• Big Box Tomatoes

Posted: **Fri Feb 02, 2024 7:52 pm**

I was at the Home Despot, err, Home Depot today and noticed they had tomato sets galore, all for the attractive? price of $5.48/unit. Big Beef, Celebrity, Better Boy, the usual suspects.

What seemed different or interesting was how robust, extra deep green, and stiff, bordering on woody these set plants appeared to be.

What conditions, fertilizer, handling makes say 6 week old tomato sets appear to be extra stiff and woody? I noticed there was hardly any fuzz or hair on the stems. These were like green pine trees or something. Robust for sure, but somehow unnatural looking.

Posted: **Fri Feb 02, 2024 9:39 pm**

I remember reading about this a few years ago, but can't remember for sure what was used -- maybe a plant hormone treatment of some kind?

Posted: **Fri Feb 02, 2024 9:47 pm**

ddsack wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 9:39 pm I remember reading about this a few years ago, but can't remember for sure what was used -- maybe a plant hormone treatment of some kind?

There was something almost unnatural about these starts, hyper green and so very stiff they were. So much so extraordinary that I want to go back and examine them more closely.

I wonder if the starts overcome this odd wooden quality or are they forever marred by this particular condition?

Maybe now I should buy one just to see how the condition progresses under my care?

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 12:04 am**

Potassium sulfate will make your plants extremely tough if you give them a good dose of it. It's a fact I've never heard anyone else besides me be amazed at, but it's very true, and it's not a slight effect at all. However, it's not supposed to make them woody. It acts fast, too; it doesn't take long to get tough plants.

Calcium helps, too, but potassium along with it prevents them from being brittle. Calcium makes them hard, but not tough.

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 12:11 am**

Potassium deficiency is supposed to cause woody plants. I've never seen this symptom in deficient plants, though.

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 12:13 am**

I guess the obvious answer is they had potassium-deficient plants (making them woody) that they remedied with potassium, making them tough.

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 9:15 am**

ddsack wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 9:39 pm I remember reading about this a few years ago, but can't remember for sure what was used -- maybe a plant hormone treatment of some kind?

Plant growth regulators (PGRs). There's one called "Sumagic" that's been registered for use in the US on tomato, pepper, eggplant and tomatillo plants for a number of years. (There are lots of them for ornamental bedding plants, but as of 2020 there was still just Sumagic for these solanaceous plants and nothing for other vegetable seedlings.)

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:00 am**

I'm just waiting for HEB to put theirs out.

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 11:24 am**

Seven Bends wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2024 9:15 am
ddsack wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 9:39 pm I remember reading about this a few years ago, but can't remember for sure what was used -- maybe a plant hormone treatment of some kind?
Plant growth regulators (PGRs). There's one called "Sumagic" that's been registered for use in the US on tomato, pepper, eggplant and tomatillo plants for a number of years. (There are lots of them for ornamental bedding plants, but as of 2020 there was still just Sumagic for these solanaceous plants and nothing for other vegetable seedlings.)

Yes. Have you ever noticed how uniform the big box stores plants are? The growers are using regulators so that the plants are uniform and fit on the racks of the trucks without getting damaged. It promotes sturdy stems without lush growth.

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 12:03 pm**

I think I prefer the more flexible stems and variations I get with my starts than these stiff ones.

I wonder if these (PGRs) like Sumagic have any lasting impacts on the plants as they continue their growth?

Home Depot and Lowe’s here are serviced by Bonnie plants delivery vans.

Riefels has a different vendor and their tomatoes, peppers and eggplant starts are less expensive and less stiff looking. I was at Reifel’s yesterday and they had just gotten in some tomato and peppers starts, their first delivery of the year. Reifel’s plants are more of normal green shade rather than the extra extra deep green of the plants I saw at Home Depot. I believe the delivery truck had just dropped them off at both places, Thursday at Home Depot and then the different delivery at Reifel’s on Friday.

I didn’t buy any tomatoes or peppers. I did buy 12 Kennebec seed potatoes for a whopping $1.68 total.

Posted: **Sat Feb 03, 2024 3:21 pm**

karstopography wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2024 12:03 pm I think I prefer the more flexible stems and variations I get with my starts than these stiff ones.

I wonder if these (PGRs) like Sumagic have any lasting impacts on the plants as they continue their growth?

Home Depot and Lowe’s here are serviced by Bonnie plants delivery vans.

Riefels has a different vendor and their tomatoes, peppers and eggplant starts are less expensive and less stiff looking. I was at Reifel’s yesterday and they had just gotten in some tomato and peppers starts, their first delivery of the year. Reifel’s plants are more of normal green shade rather than the extra extra deep green of the plants I saw at Home Depot. I believe the delivery truck had just dropped them off at both places, Thursday at Home Depot and then the different delivery at Reifel’s on Friday.

I didn’t buy any tomatoes or peppers. I did buy 12 Kennebec seed potatoes for a whopping $1.68 total.

I believe that these chemicals do have lasting effects on the plants. I used to garden at a community garden. I almost always start my own seeds but of course I was at a garden center and had to buy just one more. It was sturdy and deep green and looked nice and healthy. It was planted the same way that the 31 other tomatoes that I started were planted. This plant never got over 3.5 ft tall and production was awful.

Going through the gardens and chatting with people, I was not the only one that experienced this. It seems that all of the plants purchased from the store had the same poor growth issue. We vowed never to purchase plants from them again. What a shame to ruin such nice plants for their customers.

Posted: **Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:13 pm**

worth1 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:00 am I'm just waiting for HEB to put theirs out.

Lowe's has plants now. Probably the Home Despot has some as well. And, yes, I spelled Home Despot correctly.

Posted: **Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:20 pm**

Wildcat82 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:13 pm
worth1 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:00 am I'm just waiting for HEB to put theirs out.
Lowe's has plants now. Probably the Home Despot has some as well. And, yes, I spelled Home Despot correctly.

Thanks.
I'll stick with HEB they'll have some out soon I'd imagine.
I really should start my own stuff again but I never get around to it.

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