Seed starting question regarding germination

[twistingtendril]

Hi Kathy, sorry I'm not near you, I'm in Ventura County, way south of you, but I would hope there are growers like me in your area, who will have a nice variety of tomato plants available over the next month or two. You still have plenty of time to find some great plants, and really, even start your own, to have a fun selection of tasty tomatoes this year. No need to rush things if temps are still lower than plants would like. Beans and cukes like warmer soil, and just like tomatoes, don't appreciate being set out too soon.

I hope you have a great season, sounds like your garden will have some nice goodies.

[jackdaniel]

Originally Posted by lumierefrere

I usually start 6 in order to get 2 for me. Even if I get 1 for 1 germination which is absolutely predictable with my own saved seeds, one must plan for catastrophes like last year when the light fixture fell onto the seedlings. As long as I have the 2 healthy, strong individuals, I'm happy. All the spares I bring to the library where people happily adopt them except Craig's weird tendril leaf ones that scared everybody.

Hehe. Pic (of the plant)? Would love to see of pic of the people's faces as well. Somewhat like the reaction to a BLACK tomato!

[Katmary]

Hey gang! Since my post is two pages, I'm going to respond to pg. 1 first.

Tania, I'll definitely listen to your advice, since all but a couple packs of seeds came from you! Thank you for such wonderful service! =D Since it's my first year growing my own tomatoes, I'm worried about every little detail, even ones I shouldn't be! BTW, every seed for Brandywine Cherry was up in two days, very impressive!

I think even with all the warnings I may have planted some too deep. A group were up right away so I was hoping the others would follow, but now the ones that have been up for 5 days are getting super leggy so I'm thinking of cutting them out of the tray and putting them into 9 packs that I'll make from older trays so I can get them under the lights ASAP. I know they shouldn't be touching the top yet, but some came up in two days while others are at the week point and I'm still waiting. I followed the 1/4th planting rule as well.

Habitat Gardener, I wish I could go to the show, but I'm unable to drive very far. I'm glad to hear about the increase of seminars on edible gardening, that's great! Thank you for letting me know about it. I get e-mails from Love Applie Farm and they have many good seminars and classes, I'd love to go to one sometime!

Thank you all for responding to my posts, and for posting so much useful information. The site has the kindest people.

Kat

[Katmary]

Twisting Tendril,

I'm hoping everything goes well with my attempt at growing! I'm growing Armenian Cucumbers for my Dad and those things are huge already, they sprouted real fast. They're similar to muskmelon and why in the world I grew them in the same tray as my herbs is beyond me! Thank goodness I at least put them in cups! Live and learn!

I think my downfall last year was rushing to get my tomatoes prior to going in the hospital as I didn't know how I'd be feeling afterward. The tomatoes I bought off Craigslist weren't picked up by me, but they did look fine when I got them. Shortly after they grew a bit and especially when they had fruit I realized some weren't what they were supposed to be, and and two were diseased. I ended up going to a few nurseries instead with lists from tomato sites and of course the owners didn't have most of the favorites from tomato forums! Just because that happened once doesn't mean I wouldn't buy from someone on Craigslist again, I'd just want to go myself so I could check things out for myself. I actually did see another ad that had many I wanted and sounded more knowledgable, but I'd already planted the duds and was hoping they would make it!!!

I really do think in the long run, growing my own will be worth it overall. I'm enjoying it so far! Of course, it's more challenging than growing herbs, but I'm having fun. It'll be nice to have seeds to trade too, as well as knowing I can try ones I'm curious about and having seeds of ones I grow repeatedly. I don't mind buying seedlings though, I'm planning to get most my peppers that way when the time comes since I lagged on them! It's too bad you aren't around here, I'd feel safe buying from another Tomato lover!

Thank you for your help,
Kathy