I don't know what you have from Tomatofest but it doesn't sound right to me even at presumably the seedling stage in that pot. Southern Exposure sounds OK as does Tania as does the blurb for Sandhill which you don't quote. I know I sent it to Jeff at Southern Exposure as well as to Glenn at Sandhill. And I also know that in the other thread on this variety I explained where I got the seeds from initially and that for me it was determinate and i sprawl plants most of the time. Growing that way it was never more than about two feet tall but very bushy. Did you direct seed into the 5 gal container or did you grow the seedling elsewhere and then transfer it to the pot. That could make a difference b'c direct seeded it would form a tap root structure and if transplanted it would produce the more desirable fibrous root structure. Carolyn

Thanks for the translation, Remy. I'll try to remember Tigrovyi. It seems there is now a trend toward keeping the names in the original source language, instead of translating everything to English. And thank you, thank you, thank you for Sophie's Choice. is thriving inside, and the Mountain Princess seeds, started at the same time, are thriving in my (new!) hoophouse. They are further behind, maturity wise, but then they've intentionally been kept in a cooler environment. (I love being able to slow down and speed up tomato growth, just by where I choose to keep the plants!) Big Congratulations, and welcome, aquaphy! It took me a long time to get up the nerve to post here, too. I'm sorry you had a disappointing tomato year, but thanks for the input on Tigrovyi. I'll be you'll be much happier with your reults on the outdoor plants this year, if you can get them in the ground in time. I have seen some varieties of tomatoes specifically recommended for greehouse growing...have you experimented with any of those? Jan

The white mold on the top of the mix is normal, especially if the mix is kept too wet. If you saw a brown constricted area at the stem where it meets the mix level than I'd be willing to consider damping off. But it looks to me as though that one plant died b'c it was too wet. Just my opinion. IN your 6a area the plants should be hardened off and ready to go about mid-May or so and your other plants look very very small right now and need to be at least in the maybe 4-6 inch range to set out. If that was the only Sophie's Choice plant you had I don't see anything wrong with sowing some new seed b'c even if you don't get it out until mid-June you should still have time to mature fruits b'c it is an early season variety although it will produce throughout the summer. The three genera of Fungi that can cause damping off are not found in great abundance in artificial mix, which brings me to the next question. You use the word soil when describing what you transferred that plant to. Was that real soil or artificial mix? At this point I'm not willing to say the problem is damping off and the white mold is not the problem, just scrape it off. And to be honest I've never been convinced, from the feedback that I've seen that chamomile tea or cinnamon or whatever do anything significant to help prevent damping off. And that's b'c folksjust use it without knowing if there are indeed any damping off fungi in the artificial mix or whatever thye're using for seed sowing. You have to do controlled studies using the same mix, same seeds, same everything except treating one set of seeds and not the other. Just curious, but why the Baking Soda? Carolyn Carolyn

I do just fine with five gallon buckets even though I live in Texas where it is rumored to get a tad warmish in the summer. One does have to watch the plants a little more that a lot more carefully because they will sure dry out in a hurry. A couple of summers ago I came up with a nifty homegrown solution to the question of how to water when you are not at home for a day or two. I fill up another five gallon bucket with water and maybe a scoop of two of compost to make a fertilizer tea out of the water and I rip a an old towell into strips. Dip one end of the strip into the water bucket and another into the bucket with the tomato plant. The water will wick its way up the towell into the bucket with the plant in it. Instant irrigation. I will add that I have always grown cherry and smallish varietals of 'maters and have been thrilled with the production and flavor. I have never tried the bigger types just because I like flavor of smaller 'maters.