On Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:07:14 -0600, Suzanne D. wrote:

"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message
...
After last year's late blight fiasco I've sworn off buying plants from
the Big Box stores, I'm doing everything from seed.


Good for you! Last year I got my slicing and Roma tomatoes from
department stores, and when they grew to 1/5 the size of the heirlooms I
started from seed (and with much less fruit), I decided to start ALL of
my tomatoes from seed this year. In addition to them probably being
healthier overall, I also get to decide what to grow them in, and can
keep them clean by only using organic potting soil and no chemical
fertilizers. Old habits cause me to get excited every time I see trays
of seedlings at stores, but overall I LOVE that I am growing everything
from scratch this year. --S.

I tried doing it from seed a couple of years ago but I started way to
early (February under grow lights) and they all died before I had a
chance to plant them so I ended up buying plants from the garden center
and from the big box stores. Last year with everything drowning from the
rain except my fruit, which did terrifically (blueberries and
strawberries), I did a second pass of plants (not tomatoes) in summer and
fall by starting them on wet plates, planting them in containers and then
transplanting them to the garden. That technique was pretty successful
given the limitations of our short growing season so I feel comfortable
doing everything from seed this year. The good thing about seeds is that
there are so many more varieties to choose from, the garden centers only
have the major modern varieties, they hardly have any heirlooms.