I've got a type of tomato, I started indoors, crimson sprinter. I have no idea if it's determinate or not. Only need three big tomato plants, one cherry tomato plants, surrounded by basil-companion planting to keep out pests. The onions I'm planting are red and good for southern growing- have you checked the price of red onions lately? More expensive and I like them better. Thanks for the idea of training watermelon and winter squash to go outside garden- that'll work with some innovative ways , it would totally work, on the south part of my garden. My daughter loves watermelon, and really wants to grow it-she's 4. It's sugar baby, so it's small. As for the corn, I thought the beans would be good to help fix nitrogen to the soil, with zucchini around it. Yes, going to plant peas and carrots, even loose leaf lettuce towards end of summer when other crops have been harvested. Thanks for all the help and tips! I will definitely learn from this. lol I know i have limited space, but the good flavor or fresh, organic veggies can't be beat! Also, being a new gardener, i'm a little -what's the word- got spring fever? I don't know, have so many ideas, want to plant so many things... Is gardening addictive? Lol

Hey everyone.. I wish I could of got a couple of better shots than that, but I think you all get the point. Josh, thanks pal! I do love the looks of the mix. I can tell you that anytime I ever transplant out of this mix, the roots to my plants always look clean and bright white. For anyone that thinks a mix like this might dry out too fast, not so. It does dry out a bit faster than most mixes with peat, but I have also learned that watering my plants more frequently happens to encourage better growth as a whole. What I did notice too was that once water touches the bark, immediately it starts to decompose as anything would, which doesn't require as much frequent watering as I first started out with. In fact, here is what the mix looks like after sitting in just two days of water. But, it does break down a lot slower than a mix with small fine particles and dries out so evenly. The key is to soak it first before use. Greendale, for me this mix is just as good as the gritty one because I am not using any peat fraction at all. The Pumice and Perlite do not breakdown at all while the bark breaks down just as slow as the one I use in the gritty. What I like about it is, it is much lighter than the gritty, although the gritty certainly has its place in my world. Happy New Year to you all...Josh, Purple and Greendale! Silientsurfer, A special hello to you Silent surfer! Where have you been these days? I missed you around these parts. Great to see you using the same method. Nice. I'll bet your plants are loving it. Hi Yield? What;s that? I think Super thrive is loaded with B's. At least that is what is says. It was good to see you stop by. Don't be a stranger. Enjoy this day. It's going to get frigid today! 35 was like a heatwave this morning and 8 tomorrow morning will feel like Siberia. I am not looking forward to that. I can hear the 50 mile per hour wind gusts moving in.. Um, love the edit feature. I almost forgot the pic of the mix after two days of being soaked. This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 8:50

Heres my two cents: sunflowers are incredibly fast growers, so much that many gardners consider their growth to weeds. thats typically why not many seed start sunflowers... but in your case they might manke a good choice for that reason! The plan you laid out might not work for one reason. Seedstarters presprout seeds in moist paper towels to either check germination rate or select the viable plants (as you said). However, this extra stage will temporarlilly stunt the new plants, limiting fast growth. How many people are you giving the plants too? I believe that it is worth the extra buck or too and buy a second packet of seeds and skip the presprout method (for reasons given above). This way if you don't have a good germination rate you will still have enougth plants. The extra plants can be planted in your garden! Also; i personally dojnt recomend peat pots. i started everything in peat pots this year and have found that they are very likely to grow moldy under normal conditions and will start to degrade before tehy are planted outside in soil. In addition, i dont think they would be the most attractive choice as a partfavor and could easily fall apart in transit home. Instead copnsider a decorative plastic cup or cheap clay pots. Bot would look nice, withstand normal wear and tear, and lock in moisture MUCH better than peat pots. Finnaly, have you thought about bulbs? Bulbs are 100 times easier to force indoors and might even flower in a weeks time. A bulb is a nice natural gift that i am sure your guests would appreciate and are both easier to care for and better looking in a short period of time. (newborn seedlings might not be a responsibility that your guest want...) I hope this helps (and sorry for such a lengthy answer) Sarah

morning all! I don't post much in the plant forums but I love heucheras! I have no idea how many I have but they are everywhere here! I have been doing my clean up here in Ma. I just break pieces of as I am cleaning up and tuck them in promix, no rooting powder nothing. I leave them in the shade and have dozens of new plants for the swaps every year. RE: covering the long stem of a more mature plant, why?? pull that whole baby out of the soil, pull each little clump apart and plant all the small pieces. I cut that big stem into about 2 inch pieces, stick it in the ground and voila....more plants....lol I end up with soooo many plants that I leave them at the end of my street with a free sign. Good luck Lisa