Will the seeds germinate naturally outside in a South Australian winter (average 6 - 12 degrees celcius), or is it better to leave the pot on a windowsill inside?? Also, would it even be better to germinate the seeds in a greenhouse with a heat mat underneath, where a humid environment could occur?? Please tell me.

Planting seed: The right time to plant tomato seed is 10 to 12 weeks prior to your average last frost date. Tomato seedlings are susceptible to damping off, so a warm area, soiless mixes amended with a small amount of bone meal and a fresh new florescent light bulb set close to the tops of plants is in order. By close I mean no more than six inches from the growing tip of the plant. The debate of 16 hours of light vs. 24 constant light per day may never be satisfactorily won by one side or the other. However cold soil leads to damping off, so when the lights are off the seedlings still need to be warm (75 to 85F). At home that may be on top of your refrigerator, at night. Plan on potting up at least once from what ever you use to start seedlings in. In fact twice (i.e. from a six pack to a 4" pot, to a 6" pot) every time the roots start to wind around in their pot. Never ever use a loess soil based "potting soil" to start tomatoes, the soil particle size is too small to permit good gas exchange in the roots. Use a soiless mix or homemade equivalents, made of 2 part peat moss, 2 part finished compost, and 1 part vermiculite or pearlite, and a dash of bone meal. Pure peat--peat pots work for some people I find them more than averagely susceptible to damping-off problems. Mixes containing milled sphagnum have a natural antifungal effect, resulting in less damping-off. Planting plants: Hardening seedlings is an art. The short of this subsection is to gradually let your plants become accustomed to full sunlight and wind, find a very protected area and start on days above 60F with wind protection. Expect it to take 10 to 14 days of hardening off. From 2 weeks before your last average frost date and two weeks after you will want to plant to field. If you must strive for the first ripe tomatoes on your block and you do not have a very protected microclimate in your garden you must look to things like wall'o'water towers or some kind of temporary cold frame to erect around your seedlings. If terms like 'micro-climate' are greek to you, plan for a later planting date rather than an earlier one. You should be planting in a well drained bed that has been prepared in advance of planting. Wet cold gooey soil means that not much growing is going to happen. Corn and tomatoes both like soil that is warmed to 60F. Trellis: These are particularly helpfull for indeterminate plants which can weight in excess of 100 pounds each. I recommend the stoutest and tallest trellis you can afford to build.

Image by: wintersown That's okay, don't worry too much about that. Experience is a great teacher and we all learn as we go along. I personally don't know the botanical name of lots of my plants. When I first started gardening and trading I actually didn't know the common name of most of my plants ;-) But I still felt comfortable about trading my seeds because I put a good description of them on the packets. I trade my seeds and if I don't know their name I make as good a description as I can in my posted trade offerings so there's no confusion. I feel confident when I make a well described seed trade....the other trader knows the plant description and they trade for my seeds knowing that I have done my best to decribe what I'm offering. It's fair that way. New traders are often new gardeners too and so they haven't had enough experience with plant names to accurately name the plant they gathered seeds from. What information should I put on the packets? I always put the following information on my packets: Common Plant Name and/or Botanical Name Flower color or "mixed" Height at maturity Sunlight requirements: full sun, part shade, or shade (fs, ps, or shade, or sometimes fs-ps which means full sun to part shade, or ps-shade, which means part shade to shade) A, P, or B (annual, perennial, or biennial) My email address (optional) My name (optional) ======================================================== My trader didn't put all the information on the packet that I thought should be on it....what should I do? Email your trader asap and politely ask for specifics....sometimes a trader can't offer them as they're sharing/trading the excess of a humongous pack of seeds that came their way and IT wasn't labeled with specifics. If you've got a packet that's not labeled with specifics grow it anyway. A packet that says something as simple as just "marigolds" is often a joy to grow. WHY? Well...you know it's an annual, marigolds love full sun. So put the seedlings where they'll get full sun. But I don't know the height.... Plant it in the middle of the border or up front. If they grow tall then you'll have added "dramatic depth" to your garden and reduced the monotony of everything short being up front. A brilliant patch of tallish flowers at the front of the border is often fascinating and is NEVER boring. But I don't know the color..... Marigolds can be yellow/gold, orange or mahogany red. These are the choices....sometimes they have a blend of those colors on the same flowers, or it might be a pack of mixed single colors. What I'm trying to say is that suprises are part of gardening and that you should celebrate the beauty of your plants even if they aren't what you expected. A garden is for relaxing and enjoying. It's NOT for causing frustrations....expect an occasional suprise and you'll be very happy in your garden. ========================================================= Flower Colors...I'm putting in this list as a help in labeling seed packets....no one is perfect in their eyesight so being "close" is just as acceptable as being "accurate". (This color list came from the "Field Book of American Wild Flowers by F. Schuyler Matthews, 1902) Pure yellow Deep yellow Golden yellow Pure orange Scarlet Pure red Pure pink Crimson Crimson-pink Magenta Magenta-pink Pure purple Violet Blue-violet Ultramarine Pure blue Madder purple Madder brown

You read a post heading and if it attracts you then click on it and open it up...Let's see how to make a trade with "Gardener_Jane" "HAVE: Marigolds, cosmos, banana melons, and others seeds." Okay.....you go ahead and click on the link and there's Jane's list and you like a few things on it. Let's see Jane's list.... I have these seeds to trade: ANNUALS: orange marigolds pink cosmos green nicotiana purple balsam PERENNIALS: blue sea holly pale pink halberd-leaved marshmallow black knight butterfly bush orange conflowers unknown vine with white trumpet flowers....nice VEGGIES AND HERBS: Banana melons habanero peppers (Ultra HOT!!) cherry peppers (hot) feverfew SO....you need to reply to the post. Here's some adaptable examples of good replies: Hi Gardener_Jane! I'd like to trade for your marigolds, cosmos, banana melons, and habanero peppers. I've got white zinnias, mixed morning glories, mixed portulaca, and heirloom yellow boy tomatoes. Please let me know if you would like to trade. Thanks, Overall_Jim OR...... Dear GJ, I like your list and I would like to trade for these seeds: marigolds cosmos banana melons habanero peppers Please look at my trade list on my member page. I hope we can trade.....let me know. Thanks, Overall_Jim Those post replies are very clear. Jim tells Jane exactly what he wants to trade for. Jane likes that, she's a busy person. She doesn't have to take the time to send extra emails and she can make her trades quickly and easily.