Those think-stemmed, dark green transplants for sale in nurseries

[jasonig]

I grow healthy tomatoes from seedlings and then transplant them to 4 inch pots. I keep it organic, use a grow light and fertilize. The results are nice, healthy, LIGHT GREEN normal size plants that eventually produce well. WHY IS IT that when I go to my local nursery or Home Depot, organic or not, their transplants look like they are on steroids. They are short, fat and dark green as if a tomato is going to pop out of the stems at any minute. Are those transplants healthier than mine? Anyone know how the growers do that? Im developing a complex

[Labradors2]

Jasonig,

You are not alone. I thought I was doing such a great job of raising my tomatoes - until I saw the ones at the "big box" store, exactly as you describe, and putting my seedlings to shame.

My guess is that they use a lot of (chemical) fertilizer.......

Linda

[KarenO]

Professional hockey players play hockey better than I do and professional growers grow seedlings better than I do.
Ideal conditions and scientifically dosed fertilizer is the secret, that and you will only see perfect specimens for sale because they cull anything that is not up to standard.
Regardless, I prefer mine by far
K

[Chucker]

I do pretty well on the dark green part ever since I found a decent liquid fertilizer. I use 5ml/gallon Dyna Gro Liquid Grow (7-9-5) to water the seedlings. I know, they say don't fertilize seedlings, but I don't always listen to what they say.

I don't do well on the short, stocky plants. I could try cold treatment, but I don't have an ideal place to try that. Right now I use regular shop lights and a fan, and my seedlings aren't leggy, but they don't look like little trees either.

I'm going to experiment with different ratios of LEDs on seedlings over the next few months. Supposedly red causes leafy/vegetative growth, blue increases antioxdative capacity but not much growth, and some combination of the two should produce a shorter seedling, hopefully.

[Cole_Robbie]

That's what my plants look like. I sold a lot of them yesterday morning at market, almost everything I took.

Are they overfertilized? Probably, but that is what customers want. No one will buy plants that are the slightest bit yellow.

[NarnianGarden]

My seedlings were very dark, not because of any fertilizer, but because of the growing conditions on my balcony. The sunny location made it possible to have them outdoors very early on.
Your plants will probably look like they're on steroids, too, after several weeks in the sunlight

[Father'sDaughter]

Regardless of how much better they look, they'll never be able to offer the huge variety a lot of us prefer to grow. After hanging out here for a couple of years, I could never go back to being limited to only the varieties for sale locally even if the seedling do (initially) look more robust than mine.

[rnewste]

Remember that Jimmy Soul song from the 60's: "If you want to be happy for the rest of your life - get an ugly woman to be your wife" - sorry, I can't sing it; dear Wife is sitting here next to me at the moment. Same applies to tomato seedlings!

Raybo

[feldon30]

I spoke to someone who used to work for Bonnie's. She said that they do cold treatments and apply growth inhibitor to slow down the growth of the plants.

[Sodak]

what is "growth inhibitor?"
It must be short term.

[Sun City Linda]

I have heard "growth inhibitor" perhaps that it what makes the plants grow so stocky and buff.

[Redbaron]

Last year I bought a big box seedling Big Beef (Bonnie Nursery) and also grew my own. The nursery seedlings looked wonderful compared to my seedlings. But once in the ground mine out performed them radically.

I am trying the experiment again this year with SunGold F1. The Bonnie plant has a 1 foot head start right now and is flowering. We will see who wins though.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

Last year I bought a big box seedling Big Beef (Bonnie Nursery) and also grew my own. The nursery seedlings looked wonderful compared to my seedlings. But once in the ground mine out performed them radically.

I am trying the experiment again this year with SunGold F1.

Nice idea. Although I understand it's not practical, it would be interesting to see the aggregated results of say 10 homegrown vs 10 store bought over a season..... I know I've had two identical plants grown by me perform differently in the garden and same season.

Lee

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Lee

Nice idea. Although I understand it's not practical, it would be interesting to see the aggregated results of say 10 homegrown vs 10 store bought over a season..... I know I've had two identical plants grown by me perform differently in the garden and same season.

Lee

Well it's non-scientific and I am cheating. I use young seedlings in the growth phase from cell packs and the Nursery seedlings are in 4 inch pots. So mine once in the ground have a longer growth phase and generally end up with better roots. But I do have to jab people in the ribs sometimes and prove to them those giant beautiful seedlings you see in the stores are not worth the extra money spent.

[Vespertino]

My mother in law commented that my tomato plants didn't look thick, green and healthy "like the ones at home depot" when I was having trouble with wind damage when I was trying to harden my seedlings. I was DEEPLY offended, but managed to ask her if she had any idea what kind of chemicals and obscure growing conditions they subjected those poor seedlings to mass produce & get them to look that way, and then pressed the issue further about whether she'd want to put tomatoes from said plants into her mouth. I won