There is growth, it's just stem growth, but not leaves. That usually indicates not enough light. I know you say it has, but I've always found window light causes stretch in tomatoes and is insufficient. They much prefer fluorescent light when they are young. The window light is longer and stronger in April then in March, and maybe the reason the new ones are taking off a bit faster initially. But once they get to a certain size, they will also likely find window light insufficient, and start stretching. The variety and age of the seeds will also affect their light sensitivity, and maybe the reason you are getting different results then in the past.

Definitely looks like a light issue.

I grow mine from window light. But I have to move them around a lot. I also put them outside when it is sunny as long as it is over 40 and then bring them in. Don't know if you have that kind of time.

But if you just expose them to light in a fixed position, you probably are not going to get enough.

As soon as I see plant, I begin take mine outside every day and move them inside at night. It makes for a very hardy plant that will tolerate the most abusive Georgia heat.

These are Long Keepers variety, non-hybrid, I save the seeds myself year after year. The 1 month seedling stems have been this long for the last 2 weeks, I don't see any change in stem length, There seems to be a lot of roots.

I have been growing the same seeds in the same window for about 20 years without ever having any problems, in fact I have two west facing windows where I have grown tomatoes wthout any issues also, those west windows now have had poor growth also to where I stopped using those windows.

The poor growing seems to have started 4 years ago when the the older windows were replaced by thermo-pane windows, I blamed that in 2009, 2010, in 2011 the tomatoes grew just fine in that same thermo-pane window just like they did for the previous 20 years in the older windows. I blamed something else, then it hit me again this year after a great 2011.

I'm going to install a piece of plexi-glass in that window to replace the lower sash to eliminate the thermo-pane effects. I will also re-pot the 1 month old seedlings and place them in my garage which has old window glass and the seedlings will get sun from the east, south, and west at the same time and see if the recover. We don't plant around here in the northeast PA until about the 1st week in June so I do have about a 6-7 weeks to catch up and I really don't like these Long Keepers to ripen until the very end of the growing season, so later planting is a plus. I just finished up eating the last few Long Keepers at the end of March. They store so well during the winter and taste a lot better than what I get in the store during the winter around here.

Bob P.

Wow, those are long keepers. Might have to try those.

Repot those skiny plants deep ,a fan or breeze on themm makes them fatter as does some cooler temps .In the window mine grow long and skinny just like those ,so now i am deeply repotting them and going to start moving them outside to harden off . One year I grew 4 Sub Arctic Plenty Plants in the window over winter .SAP normaly grow 4-5 feet,mine were to the ceiling and half way back down.I had to tie them up and stake them ,long ,thin jungle growth I did get some tomatoes ,never tried them again

I bet it is the new windows. They are designed to block some light. Might be time to consider supplemental artificial light for your seedlings.

OK, I had opened my thermal pane window all the way up, and replaced the thermal pane windows panel with a plexiglass panel to protect the seedlings from the cold. The 4 day old seedlings in my original post on the left about 6 weeks later look like the ones on the right no true two leaves.
These two test seedlings were from saved 2011 seeds.

So I replanted another batch using 2010 seeds that I had no problem growing in the same window in 2011 with the thermal pane, but this time I left the plexiglass panel in place and this is what I got again 4 weeks later just a hint of the 2 true leaves forming.

I never had so many problems growing seedlings, what could be the cause of this?

Bob P.

Bob, I notice there is no tray underneath the white plastic thingie the seedlings are planted in. Does that mean there are no drainholes in the white thingie?

How do you water, and how often?

Could it be a problem with your seeds losing vigor? Sounds like you may have been inbreeding the same stock for many years. Is that a possibility?

I bottom water in a tray when soil is fairly dry I don't over water. Yes there are drain holes.

These seeds are from Longkeepers a standard non-hybrid variety. As stated in my recent post the seeds I used in my current test are from the same seeds that I planted in the same window last year and grew just fine.

I'm really stumped on this.

I'd water them more often and see what happens. It's either that or the seed-starting mix.

I started three trays of seeds -- mostly tomatoes -- each a week or so apart. The first and third were normal and happy, while the plants in the second tray were an odd color, not as lush, and shorter than the younger third tray. I used Burpee's seed-starting mix with all three: most of a bag for the first tray, the rest of that bag and part of a second for the second tray, etc. No explanation, though the second batch were happier after being potted up.

Mine are exactly the same always started them off in liun window never had problems before in thirty years but after a month still got their seedling leaves getting tall and leggy but not developed their proper leaves

I used gardeners delight and money maker