I started these from seed in early February under grow lights and constantly on a heat mat. I've been very disappointed in the growth rate. It is now week 17 since sowing, and the plants are 2" tall maximum. Last weekend I decided to just put them in the garden and see. They were in 3" pots that are about 4" deep. The roots were extremely shallow. I've never had such a poor result from anything that I've started from seed. I ended up supplementing them with jams n jellies that I found at my local garden center. The pack had the bright magenta and white mixed in as well, so they look wonderful! They are beautiful. However, I'll never grow them from seed again.

Boy there seems to be a real communication problem here. No, it is no secret nor something i just made up. It is common knowledge, discussed in many jelly making discussions here, printed right on the boxes. discussed on page 9 and page 28 of the Ball Blue Book (latest edition) and yes, all that info is also right on their website. From freshpreserving.com: (linked above) Ballî RealFruitî Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin makes delicious and heahtly, lower- calorie jam. It has been reformulated for improved flavor and performance. Recipe options include: --no sugar --low sugar --no-calorie sugar substitutes --honey There is no mention that you can't cook it. That is your assumption. And right below it is the Pectin specifically for freezer jams: RealFruitî Instant Pectin Homemade, no-cook jam has never tasted better. Ballî RealFruitî Instant Pectin is the perfect way to make delicious, homemade jam in under 30 minutes. Enjoy it now or freeze it for use within one year. Please don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Surejell product details

The latest info on the calcium, when mixed with water is that if it darkens or turns an off color, toss it. Why would you want to mix the WHOLE PACKET of calcium powder with water in the first place?? They give you EXTRA calcium in that packet anyway. If you are only using PART of a package of the Pomona pectin, like 1/4 or 1/2 or 3/4, measure out the whole packet of calcium powder too, which is a tiny amount, and then measure only the 1/4 or 1/2 or 3/4 amount of it. PUT THE UNUSED PORTION OF THE REST OF the CALCIUM POWDER BACK INTO THAT SMALL PACKET, fold it over and tape it shut! Then mix that measured amount you juts got, with some water (any amount of water up to 1/4 cup!). I think your 'over analyzing' showing way too much concern about a 'small additive' that is used to trigger the setting up of the Pomona pectin (citrus based). I have not tried it yet, but I bet if you mixed a little BAKING SODA or CALCIUM CHLORIDE (Pickle Crisp) into water, it would ALSO make the Pomona pectin set up just exactly the same!! Because you seem to indicate that your making small batches of jellies, you may want stick with the low/no sugar pectins from SureJel or Ball, etc., ss they only make about 5 cups at a time. If you find the Pomona too difficult or confusing to deal with. These other pectins do not need calcium, BUT must be exact when measuring the total liquid for the batch. NO THERMOMETER NEEDED FOR ANY OF THESE!! Here is a example of a (no recipe!!) the I used to make my apricot preserves. I simply cut up and removed the stones of about 35 apricots, added a little mango nectar juice, and a small package of cut up dried California apricots and acup of water. Used a WHOLE BOX of Pomona, but mixed it with some water and the rest of the mango juice in a blender until it was dissolved. Added plenty of asorbic acid, and Splenda to the now boiling apricots, as well as my favorite 'acid blend' to boost the 'character' and flavor of the 'cots. TASTED until I felt it was sweet enough with the SPLENDA. Then, while boiling, I poured in the dissolved Pomona. Stir well while bringing back to a boil again. Then, I added the WHOLE packet of calcium that was now mixed with a little water (still a 1/4 cup). Stirring while adding it. The spoon now showed a coating and soft globs forming when I lifted it out. Got my jars ready and filled 13 pints. Then BWB processed. End result, perfection!! NO recipe, no worrying, no failure, no probelms, and no setting up failures!! simple... Pomona is good stuff!! It is virtually foolproof!! Best of luck!

The temperature would be 204-220 (depending on your altitude), that is boiling temperature. But jelling point isn't just temperature. It is time at that temperature and that is the unknown as it varies depending on the ingredients and the amount of natural pectin the fruit contains. Some recipes will say 5 mins., some say 5-7 mins., some say until it passes the spoon test or refrigerator test, etc. So the simple answer is you bring it to boiling temp based on your altitude and boil it until it begins to set per one of the tests. See charts in link below. OK? http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_07/jam_without_pectin.html Dave