@Smivies I think alliums - or at least the non-miniature varieties - do benefit from deadheading. Year to year I routinely cut some Allium "Purple Sensation" flowerheads off after they are declining, while allowing others to go to seed and then scatter the seeds. I do leave the entire stem, just cutting off the head. I've noticed that the ones that I deadheaded return with larger globes the following year. Digging up bulbs that were deadheaded also reveals they are much larger. Lastly, the ones that are cut back are more likely to "double" and turn into two mature plants after 2-3 years. However, whether deadheaded or not, they do return and bloom, the only difference being the flower size. So if you want a truly naturalized garden, neglecting to deadhead is fine. It makes sense there would be some energy loss when alliums go to seed, because the leaves are dormant by the time the seeds are developing so the only source of energy is stores in the bulb. I don't know if that would remain the case for varieties that keep their leaves longer or even stay green all spring and summer. @Highlander I'd be pretty optimistic your bulbs will perform well, but I do think they should be kept cool to begin rooting. Bulbs begin rooting quickly in fall as temperatures drop but don't plummet. So a cool - but not frozen - garage will probably be better than a room-temperature basement or closet. As for your problem with finding sunlight - is your yard covered by deciduous trees, or is it conifers? One of the best things about spring bulbs is that they do most of their growth before deciduous trees leaf out. Since that means they still get sun, many gardeners use the opportunity to put "full sun" plants in what would otherwise be shade under a tree. I'm in an especially sunny climate here in Colorado - Denver has very low average % cloud cover in addition to more solar intensity because of the altitude - so in general we get to push sun plants farther into the shade than is possible in other regions. But I've found that bulbs planted under trees actually perform better, by leaps and bounds, than those planted in full sun. I've also found that bulbs planted under trees keep their leaves around much longer into the summer, whereas those scorched by sun go dormant sooner, which results in weakened performance the next year. So in the cool spring months, they get full sun which is truly unfiltered, in the summer as the weather warms they get gradually-increasing shade to protect them. But there are other reasons spring-blooming plants can adapt to shade in May/June: the total solar energy increases drastically in summer because both the day length and the sun's intensity do, and both those factors are compounded. I am not sure of the exact figures, but I remember from a college class discussing solar energy that there energy availability is something like five times stronger on June 21 compared to Dec. 21. So for a narrow period in late May/early June, many "sun-loving" plants will do OK in shade - and in fact the average 24/hr brightness in a shady area is close to the average 24/hr brightness of a sunny area at other times of the year. I'd try planting a few bulbs in areas with dappled shade or under late-emerging trees, and see if they perform; I suspect they can.

is it all the oldest leaves??? those closest to the media??? and you said: I water every other day, or when the soil looks dry, how about you insert finger.. and let them dry a bit.. rather than relying on sight ... i would just pinch off the leaves.. and insure proper water.. before i would jump to disease issues ... but i do NOT profess to be a tomato expert .. ken

Prairiemoon, thanks for your kind words! I actually didn't start my plants from seed this year, but I do hope to do so next year.. This year, I bought plants early, potted them up and grew them inside my "fake greenhouse"... later, I did the schlepping them in and out on nice days thing. This was my original plan -- THEN I discovered the planters you could wrap, but it was all sort of an afterthought. Anyway, even though the weather has been similar both years (and to be fair, we've had unusually warm/sunny weather for our region), it's astonishing the difference from last year. Last year, I just threw the plants out there in April - and didn't harvest cherries till almost August. So I agree, I must be doing something right - and I owe it all to this forum! And, to Tomatoville. Well, also to the guy with the cool planters :-) Next year, I would like to grow starts that are ready to go out between Mar 15 and April 1. Then I will put them out at the "correct" size (rather than huge like I did this year) and put them in WOWs and wraps. (I did figure out how to use the WOW inside my caged planters, despite what I wrote earlier on another thread.) Growing inside the WOW and wrap should simulate a greenhouse like my back porch did. I am hoping by doing this that I will have earlier earlies, and decent production from late season varieties, which I used to completely avoid. Re: Alaska Fish and Morbloom... I have used both in the past, but no longer prefer this brand. The original is 5-1-1 and is good for leafy plants, but not so much for flowering ones. The Morbloom is interesting. It is made with fish, but I believe the 0-10-10 is acheived by them adding synthetic salts, so it's not actually certified organic (although it has an organic component). Of course, that is also true of the TTF, as I mentioned above. Nothing really wrong with that, but it's good to keep in mind. (This is actually true of Earth Juice, Foxfarm, and a lot of others). I remember the smell of original formula Alaska being horrible (far worse than Neptune's), but I can't remember how the Morbloom compared. Sey, I think what you are doing to combine the two fertilizers is very reasonable. I will be interested to see if you notice an increase in the number of flowers soon, or if you see more than in past seasons. In case fish doesn't turn out to be your thing, I have also used a Miracle Gro bloom formula in the past that seemed to work well.

ncrealestateguy It's just something I made up that I think might be a thing, and I know other people don't talk about it. I think if it exists, it primarily occurs after major weather changes, and not when plants are already braced for it by longer-term exposure. By UV damage, I mean damage from ultraviolet light.