Hey Nila, thanks! That weird looking tomato is a Blush, kinda like a roma, really tasty and made for eating right off the vine. I don't really cook with tomatoes, just eat them straight. Definitely going to try those veggies for winter! Terrene, seems like whenever i look at tomato seeds or advice about toms it's always 8 hours or more. The white poly film I have up really helps, makes the grow area feel more like a greenhouse. If bright sunlight is between 30,000 and 100,000 lumens, I'm guessing I'm getting 5,000-15,000 of indirect light for most of the day, which is comparable with indoor grow lights. The grow bags are reusable and look like they'll last a number of years. The Root Pouch ones are much thicker than the Smart Pots and have better handles. I get them locally for $4.50 for a 5 gal. I'd like to have a raised bed but there's just no way to do it. My entire space is 4x10 feet with a little walkway in the middle. Total I have 4-6 pots on each side. And I reuse the soil, mix it in with some mulch and water it when I'm not using it to keep the organic bacteria alive. Here's today's harvest from 3 plants. Not huge, but this would probably go for $4 at a grocery store:

,Barb the funny thing is, YOU just made me even busier today with the plants that arrived today lol THANKS. I will find them a good spot in their new home. Mary that is probably a tree I would bring back from Florida lol I think Magnolia blossoms are so gorgeous. But the yellow blooming forsythia does indeed bring nice color in early spring. I only have to small twiggs from arbor day foundation. So how long did our sweet actress sleep? She must have had great dreams from her play! Eloise thanks. It worked. No rain and painted all morning. Almost done with the front now. I will give it a rest on sunday. I did however plant some of the seedlings and worked all afternoon in the yard. Lucy

Interesting data. I don't have any "official" data, but I noticed my Burpee Jalapeno M were some of the first to pop up. They aren't the early ones per say, but they are usually the first variety that produces ripe fruit for me. Probably around 8 days if I had to guess to pop up(based on the 4-5 days it took for the 'maters). California Wonder, Big Dipper, and Chianti were about a day later. Anaheim were a little slower for some reason. Corno di Toro never germinated at all, as you know.

Thanks, guys..... I'm encouraged by your positive comments. I will def try grow-lights for my plants. I killed some of the best plants, expensive too, over the years because NYC winters are really terrible for my fat-plants, that usually grow in sunny deserts. I will tell you, NYC ain't no sunny desert when winter comes. If I'm lucky, I'll get maybe 4 months of good growing conditions....May-Sept....and then, the cultural challenges begin. But, try, I must....once again. Adeniums, culturally, are far more difficult to grow well than my other, way easier, fat-plants, i.e. Bursera fageroides and Operculicarya decaryi/pachypus. These fat-trees go dormant in Nov-Dec, and stay quiescent until early-spring. I give them a little moisture, usually around the end of March, and then, they're off.....and get fatter each year. They grow in classic gritty mixture with ferts. Nice plants, but no showy flowers. On a scale of 1 to 10....(#1 -being easy, and #10 -very difficult), I'd rate Adenium between 7-9. A real PITA under less than ideal growing conditions. But, it's those flowers! If it wasn't for the showy flowers, I wouldn't even bother with growing them. Fat trunks and odd, twisted, roots can be found on other, much easier, plants. Just saying. Frank NYC/7b