[tomato] Starting from seed
Marguerite (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Mon, 01 Mar 1999 09:23:49 -0600
Hi Chuck,
Your instructions arrived in the digest just in time for me to get it
right, this year. It has been several years since I tried to start
plants from seed, and those attempts met with little or no success.
For this geographic area, I need to start the seeds in about a week.
The few times in the past, when I have tried and failed, I was depending
on the light from windows. The other problem I had was getting, and
keeping, the soil too damp. You have addressed both of those problems
for me. I have all the supplies you recommended, and will follow your
suggestions "to the letter", in order to get these tomatoes to the
garden in strong, healthy condition.
In previous years, I was gone from home long hours (leaving home in the
dark, and returning in the dark), to be at my work site as school
counselor. Since I have retired, now, (though I loved my work) I do
have the wonderful luxury of totally flexible activities during daylight
hours, and I can give proper attention to the tomatoes this time.
These heirloom tomato seeds, and the steps involved to the end result of
picking tomatoes from the plants are TOP PRIORITY over other vegetables,
and any experiments with soil conditions. I have a good background from
being an Iowa farm girl, and continuing with gardening every summer with
great results. I know a lot of things that do work, and will not
jeopardize my main garden as I conduct experiments with mycorrhiza.
My experiments with the mycorrhiza will be an appropriate distance from
the other plants, in order to have some degree of validity in the
results. I will experiment using some soil that produced great
vegetables last summer, as well as, the soil in a raised bed of newly
delivered topsoil. I will prepared the newly delivered soil as
recommended by the company providing the mycorrhiza product, so as to
give the experiment the best chance I can provide.
I appreciate your very thorough, step, by step, instructions for success
with these seeds. Thank you so much!!
Marguerite Ruch