here's another.

now this is one the Burpee plants.

The Burpee plants seem to be ok. How's the growth rate of the Burpee plant? Does it seem ok to you? It's definitely not too late to dig up the Bonnie plants and remove the peat pots. Water well before and after you dig them up so you are not dealing with dry roots. Just my .02

The Bonnies Best were planted two weeks before the Burpees ?

If that was my garden, early when the soil has not warmed adequately, the Bonnies plants would sit in shock, while the new Burpees having gone in warmer soil, take off. Eventually the Bonnies will start up, but that takes awhile. They lag behind the others longer than one might think.

Then too, if those are different varieties, that may be part of it too.

This post was edited by plaidbird on Sat, Jun 21, 14 at 14:32

Even though the frost free date here in Ohio is May 15th, I did not plant till May 22 because of night temperatures in the high 30's / low 40's until then. Tomatoes do not like several cold nights like that. Perhaps that happened to you? Feed and water them and they'll probably be alright unless they did get frosted. If you took the bottom out of the peat pot I would not think that a problem.

the burpee plants took a couple weeks and shot up. I have been watering and feeding them all properly. (can't water tonight cause i had to spray railroad ties with animal repellant spray cause something's eating my beans). I think we planted around the 22nd also. I've also always mostly removed the peat pots from the Bonnie ones and never recall them taking this long to get going. Thinking of replacing a couple to see what happens.

Yeah, they are stressed for some reason. The branches pointing upward like that is a sign of stress IMO. Doesn't really add up though. Tomatoes are pretty resilient, and it would seem that they should take off also as long as they are in good soil.

To compare them, they have to be the same variety. Are they?

But the first 2 plant just look under fed.
your planting them in peat pots can be a factor even with the bottom removed.

I've always planted these the same way, carefully partially removing part of the peat pot and planting them. I dont get it either.

Just a suggestion to try - carefully dig up one of them, strip off all the pot and replant it. If it picks up quickly showing lots of new growth then you have the cause of your problem identified.

Dave

it's hard to tell from the pics but those dark spots on the stems of bonnie plants don't look good. Are they shadows or stem rot?

I agree with taking off the pot. Many of the tomatoes in my garden are from Bonnie Plants. The first thing I do is remove the plastic. Then I soak the plant real good till the pot falls apart when I handle it. I then peel off the pot, then plant. They do much better than the ones that are left in the peat pot in the long run.

Exactly. The first time I got Bonnie's in the peat pots I planted them, pot and all. Late in the season and when the frost came and it was time to pull, I noticed the pots hadn't broken down fully, resulting in long beautiful roots, but shallow.

and I do think they're shadows. I replaced 2 of them a week and a half ago. Let's see what happens...

Recent professional advice I've heard says to wait a month after the last frost date. I tried it this year and my heirloom tomato plants are doing great.

I can't imagine waiting until June 30 to plant my tomatoes. Jiminy Cricket. If I plant on the "last frost date (May 31st)" I know I'm already late and will get a reduced harvest.

I hate peat pots. They seem to be great at growing mold and fungus but not the plants we want. If I buy Bonnie's plants, I completely remove the peat before planting.

The plants in your pictures are not happy, clearly. Definitely remove the peat pots and make sure they have the fertilization needed and not excessive water. Plants that look like that in NJ early summer don't need water.