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| Or Lil hairs on their vines? Just curious. Are they immature? Is it synthetic fertilizer vs. organic? Is it the light? I grow from seed in an unfertilized seedling mix. I fertilize with hydrolyzed fish and seaweed. I have T5 lights. My plants are hairy. I noticed that a majority of plants from my local big box store had shiny and kinda bald stems. This included heirlooms. Just curious. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| You threw me with "tricomes", so I had to read this post. OK, I grow mine under T8 and T12 daylight bulbs and mine are hairy too. They grow roots well from the stems when I transplant them inside into 6" deeper pots. Because of the hairs, I assume. Big Box Stores grow their seedlings as cheap as possible and no transplants if possible. So, of course, it makes sense that they are rootless above soil. But now I now what "tricomes" are. Learn something every day. |
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- Posted by thewallawallaian89 7a (My Page) on Sun, Apr 27, 14 at 1:07
| i had only heard of tricomes that are the hairs on marijuana buds. lol. never heard of them referred to on a tomato. Then i googled it. No idea tho. But I have noticed it too |
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- Posted by renzokukin none (My Page) on Sun, Apr 27, 14 at 1:53
| Trichomes My resource http://www-plb.ucdavis.edu/labs/rost/tomato/leaves/leafanat.html The photo below is of my cherry 100 plant that I bought from a Winco food mart. |
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I would assume just to poor handling, probably from seed to sale. Course, really, you have to imagine that the companies growing for big box stores are growing thousands and thousands (hundreds of thousands? millions?) of plants at the same time, they don't have time to baby them like most home gardeners do. That all being said, people grow successful crops of tomatoes from them year after year, so the plants obviously don't seem to mind, as long as they are taken care of once they get to their forever home. So, this comes up a lot, and it is a ever present misnomer that I doubt will ever go away. The hairs on the tomato (any plant really) do not turn into roots once buried. Those hairs (or trichomes) grow from the epidermis only and generally serve as a protective measure. Roots, whether adventitious or otherwise, grow from much deeper inside the plant tissue, adjacent to the vascular bundle which moves food and water through the plant. |
This post was edited by ZachS on Sun, Apr 27, 14 at 11:03
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| Two of the biggest differences between the way large commercial operations grow transplants and home grown or small operators are method of watering (top sprinkle/misting rather than bottom watering) and the massive amounts of air circulation in commercial GHs. Ok, three differences - age of the plants. Bottom line - though it makes no difference to the health of the plant, drastically different growing conditions contribute to the development, or lack thereof, of trichomes. Plus variety - some have more - and age. Dave |
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- Posted by boston3381 7 (My Page) on Tue, Apr 29, 14 at 6:20
| in my option, it might be from using PGR's plant growth regulators. witch stunts the growth height and keeps the plants short and compacted. I might be way-off on this. but open to criticism. |
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- Posted by williammorgan 6b (My Page) on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 14:18
| Must be the difference in the way they're grown like others have said. I start my own and don't buy Bonnie tomatoes but will buy Bonnie Peppers because I'm always late to start them. My tomatoes I've started are pretty hairy and most are much smaller than the Bonnie plants. Never seen how Bonnie plants are grown but it must be quite a production because Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart carry nothing else. |
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| Indoor winter air is usually low in Relative Humidity, whereas a commercial greenhouse is highly humid. So the plants (in commercial greenhouse) do not need those hairs , trying to get moisture to compensate for moisture loss. To me those hairs are similar to thorns grown on some desert vegetation like cacti. Just my theory. |
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- Posted by boston3381 7 (My Page) on Thu, May 1, 14 at 6:29
| I like seysonn theory ! |
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