A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Big Beef Problem? Huge Stems, Large Dark Green Leaves?

I am growing about 25 Big Beef Tomatoes from burpee.com indoors until May. I started them from seeds in early February so they are a good size.

Most are under two 48' 40watt florescent lights. The ones that didn't fit are under two 48' 25watt florescent lights. All are in 4' pots. When they were potted up to the 4' pots (1 month ago) I put in Espoma Garden Tone and buried the stems to the first leaves.

The ones under the 40watts are looking lime green, average growth, and seem to be healthy. I have a few under the 25watts that look like completely different strains.

They have stems about three times as thick, extremely dark green leaves on top and a good amount of purple under most leaves. The plants also have tons more 'hair' and sticky on the stems. The leaves aren't yellowing, just much darker and a much larger leaves and more canopy. Are these healthy? Are these healthier than the ones under the 40watts or do they have some disease?

It just seems like two completely different strains. I wonder what is going on???? Anyone have any suggestions?

Perhaps you gave them too much fertilizer.

The darker green with the thicker stems are the healthier ones, jusdavi. I would give the others a little food, not much, but a little something. The purple is nothing to worry about, they might be a bit colder than they like to be at their stage of growth. The hair is normal and healthy -- it is from the hairs that new roots will form if you bury them deeper or in a trench. :) Good luck.

I'm thinking the same thing as blackbadger, those are healthier. Not that the others are necessarily unhealthy, but darker green and thick stems is a good sign.
I often have purplish colors on my seedlings, it's really no big deal, usually, and it'll likely go away when they're planted outdoors.