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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Frank Fries wrote:

> > Anyway, I planted mostly paste tomatoes, Roma, Opalka, and Sausage,
> >  but I also planted one slicing variety, Mortgage Lifter, and quite
> >  a few tomatillos, Green Husk.
>
> I have never tried tomatillos - I have seen them in seed catalogues. 
> They taste mostly like tomatoes ??  Or different ?

They are very similar to tomatoes.  Salsa verde is made with tomatillos.
  One of the big differences, to me, is the way they grow...a tomatillo
will continue to produce even in the drought...they are not picky and
produce gobs of 'fruit'.  I make various salsa verdes with them and can it.

> When I bought a flourescent "shop light" (mounts on chains) there 
> were "regular" tubes and then various other kinds (full spectrum, 
> blue, plant lights, etc).   Some of them were quite a bit more than 
> the regular ones, others were not much more.  I bought some that were
>  supposed to be better. The new light didn't come with tubes, so I
> had to buy some anyways.  I have only used them for one year now and 
> given that it is the only one I have used, I can't say whether they 
> are better than the regular flourescents or not.  I had to go to a 
> light because I was starting more pots every year and I got kicked 
> out of some of the prime windows, including a window in the kitchen 
> with a good sized counter area in front of it.

Well, today we bought a mid-priced 2 light fixture and some plant and
aquarium bulbs...48" lights.  I have my seeds under lights now.  It will
be interesting to compare the tomatoes and peppers (when they germinate)
with the leggy brassicas that were originally under plain fluorescents.

At the moment, the trays are sitting on a stack of laminate flooring
with the lights propped over them(not hanging).  DH intends to build
something, but for now, this will get the job done.

I guess my big peat pot question is do you find you have to transplant
sooner than if you have sown the seed in a regular 9 pack cell or in a
non-divided flat?

Leslie,  for the TP rolls, I do not cut them in half.  I do cut down the
paper towel rolls that people give me. (I don't use paper towels)
The reason for using the rolls is to aid in transplanting corn which has
a taproot of sorts.  I take a tray, like a busboy's dishtray, and put
about an inch of soil in the bottom.  Then, I position the rolls upright
in the tray and fill the rolls 1/2 to 2/3's full with potting soil. Then
I add the seed/kernel and finish filling the tube to cover the seed.  By
doing this, the root has some growing space and is not diverted or
curled in a normal cell.  When you lift the roll, the taproot remains
straight even if it extends beyond the roll.  Because of this, if you
shorten the roll by cutting it in half, you are defeating the
purpose-you don't give the  taproot room to grow and you lose seed
coverage. Then, I water everything in and I do not cover it.  Corn
sprouts quickly and I water it when I plant it and again maybe every
other day until it germinates.  Once it germinates, I get it in the
ground pretty quickly.  The life of a roll is about 2 weeks, one of
which is spent during germination.  The wetter it is, the less time you
have because the roll loses its integrity, so no, I do not cover the
seeds with anything.

We stopped by Home Depot today to price sand for the dedicated
carrot/root bed.  Paver's sand was like $3.88 a bag.  On the way out, I
noticed a cart of broken bags of sand, mulch, topsoil, etc.  I found a
manager and asked about the price...To my utter amazement, he said
0.58/bag!!!  We got some duct tape, taped up the bags, and cleaned out
the bin..the damage was only $13, and I got 6 or 7 bags of pavers sand,
a half bag of topsoil, two bags of ground bark mulch, and two bags of
dolomitic lime.  All the bags seemed to weigh close to their original
weights, so I think I got a pretty good deal.

Later, we stopped at another place and bought some herb seeds as well as
some dragon tongue beans. I'm psyched as this is a bean I've been
wanting to try.  I think we are going to make a culinary herb bed near
the back door...we are in the planning stage at present...so cool.

Bev


--
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race"

~ Calvin Coolidge