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  • From: Pete Vukovich <pvukovic1@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] How to start seeds for tomatoes at home
  • Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:11:10 -0700 (PDT)

Agreed these complex precise directions seem like over kill.

The lazy method (no patent pending):
1) Take some soil you're going to grow them in while its still wet, don't do anything to it ,put it in a pot or cup.
2) Push the seeds in about twice their width in depth (do this near your house where its light so you can skip #3), wipe soil evenly over pot.
3) Put them in the light so the leaves get plenty of natural uv, don't worry about the soil temp unless its below 50 or over 75. If your ambitious take them in at night, for the 2 weeks if its cool and you watered, they can get botrytis, but its pretty rare.
4) Don't ruthlessly cut anything, when you're ready to transplant gently grab the base of them stems smack the bottom of the pot,then  run a little water over the 'root ball' and shake the roots apart, do this over the hole you dug to put them in. * Best done when tired of watering starter pots or cups. *About a month,after cotyledons are off color,  maybe around when you find the spade during spring 'cleaning'.
5) Don't give them any feed at all ever, unless you accidentally use that starter 'soil' or your soil is really messed up. If the leaves get yellow go feed your soil, not the plant. If you really need to get nitrogen there quick encourage the livestock , or housepets.
6) Put water on them, big ones maybe a gallon or two every 2-3 days, little ones 1/2 gallon. If its not humid spray a little on the leaves, if it is, don't.
7) Dont weed ever, if you feel compulsive about weeding, throw some arugula seed around it or a couple carrot seeds, or whatever you have left over. Kick the dirt a little, and gently drop the seed, then kick the dirt a little more. Encourage pollinators with mint, or arugula.
8) Pick the fruit when it comes off the vine with minimum effort. If you have to pull too hard it isn't ready, if it falls off you waited too long.
9) Let one or two rot on the vine and next year skip 1-4. Encourage a squirrel to help you pick your next planting spot by tossing them around the garden.

Disclaimer : I've never won any kind of prize for this technique which requires a strict adherence to doing as little work as humanely possible. Probably everyone already does it so I can't even patent it which would take far more work than just doing it , paradoxically destroying its systemic value. So far experiments show it seems to work with almost everything but herbs, for some reason I'm told you need to augment them with awful soil.


--- On Sun, 3/29/09, Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net> wrote:
From: Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] How to start seeds for tomatoes at home
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Sunday, March 29, 2009, 9:55 PM

I strongly disagree with some of this advice. I'm starting Genovese
tomatoes and Italian frying peppers right now, no problems.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
------------------------------------------

How to start seeds for tomatoes at home
Feeling up to a challenge? Try growing tomatoes from seeds.
published Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 12:00 AM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2008936620_zhom28tomatoseed
grow.html

For many, there's nothing like the satisfaction of slicing into a juicy
tomato you've known since it was a seed. If you want to be along for the
ride as your tomatoes make the journey from tiny sprouts to sprawling
fruit-producers, here are the basics for starting the trip.

Timing is critical for starting tomato seeds. Because tomatoes are
semitropical, they can't go outdoors in the ground until the risk of frost
is past and the soil is warm enough to be hospitable. Check a local almanac
for the best timing.

Count back six to eight weeks for starting tomato seeds. Start too early,
and your plants could mope around indoors getting stalky. Here's how to get
started:

• Choose your pots: You can sow lots of seeds in shallow flats or trays
with many small cells and later transplant them to larger pots where they
have space to develop more roots. But those larger pots can take up a lot
of space.

I only need a few tomato plants, so I start out in 3- or 4-inch-diameter
pots and skip the transplanting step. I sow three seeds in each pot to be
sure one will make it.

Many special kits are sold for seed-starting, but you can use any
thoroughly clean, freely draining container (old cell packs, yogurt cups
with holes poked in the bottom, peat pots, newspaper pots). If you are
reusing containers, sterilize them in a solution of 1 part bleach to 9
parts water, because tender seedlings are vulnerable to disease.





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