this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
8 points (100.0% liked)

Container Gardening

182 readers
2 users here now

Alternative to r/containergardening.

Here you can discuss container plants, growing them, seek advice, etc...

Rules

Community icon by Satheesh Sankaran from Pixabay

Community banner from pxfuel.com

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Some of the cherry tomato plants on my balcony. If anyone knows why the ones in the back are growing much faster than the ones in the foreground please let me know. All were planted on the same day, and transplanted on the same day, and get watered equally.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not a massive expert, so I may be totally off-base, but:

  • I think it's reasonable for there to be some variability in growth rates just due to genetics, especially at an early stage.
  • The soil may have different levels of nutrients, or the soil may have uneven levels of compactness, meaning some of the roots may take a bit longer to branch out.
  • Lastly, I'm not sure I'm seeing this correctly, but it looks like you have multiple seedlings stuck together in each pot?

What seeds are you using, btw?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ill send a pic of the seed pack when i get home, but yea youre right. It seems someone put more than one seed in the small pots when he planted them

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I was taught to have one plant per container. So the plan goes like this, plant a few seeds based on how old the seeds are. Let them sprout. Let them get to first true leaves. Then the hard part, thin out the weaker plants. If you don't thin them out then the roots will compete with each other and you risk losing out altogether on fruits. I suspect the plants in the back are just doing better with being crowded. Those back plant leaves are larger it seems. So they're cruising, or they're just a different variety. The front ones are doing worse because roots are too packed together. Sometimes you must snip them with scissors to thin them out so you don't mess with the roots of the one's you want to keep. You may be in this position now. Thinning may seem cruel, experiment with it and you may come to the conclusion that it is necessary for many tasty tomatoes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I thinned them out, and I now have a couple flowers sprouting on one the plants, so I'm excited :D

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most excellent. Also, good work on the spray bottle prep. You may need that when the others come.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I have it ready :)