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Old October 20, 2017   #26
murihikukid
Tomatovillian™
 
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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Invercargill New Zealand
Posts: 1,022
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Hi..Well I can see the points your making but you are in Texas in the USA and I am in Invercargill New Zealand ..the two locations are incomparable plus what Tomato growers can buy in the USA is simply not available here which means I spend a lot of time reading articles on Google and doing my best in many cases by improvising....I presume you can buy seeds in the USA ...here in NZ we have a few companies that sell seeds but the range is extremely narrow so if one wants variety one goes to Trademe...our equivalant of Ebay...but what is one buying ....and how old are they ...Why do I have no more that a 10% success rate on germinating using a damp paper towel....when seeds I saved myself from last seasons crop I got nearly 100%...apart from Indian Stripe that is really proving difficult ... I may have one seedling touch wood.
Growth chambers are used around the world for seedlings but probably not required in Texas.and I do not understand where the " Closing them up in a tight container with moisture seems to be a recipe for damping off and for sick or dead seedlings." comes from.....but the proof will be what comes out after 2 - 3 weeks in my chamber under special conditions..... My readings suggest I am doing nothing wrong apart from growing Tasty Toms that are blind?? But that is learning ..I knew there could be problems growing Tasty Tom seeds from the fruit.
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Yes I admit I had far too many plants in my green house last year but did I lose any from disease ...No I did not because I spent the time and looked after them all after being told to throw them out and start again...I did get powdery mildew but that came from plants I bought at a local garden Centre and only affected certain varieties...This season I will have a quarter of the plants I had last season ....The seeds I am growing are for varieties not available from garden centres ..The Tasty Tom Seeds were just an experiment to see what happens...I have 6 "mature" Tasty Toms that will be put in my greenhouse as soon as the growing company notifies me they are ready ...They will provide me with plants way ahead of anything i would have and I could use laterals to grow even more so even if my Tasty Tom seeds are all blind its no great loss...and I would have learn't something...So basicly I think I have everything under control apart from knowing some basics like ensuring i give my seedlings the best soil to grow in....
If my memory is right this time 12 months ago i had not even started building the beautiful greenhouse I now have...

Regards Ron
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