Before I fill any of my flats I flip them over and put on a piece of duct tape, then with an industrial strength sharpie I write the name. Duct tape doesn't come off and the sun can't bleach out ink on a label under the bottom of the flat. No missing markers and no faded ink.

Making markers should be one of the last things you do, not the first. Assuring that the flats are labeled correctly and permanently is the first thing you do before you fill and sow.

You can't guess with seedlings--the best case scenario is to divide the two by appeance and add an equal amount together in a pot and sell as a duo.

T

Unfortunately you can't tell them apart until they form clusters.

One way to make sure they don't get mixed up next year would be to mark the containers in some way (paint) or use different colored containers or put them in different trays and mark the trays. You can just use paint and mark them 1, 2, etc. then keep a key that says 1=Cherokee Purple, 2= SuperSweet 100 etc.

Good luck.

Randy

Sell them at half price and tell people they are one of two varieties but still good plants.

That way you don't take a total hit on them.

I'm growing some supersweet 100 myself. This is just a observation on my part but the leaves seem rounder looking than the typical regular leaf. :) Good luck.

Sumilea

Maybe this will help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato leaf scans

meershaum, thanks for the link. For those who have never inspected, it is surprising how much difference there is in the leaflet pattern from one variety to the next, with the possible exception of Potato Leaf varieties.

That said, some varieties have leaves that are very similar. I had a Celebrity and an Early Girl in the same ebox last year, try as I might I could not positively identify one plant from the other. There was as much variation in the leaves within the same plant as there was between plants.

I like that link Meershaum!

A few centuries back tomatoes were grown as ornamentals--the leaves are quite attractive and I think they're distinctive.

I ran across that site a couple of years ago, it might have even been from a posting here, but as soon as I saw it I bookmarked it right away thinking "That is going to be useful someday!"

Duct tape and different colored containers, both great ideas. As is the idea to sell them together for half price. If only they weren't on total opposite ends of the spectrum size wise *lol* live and learn, right?

and I like that link, but since they're all still pretty small, the leaves are still hopelessly the same.