colleen i am sorry you felt my observation was nasty. i only meant to say that whoever told would be better able to clarify what they meant where for others it would be just a guess. it seems that someone did reply to your question 30mins before your post here, you should have had that anqwer in your email ;-) just another observation "Start the seeds every week or two until early fall, and you'll have plenty of Lettuce up until late fall. o RE: Lettuce in a container question * Posted by colleen_gardener 6 Bayonne, NJ (My Page) on Sat, Jun 9, 07 at 19:14 How much sun/shade does lettuce need? Is it like tomatoes where it needs a lot of sun and water? I don't understand what you mean by start seeds every week or two until early fall - keep putting seeds in the same pot? o RE: Lettuce in a container question * Posted by organic49 Edison,N.J. (My Page) on Sat, Jun 9, 07 at 19:33 5-6 hours of sun is enough. Lettuce doesn't like summer heat.Keep containers moist daily. Starting seeds every week,keeps you in lettuce all the time. Move to shade throughout summer." Here is a link that might be useful: Lettuce in a container question

Yippee, Milkweed (Asclepias) is generally very easy to start from seed. My Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) self-sows abundantly in the garden, and I had great success with winter-sowing 6 different species of Asclepias this past winter. (I have a particular interest in Milkweed, plan to grow more species this coming winter, and also raised Monarch butterflies for the first time this summer, which is really amazing.) Winter-sowing is a method of sowing seeds in plastic containers filled with soil, which are then placed outside during the winter (or Spring). People usually use recycled containers, it requires no electricity, is a low-cost way to have lots of plants, and seeds that require cold treatment or stratification will get it! There is much info at the Winter Sowing forum and FAQ. The seeds will sprout when they are ready and then you can transplant your seedlings when they're small. It's easier than trying to monitor sprouts in the ground, although that would work too.

Thanks, Need2SeeGreen! Really heavy rains every week or so. Some cold but no snow where I am (some in higher areas; I'm only 2200'). The moles are digging in my lawn, and the hairy bittercress (cute little weed which would like to take over the world) is flowering madly. I need to prune the apple trees. The violets are putting out tentative leaves; probably the pink ones are flowering -- they're evergreen, and nothing much stops them. The spring camellia flowered Thursday -- and froze Friday night; this cycle will continue for a while. It looks like this year the scillas/squill will bloom before the Jeanne d'Arc crocuses. I will start some of the tomato seeds this week (indoors).

Well, I am quite thrilled to read these great responses! I live in Zone 7, but our Winter is still long. The zones just refer to the extremes in temperature, not how long it lasts. I have noticed volunteer tomatoes come out earlier than I would choose to plant out. So, I can watch for that as a sign. I do not have any trouble with legginess of my tomato seedlings. I have a picture window that faces full-South, and shelves there (for seedling starting in Winter) outfitted with shop-lights. I read somewhere that it is important to use fresh bulbs (fluorescent tubes) as the light diminishes over time. I do not get new ones every year, but if one seems to put out less (judging by the plants), I use that on my alpine strawberry seedlings or something else that doesn't mind. I want to start even earlier because I'd like to keep tomato strains true when I grow them out. I plan to grow out severl this year, and if one flowers first for a week, then they are in the clear, and I can mark those fruits, and then not really worry about the rest. I guess what I mean is that an early & staggered start will allow me to focus on each plant as it comes into bloom, selecting from that, and moving on to the next one. I do have some limitations (medically), so it would be easier to focus on them staggered rather then so many at one time. It may not work out the way I hope, but I figure it is a good experiment for this year. By choosing good varieties for this (my un-familiarity with varieties hurts my experiment here) I can better insure success. The funny thing is that I don't really eat tomatoes--except in spaghetti sauce. BUT, everyone else loves them, and I find there is a group involved with tomatoes that have a zeal for the plant like no other vegetable/fruit. A great deal of home-breeding is going on, and I find it the most fascinating thing. Tomatoes provide a great opportunity to study genetics at home, and to look very intensely at varietal development in plants. I guess I am hooked for a reason not common to most, but I am hooked. So, I will try my experiment this year, and see how it works for me. I am thankful at the varieties/categories I see mentioned. When mentioning "use determinate or dwarf" plants, how can I find out which is which? I have consulted some websites, but is there a thorough tomato base out there? Keep the posts coming! Happy Holidays, Robin