NiceThoughts from the Belly piece. I love winter and look foreward to its arrival when the last perennial blooms itself out, the annuals start to struggle, and the trees begin taking on some color, and then drop all that color in my yard. Once the process begins, I don't bemoan the sure to come hard frost that knocks everything down so I can tidy up, fill up the compost pile, hang my implements in their rightful place. And with six months of winter coming, wishing for spring would make its arrival infinitely farther away. And I've often wondered if those who live in climates where gardening is possible year round appreciate the same kind of renewal and rejuvenation as those of us who don't. It would seem too easy to take it all for granted. True, seasonal change is the end of something, but it's also the start of something else - maybe a more thoughtful period of time or, at least, one in which energies can be directed elsewhere: scheming, dreaming, reading, planning, even things not garden or yard related - those things put aside during the growing months. But not in wishing for spring. Winter is not without it's glory - frosted trees that shimmer in the sun; air so cold it's filled with ice crystals; contours, contrasts and a stark beauty not quite appreciated in mid-July. So, bring it on. Give me a 3-4 foot covering of snow that lasts throughout the season insulating my hard work from drying winds and bitter wind chills. I'm retired, I don't have to go out in it, even though more often than not I choose to, but can enjoy the pristine scene and snow bent branches from any window in my house. But really, what's more fun than a snow shovel, heavy coat, boots, mittens, scarf, and hat to dump a few pounds of coffee grounds on the compost?

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

Hard to get hold of: Bambusa forbesii-from the Bloomfield River north-but mainly Iron Range etc. Schizostachyum sp "Murray Island"- from an island in the northeastern Torres Strait. Bambusa moreheadiana- climbing one from the Wet Tropics Bambusa arnhemica- NT. All grow well in my garden near Murwillumbah- B. arnhemica goes a little yellow on the plants down the slope which is a little colder. I have massive changes in success rates depending on the distance planted from the cold air down the slope and the amount of exposure to full sun and cold wind. B. forbesii grows well and has massive leaves- All are clumpers. S. sp Murray Island forms tight compact clumps and is most attractive- they do amazingly well considering their equatorial habitat on an island!!!! I noticed that our dry wet season this year (only 300mm over the Jan-March period) made them look thirsty-but the cold doesnt worry them -we get down to 3 degrees everywinter-except this winter in which 3.8 has been the coldest-which is up on the norm. From Kris http://www.bambooworld.com.au/pages/contents.htm maybe able to help. I will have sufficient propagation material of both species soon.

I'm having the same problem. I could be wrong as I'm unable to find any information about it and when I ask im usually blowen off with some non answer or that I'm doing it wrong. I think its too much green spectrum from full spectrum leds. White leds are full spectrum. I've got friends that use just the blue and red spectrum and they don't seem to be having the same problem. I know for sure the purple to black discoloration on the meaty part of the leaf is a sign of a hid light being to close. Some people who think they are in the know try to tell me it mag or potassium deficiencies but it seems obvious to me its the light damage over time. As it usually hits hardest on larger older leaves near the top not necessarily smaller younger growth at the very top and becoming worse over time. The damaged leaves also become brittle and sometimes rough towards the back of the leaf. Light has the property of knocking electrons off atoms where the affect of this decreases through the spectrums uv light does the most damage then blue, green down to red doing the least damage. Plants have two light receptors to make the sugars required for growth, blue and red. Green light is used for vegetative growth and also prevents stretching keeping the plant shot and bushy. Some plants need to stretch a little to maximize the budding sights so running green spectrum will lower yeald when flowering. Iv noted that running a bigger distance between light and plant or less wats decreased the damage. But light penatration through the plant decreased dramatically doing this. Not all leds have the same recommendation for the hight above the plants some high power leds need 24 inches or more as compared to some that have a recommendation of 12 inches. Also the rasing the hight of the light affects the red spectrum more than the others as the red spectrum will drop of faster over distance lowering yeald. I'm beginning to suspect manufacturers are pushing for white full spectrum leds as the red leds tend to burn out too fast and aren't as reliable busting their claim of 50k hours when the red leds are lucky to last 10k hours. So to get a readly available source of red spectrum they use white leds to supply the red spectrum but has the disadvantages of producing green spectrum and im beginning to think too much green which is burning the plant.