Check your soil temps. Air temps aren't really relevant for potatoes as they tolerate cooler temps and even frost if well mulched. In this part of Zone 6 we plant potatoes in March (by St. Patrick's Day) or even earlier if the soil can be worked. ;) Dave

Mornin Lucy, everyone! pretty dat, I love the whites. I hope mine get really big this year, I was really disappointed with the size last year..yeah, size DOES matter, lol. I just started some seeds..I don't have any room left in my seed area w/bottom heat..hope the top of the fridge will do. I remember that, I felt bad for you being all disappointed over that dat. Was like the ugly duckling story....look at how pretty she turned out :)

I've certainly heard that hydro supplies are difficult to get your hands on in many countries. I've worked with a few people from the UAE and SE Asia that are interested in hydro (our work is not hydroponics-related, though) and say that it simply isn't practical due to lack of resources and high cost of shipping. I could definitely see the benefit of a network of interested people that might be able to at least split shipping costs, bank transfer costs, and buy in greater bulk for better discounts. Also, I'm sure that plenty of people in those countries have found alternative solutions to work around many issues. I can't say I see anything wrong with pointing someone in that position to a forum that might offer better solutions than this one. I would say that most people here are from the US and probably do very little international business. It's easy to say (as I have seen in other threads when someone asks such a question), "there are all kinds of companies that ship internationally". However, it is ignorant because it costs many times more than the product to ship it to SE Asia often times. It cost us $200 to ship a 2 lb sound level meter that cost $70 to the UAE last week through DHL. I know the UAE is not in SE Asia, but it is an example of the high cost of international shipping.

Day 33 Wall tile went up yesterday....and my beautiful blue paint...does not work with it. The blue wall looks like an orphan, unwanted and unrelated to anything. As my mother would have said "damn blast and thunderation". The blue in the accent tile is quite dark, and I don't think I want to have a dark navy bathroom. Sigh. Back to the sludge palette. So off to my local Home Hardware to the resident paint guru. Of course when I got there I only had a sample of the wall tile, so home I trudged again to get the wall and accent tiles, and back into town. Mme guru short listed 3 tones for me as that is the range of choice I can cope with. " How much to you need" " Undoubtedly one quart plus a tablespoon so I had better get a gallon". Handyman Dave (HD) was hard at work when I got back, so I didn't have a chance to paint before the floor started to go in. Good thing last night I had painted sealer on the travertine squares in the accent tile with an iddy biddy 10 hair brush, as the floor is down now so I can't do anything this evening. My the floor is a rich colour. Things are starting to pull together, and even without my blue I think I am really going to like it. The piles of tiles is diminished, although the piles of garbage and detritus are not. I can now manoeuver through the upstairs hallway, and only have to clamber over the piles of tile bits and cardboard boxes piled by the door. Tomorrow is grout time. The end is near, the end is near. and I can always stick in a few accessories to highlight the blue.