Fruitnut: I applaud your efforts, at worst you may be eccentric, who cares, at best, ahead of the curve. All of us should be aiming for what works best in our area as you well know. Speaking from experience, greenhouse and high tunnel culture are worlds vastly apart from outdoor culture, each have their own set of challenges and benefits. Probably the biggest set of challenges, depending on the regional climate, for the beginner is the relative lack of information on growing under cover when it comes to fruits. Being an atypical beginner to outdoor fruit culture, it is wonderful to have access to so much information ranging from published refereed journal research to gardening magazine articles. Though the learning curve is steep, at least there are many good footholds to use to climb the hill and many hands held out to help. I suspect trying to find labeled pesticides for fruit crops under plastic is pretty challenging also. Just curious what your water quality is like and soils as the 2 can lead to problems with salt accumulations over time depending on the water quality, soil type and irrigation practices. Like many, our little postage stamp sized horticultural enterprise could definitely use more land, there is none available. Both my wife and I would love to put up a high tunnel for extended vegetable production but we lack the means. It is quite unfortunate as I easily have the expertise to erect and maintain a high tunnel and farm under plastic. I just remembered a benefit you may not have ever mentioned to growing under plastic, you don't have to wear sunscreen to avoid sunburn! Darned it, now I really wish I had a high tunnel!

Jackie, I leave my amaryllis outside all year-round. They get full summer sun in Phoenix and they LOVE IT! They get watered by my lawn sprinklers, but when its 110 degrees outside, there's no such thing as too much water. Java, Benadryl (aka diphenhydramine) is the active ingredient in most over the counter sleep aids. So the fact your groggy comes as no surprise. Depending on the quantity and location of your hives, may I suggest using TOPICAL Benedryl gel? Every drug store will have it, it comes in a small white bottle with teal print. You can apply it locally to each hive without the nasty drowsiness. The stuff is amazing for taking away the itch from mosquito bites too! I have a few questions related to the original topic here.... 1st, is it possible the attached pups are draining energy from mama bulb, and that's why she's not blooming? Too focused on the kids to worry about herself? 2nd, for me to grow tulips in Phoenix and get a second year of blooms from them, I dig them up, clean them up, dry them out and put them in a brown paper bag in the fridge for a few weeks. Is it possible to do the same treatment for an amaryllis to force dormancy, or is the fridge TOO cold? Mind you, if you use this method, you CAN NOT have fresh produce in your fridge.

Les, to answer yr question night-time temps in the last week have been in the 60's, and will likely not go below that from now on. re the watering advice, I don't know why anyone would think that is contradictory. It is standard advice on watering, and I have always followed that and there is good botanical reasoning why deep and less often is the way. These two plants were picked up late and perhaps neglected in their infancy, so that may be a reason why they are slow to take off. I'm getting some aged horse manure which I will work in to the top few inches, perhaps that will give them a boost. I also have a Big Boy someone gave me. Does anyone have any feedback re Big Boy vs Ramapo for a novice, as far as having success? Altho I suspect they are both about the same. anyway, I have to find a place for the Big Boy and hope that effort will be more "fruitful". Thanks all.

Update on the Update Update.... I am beginning to see that it may be "Damping Off", Now that I have seen pictures, yes, it looks exactly like it does in the pictures. One reason for it suddenly happening is that I may have chosen two seeds that are, in fact, prone to disease. Coincidence? Maybe... The Rutger's tomato is both a strong plant and is not susceptible as noted from Burpee. The presence of moss on most of them, including on the soil of the Rutgers, may have changed the pressure of the Hydrogen but even Burpee representative says that it doesn't look that bad but maybe it doesn't take much. Meanwhile, I have an ICU triage section where I have a few premies under special care. However, damping off, even if they survive will probably be weak and stinted plants. Still, I want to see it through if nor nothing else than the study of it. After all my inquiry these last few weeks, I am surprised is that no one mentioned Damping Off here, on another forum, from two agriculture centers and a garden center. Now, I am going to bet that a lot of people will mention that they have seen it and, as many guys claim, I can honestly say "It has never happened to me before...." (: