Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Hello
I saved some seeds from beefsteak tomato last year, washed and cleaned the seeds, last week I thru them on plant starter, didnt know how many will germinate, lots of them did but they are thin n leaning, cant seem to stand upright. see links or in my gallery

Banana Gallery - tomatoes

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/data/...s/IMAG0656.jpg

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Looks like lack of lighting or improper lighting.
Hard to tell but the leaves look kind of yellow....not a good sign either

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Yeah, looks like you need more light. When they don't have enough light, they grow like crazy to try to find the light but they grow too thin. Put some fluorescent tubes with at least 6500K over it, approximately 12 to 18 inches above the top of your plants and leave it open 24/7. I would start over with new seeds though 'cause these look pretty bad... And start them with a high dome and leave it there until they reach the top, it will help.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

well I took them out and see if they recover. when I read up on them it said dark warm place... lol guess not too dark

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Never dark! You shouldn't over fertilize (if at all--I don't) or over water but they need light. Lots of it. A bright sunny window works for me. And rotate your flat daily so they're forced to lean towards the light; making them work for it seems to enhance stem strength for me.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Seeds may be from a hybrid.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Yeah looks leggy to me, might want to scrap those and start over. I grow all my herbs and peppers with a shop light T12 or something setup with full spectrum bulbs a buddy gave me . Those bulbs dont get overly hot so they can even touch it and when i start mine i have them as close as possible. Promotes roots and they dont reach for the light and get like that.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Tomatos ADORE light! I start mine in a South facing window so that they get every BIT of the light available to them!

You can save the seedlings if you want to: give them light. Tomatos are one of the few vegetables out there that can recover from getting leggy: just plant the more deeply when you move them outside and more roots will form along the stem. Most vegetables hate being planted deeply but tomatos do not CARE!

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

You might make sure that variety isn't a hybrid as well. Not sure what you might come up with.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Hybrid won't affect plant growth at least at the start (you could end up with potato leaves on some plants) but it can affect fruits. In the mid 80s I got volunteers from the prior season's crop as did my friend's father who was an avid gardener; we were thrilled to not be buying plants. Ha! We'd planted different varieties the year before but both ended up with huge, tasteless "cherry" tomatoes. I discovered open pollinated tomato seeds that winter and never looked back; I save seeds and have only 1 time had a cross when I grew currants (potato leaf) with my regular plants and the next year had some crackers.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

My volunteer tomatos have always been tasty!

One year they looked kind of ugly, but they TASTED good, LOL!

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

So have mine since I stopped buying hybrid plants and seeds.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

I bought them from local farmers market, so I am not sure if it was hybrid or not, but back to drawing board lol

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

I used to save seeds from the FM but always asked the variety; I ended up with red and green zebras, black krims and a really cool but rare San Marino (fantastic paste but not San Marzano) among others that always bred true enough for me; I don't sell seeds and am very frank that I don't "bag" if I share from my stash. Always ask the grower the actual name and then research if it's a hybrid if they don't share that with you. (I didn't start seeds this year so have a hybrid plant--Jet Star--I will clone but not grow from seeds.) BTW, the cheap seeds at Walmart and the dollar stores are nearly always open pollinated if you need some more to try again.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Insufficient photo energy.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

So can these be saved? If so, how? I've never had tomato seedlings that lanky. I have had brassicas that spindly which I tossed after attempting to transplant them deeper; they stalled completely.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

When you plant them, you can plant them up to the top leaves on the plant. Basically plant them really deep and they just might make it. Till them give them a good south facing window if possible.

Re: Whats going on with this beefsteak tomato plant?
 

Exactly.

You cannot do this with brassicas, but tomatos simply do not care if you plant them deeply. In fact some people do it on purpose to make the root system deeper and get them of to a better start. I have done it myself during dry years and the tomatos were perfectly happy.

When and if you decide to rescue the plants you will probably end up with long, weak stems. I have taken such tomato plants and buried them up to the leaves and I got excellent results.