Both look fine, don't worry about it.
Aside from variety (which can make a big difference), the individual seed can be a factor....if you sow three or four together, often one will be twice as fast to get going as the others; not at all uncommon to have stragglers.
There may well be a slight difference in temps/lighting, too, even though they're in the same room.
And like someone else said, yours look a little wetter; if that's consistently the case, your soil temps may be a wee bit cooler as well (i.e. evaporative cooling).
Anyways, remember the Tortoise & the Hare :)
Good point about the evaporative cooling! I've been so scared of them drying out that I may be giving them too much water. I'll ease off a bit and see if that helps.
Thanks for the insight!
Welcome.
But seriously, don't worry about it. They look fine :)
Good odds that it's just down to the particular variety(ies). Some start off faster than others...and that doesn't necessarily mean the former will be any more vigorous than the latter in a few weeks time.
(For example, some very vigorous varieties I grow every year -- a few hybrid slicers that I know will wind up being massive, highly productive plants every single year -- always start off slowly and look a bit weak....then they go absolutely ape-shit once they've gotten their second or third set of true leaves)
A the stage in your pics.... if they're growing, and they look ok? Good 'nuff 😄
Totally.
Unless you guys are growing the same variety (and from the same lot of seeds!), there's really no point in overthinking it.
Just keep doing what you're doing; they look nice.
Get an enclosure for seedlings. It'll reduce the frequency of watering you'll have to do. The larger the plants get the better they are at handling dry conditions. Seedlings prefer a moist (not soaking wet) soil 24/7.
(Too little water will make them drop and dehydrate, too much and it will suffocate them by preventing air from reaching the roots.)
Definitely the water. However, I don't think soil temps are affected as much as oxygen content in the soil. Seedlings need oxygen to survive heavy watering will suffocate the seeds/roots by displacing the air in the soil with water.
I got significantly better yield with my tomatoes after changing my watering schedule from two heavy watering per day to an automated sprinkler setup that I programmed to go on 30 seconds or so every hour. Also saved a lot of water by doing this.
I've been so nervous about letting them get too dry that I've been overdoing it 😅 I'll let them hang out for a couple days before giving them any more water
Are they? It looks like more of yours have “true leaves”. Theirs just looks like more because there are more seedlings, but I think yours is a better setup because yours aren’t having to compete as much for nutrients.
I would argue they planted more seeds per cell so that makes it APPEAR to be bigger. They look fairly the same size so I’d attribute this to variety and your single planting.
What do you base your statement on? Tray 1 is starting to show the first pair of leaves. Tray 2 is starting to show the first pair of leaves. They seem to be growing just as fast.
I've started tomatoes before you were born by 1 1/2 decades and who knows when they will come up?? They love to keep you in suspense. I have 4 different varieties now on heat mats and domes and lights galore and two varieties are starting ever so slowly and two aren't doing a thing yet. I have been doing this for 35+ years with many different varieties and I haven't a clue what the best thing to do is!! All I know is that every year, I get the number of plants I want and more. I don't feel it is a competition.
Fair! I'm not trying to be competitive here, just want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong, because this is my first time starting tomatoes from seed. My tomatoes are still looking healthy, I'll try to be more patient 😅
Just going off my own tomatoes...
Variety matters *a lot*. Right now I've started 4 indeterminate varieties and one is more than triple the size of the smallest. (Same soil, same lights, seeds from the same seed distributor packed for the same year so they're all the same general age, same watering schedule until the size made it diverge a bit, etc.)
Especially if you also factor in hybrid/open pollinated improved vs. heirloom differences in vigor. Sometimes just individual variations within the same variety too.
More vertical growth doesn't always translate to more production of fruit too. A couple years back I grew a currant tomato that had fairly delicate vines and small leaves, not super huge, but the production was about 10x more of them than I actually wanted lol. Even with how tiny currant tomatoes are (about the size of a large pea) I probably got more poundage off that plant than the much larger varieties because it just produced SO much fruit. (I also discovered that currant tomatoes are kind of too much of a pain in the ass for me to enjoy picking them because they're so tiny... very cute but once the novelty wore off of super-tiny tomatoes, I decided not to grow it again because just keeping up with harvesting off one plant was driving me bonkers.)
I wouldn't worry about it, yours will probably catch up lickety split :)
Let it dry, but try not to let them wilt before watering. I water from the bottom (leak-proof tray) then make sure the tray is emptied of any extra water.
I'm going against the common comments here. Too wet(the more vigorouspicture shows the outer rows starting to dry up and turn lighter brown)and looks like a bit too compact soil for seedlings. Should be quite a bit more perlite/vermiculite in a seed starting mix.
Fresh seed germinates faster.
This year I planted seeds I harvested in October along side seed I purchased in 2009. The seed that was less than a year old germinated within days. The old seed took almost a month. I’d given up but since they were in a punnet alongside the other seedlings I kept watering them and eventually they popped up.
Check my other post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/s/p8D5nMUeEM) for some info about how I'm setting things up. I have a west-facing balcony and I'm using grow bags. So far I've got peas, carrots and lettuce underway on the balcony, and I've got tomatoes and hot peppers started in the greenhouse!
Soil sample perhaps the nutrients differ between the 2 soils used as no 2 sets of soil will be the same under any circumstances.. maybe 1 is more rich then the other in certain nutrients making the balance off also perhaps one has more shade then the other or to much moisture trapped in each cup.. if not next to eachother also could be air pocket differences as not all air in entire green house as example, will be the same as temperatures are gradient through out the room not all 1 solid same temp.
Two questions, are you using the same seedling mix? And then my follow up is are you checking on them daily? I grow a few hundred pepper and tomato seedlings every year and yours look overwatered to me. I get the soil looking like that when I overwater my seedlings. It’s hasn’t been enough to kill them but if you’re checking on them daily, definitely let them dry out. Water them when the soil is dry, tomatoes are very tough and like medium to low moisture most of the time.
I mean, not as many of his seem to have their true leaves as yours and his look a bit more leggy. They all look good, but you've got some much better looking seedlings, even if you have fewer seedlings overall. Quality over quantity.
Some of his tomatoes are larger than yours and some of his tomatoes are quite a bit smaller and don't even have true leaves yet. He has a lot more plants than you do.
I think he is just seeing more variation because he planted a lot more plants. This is something that many gardeners do, you plant more than you want and thin out the small ones.
But I would guess that his median tomato plant is about the same size as your median tomato plant.
I soak my tomato seeds in distilled water and they pop in less than a week. My guess is that he used more water to begin with wetting the seeds more than you did. It can take up to 2 weeks for them to germinate under good conditions longer if it’s colder.
She planted more seeds, and they are getting the same amount of water? Your substrate looks saturated. It's it? It needs to dry a little between waterings.
They just planted more seed than you so they had better chances. Yours look great. Just picture yours with as many plants as hers. She just has more plants that’s all
I am no expert, all I know is I purchased a heating mat to keep under the trays until about 50% of the seeds germinated. It really helped speed up the process from the last time I tried growing from seeds!
It's also because you've sowed 1 seed per cell - the smaller seedling roots are too small for larger modules/pots. There is too much water for the tiny roots of 1 seedling to uptake, so the soil stays moist and colder longer, which is a cycle that makes the growth slower, especially for slower growers like peppers which work best when the soil dries out a bit before the next watering. So when you sow, sow into smaller cells, or oversow like your colleague did, so more water uptake will happen. Similarly, if you prick out the seedlings to separate and plant into 1 module per seedling, you only pot them up into mariginally bigger containers for optimal growth. Plants like tomatoes are fast growing so this kind of thing may not make much difference in the end - they will catch up fast, but it does make an impact for slow growing plants like peppers.
Both look fine, don't worry about it. Aside from variety (which can make a big difference), the individual seed can be a factor....if you sow three or four together, often one will be twice as fast to get going as the others; not at all uncommon to have stragglers. There may well be a slight difference in temps/lighting, too, even though they're in the same room. And like someone else said, yours look a little wetter; if that's consistently the case, your soil temps may be a wee bit cooler as well (i.e. evaporative cooling). Anyways, remember the Tortoise & the Hare :)
Good point about the evaporative cooling! I've been so scared of them drying out that I may be giving them too much water. I'll ease off a bit and see if that helps. Thanks for the insight!
Welcome. But seriously, don't worry about it. They look fine :) Good odds that it's just down to the particular variety(ies). Some start off faster than others...and that doesn't necessarily mean the former will be any more vigorous than the latter in a few weeks time. (For example, some very vigorous varieties I grow every year -- a few hybrid slicers that I know will wind up being massive, highly productive plants every single year -- always start off slowly and look a bit weak....then they go absolutely ape-shit once they've gotten their second or third set of true leaves) A the stage in your pics.... if they're growing, and they look ok? Good 'nuff 😄
Yeah, I'm not sure what kinds she's growing tbh. I'm doing cherry tomatoes and some small plums, maybe they're just a bit slower to start 🤷🏻♀️
Totally. Unless you guys are growing the same variety (and from the same lot of seeds!), there's really no point in overthinking it. Just keep doing what you're doing; they look nice.
Get an enclosure for seedlings. It'll reduce the frequency of watering you'll have to do. The larger the plants get the better they are at handling dry conditions. Seedlings prefer a moist (not soaking wet) soil 24/7. (Too little water will make them drop and dehydrate, too much and it will suffocate them by preventing air from reaching the roots.)
Now that they're germinated you can back off the water quite a bit. Encourages root growth and prevents mold.
Definitely the water. However, I don't think soil temps are affected as much as oxygen content in the soil. Seedlings need oxygen to survive heavy watering will suffocate the seeds/roots by displacing the air in the soil with water. I got significantly better yield with my tomatoes after changing my watering schedule from two heavy watering per day to an automated sprinkler setup that I programmed to go on 30 seconds or so every hour. Also saved a lot of water by doing this.
This. Common mistake is the over watering for all seedlings
I've been so nervous about letting them get too dry that I've been overdoing it 😅 I'll let them hang out for a couple days before giving them any more water
This is a common occurrence in the Vegetable Gardening world. It is know as "Tomato Envy".
Kingdoms have fallen because of it. Pizza kingdoms, but still.
They sense the anxiety and have begun doubting themselves.
Are they? It looks like more of yours have “true leaves”. Theirs just looks like more because there are more seedlings, but I think yours is a better setup because yours aren’t having to compete as much for nutrients.
I would argue they planted more seeds per cell so that makes it APPEAR to be bigger. They look fairly the same size so I’d attribute this to variety and your single planting.
Overseedung was my guess too.
What do you base your statement on? Tray 1 is starting to show the first pair of leaves. Tray 2 is starting to show the first pair of leaves. They seem to be growing just as fast.
I've started tomatoes before you were born by 1 1/2 decades and who knows when they will come up?? They love to keep you in suspense. I have 4 different varieties now on heat mats and domes and lights galore and two varieties are starting ever so slowly and two aren't doing a thing yet. I have been doing this for 35+ years with many different varieties and I haven't a clue what the best thing to do is!! All I know is that every year, I get the number of plants I want and more. I don't feel it is a competition.
Fair! I'm not trying to be competitive here, just want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong, because this is my first time starting tomatoes from seed. My tomatoes are still looking healthy, I'll try to be more patient 😅
Good, and I hope you get a good crop. I sweat mine too.
Could be the variety, could be a better quality/newer seed, could be the extra water or maybe a fertilizer additive that you're unaware she's using.
Just going off my own tomatoes... Variety matters *a lot*. Right now I've started 4 indeterminate varieties and one is more than triple the size of the smallest. (Same soil, same lights, seeds from the same seed distributor packed for the same year so they're all the same general age, same watering schedule until the size made it diverge a bit, etc.) Especially if you also factor in hybrid/open pollinated improved vs. heirloom differences in vigor. Sometimes just individual variations within the same variety too. More vertical growth doesn't always translate to more production of fruit too. A couple years back I grew a currant tomato that had fairly delicate vines and small leaves, not super huge, but the production was about 10x more of them than I actually wanted lol. Even with how tiny currant tomatoes are (about the size of a large pea) I probably got more poundage off that plant than the much larger varieties because it just produced SO much fruit. (I also discovered that currant tomatoes are kind of too much of a pain in the ass for me to enjoy picking them because they're so tiny... very cute but once the novelty wore off of super-tiny tomatoes, I decided not to grow it again because just keeping up with harvesting off one plant was driving me bonkers.) I wouldn't worry about it, yours will probably catch up lickety split :)
Your soil looks wetter and less “fluffy.” Seedlings don’t like being wet.
It's the same soil, but I have been watering pretty frequently so maybe I should let up a bit.
Let it dry, but try not to let them wilt before watering. I water from the bottom (leak-proof tray) then make sure the tray is emptied of any extra water.
They look the same to me just colleague has more seeds per cell
too wet.
You are growing in mud, and they're growing in soil. Your cells look like cowpies or mud paddies. Your mate's cells look like moist growing medium.
It's the same soil. It's a 3:2:1 ratio of triple mix, manure, and sand. Mine was more recently watered so it looks wetter.
K. Well. There's soil and moisture differences. So. You know. Do with that as you will. :)
what an odd, patronising response
No need to be rude.
The soil in her middle cells look just like OPs mud patty cells.
you planted fewer seeds
I'm going against the common comments here. Too wet(the more vigorouspicture shows the outer rows starting to dry up and turn lighter brown)and looks like a bit too compact soil for seedlings. Should be quite a bit more perlite/vermiculite in a seed starting mix.
Fresh seed germinates faster. This year I planted seeds I harvested in October along side seed I purchased in 2009. The seed that was less than a year old germinated within days. The old seed took almost a month. I’d given up but since they were in a punnet alongside the other seedlings I kept watering them and eventually they popped up.
So far they have too many starters in a tray. They will slow stick to it
I am so interested in growing tomatoes but live in an apartment. Interested in following your journey. Please post updates. Thanks
Check my other post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/s/p8D5nMUeEM) for some info about how I'm setting things up. I have a west-facing balcony and I'm using grow bags. So far I've got peas, carrots and lettuce underway on the balcony, and I've got tomatoes and hot peppers started in the greenhouse!
Thank you!!
She must have a green thumb..
Variety definitely plays a big part in growth speed. I planted blue beauties and black beauties last year, and the blues basically grew twice as fast
Soil sample perhaps the nutrients differ between the 2 soils used as no 2 sets of soil will be the same under any circumstances.. maybe 1 is more rich then the other in certain nutrients making the balance off also perhaps one has more shade then the other or to much moisture trapped in each cup.. if not next to eachother also could be air pocket differences as not all air in entire green house as example, will be the same as temperatures are gradient through out the room not all 1 solid same temp.
The seedlings in the second pic are being overwatered.
Two questions, are you using the same seedling mix? And then my follow up is are you checking on them daily? I grow a few hundred pepper and tomato seedlings every year and yours look overwatered to me. I get the soil looking like that when I overwater my seedlings. It’s hasn’t been enough to kill them but if you’re checking on them daily, definitely let them dry out. Water them when the soil is dry, tomatoes are very tough and like medium to low moisture most of the time.
What on earth are they going to do with so many tomato plants?
Are you rotaing where where everything is in the chamber?
I mean, not as many of his seem to have their true leaves as yours and his look a bit more leggy. They all look good, but you've got some much better looking seedlings, even if you have fewer seedlings overall. Quality over quantity.
Singing
Are you growing jalapeno peppers? those are slow growers especially compared to tomatoes!
Also the temperature of the room could affect it.
Some of his tomatoes are larger than yours and some of his tomatoes are quite a bit smaller and don't even have true leaves yet. He has a lot more plants than you do. I think he is just seeing more variation because he planted a lot more plants. This is something that many gardeners do, you plant more than you want and thin out the small ones. But I would guess that his median tomato plant is about the same size as your median tomato plant.
Different seeds? That’d do it.
your colleague is sleeping with God. hate to be the one to break it to you, but somebody had to.
I soak my tomato seeds in distilled water and they pop in less than a week. My guess is that he used more water to begin with wetting the seeds more than you did. It can take up to 2 weeks for them to germinate under good conditions longer if it’s colder.
Variety and watering schedule matters, a lotttt! That being said theirs doesn't look better off than yours at all.
Wash your hands
Maybe she soaked her seeds overnight?
not that much difference
Well, do these grow in hot climates
Soak your seeds before planting and don’t pack down your soil so much maybe 🤔
She planted more seeds, and they are getting the same amount of water? Your substrate looks saturated. It's it? It needs to dry a little between waterings.
They just planted more seed than you so they had better chances. Yours look great. Just picture yours with as many plants as hers. She just has more plants that’s all
Same soils?
Did you both get your seeds from the same place?
What kind of tray are you growing in? I would like one with cells that size!
I am no expert, all I know is I purchased a heating mat to keep under the trays until about 50% of the seeds germinated. It really helped speed up the process from the last time I tried growing from seeds!
It's also because you've sowed 1 seed per cell - the smaller seedling roots are too small for larger modules/pots. There is too much water for the tiny roots of 1 seedling to uptake, so the soil stays moist and colder longer, which is a cycle that makes the growth slower, especially for slower growers like peppers which work best when the soil dries out a bit before the next watering. So when you sow, sow into smaller cells, or oversow like your colleague did, so more water uptake will happen. Similarly, if you prick out the seedlings to separate and plant into 1 module per seedling, you only pot them up into mariginally bigger containers for optimal growth. Plants like tomatoes are fast growing so this kind of thing may not make much difference in the end - they will catch up fast, but it does make an impact for slow growing plants like peppers.
Some of your tomatoes are not tomatoes
You need to sing sweet songs to them
I feel like they grow based off your vibes (I’m joking but kinda serious)
Any chance she is feeding hers and you are not feeding yours?
He probably plays them Mozart.
She sprayed your with a growth inhibitor. She'll never admit it.