The seed must digest its own energy stores to create new fibers. The mineral content will not change, but the bioavailability changes a lot. Consider that, for example, for iron, we absorb 1% from spinach, but 22% from steak. In the seed, you have, for example, magnesium bound to phytates, becoming available in the chlorophyll of the sprout. And the simple fact that phytates will go is enough to improve absorption across the board. Vitamins content changes dramatically also. The B group is a bunch of enzymes needed to digest carbohydrates. The sprout has to increase that by a factor of ten compared to the seed, so on germinating, new Vit B production is one of the first things going on inside the seed.

While this isn't gardening, when I was 16 I worked for a summer in a corner grocery that also sold ice cream, mini pizzas, hot dogs, etc. The girl who used to work there spent all summer painting a beautiful mural on the outside wall. She finally got done. It was beautiful. Everyone was very proud and happy. The next morning, we came to work and found red paint splashed all over it. We didn't even get to display the finished piece for a full day. The girl was heartbroken and understandably didn't feel like starting over again. They just painted the wall white. I've never understood why people do that. I also read in another thread somewhere someone who had expensive prize irises, daylilies, etc. They came home early one day to find someone else's car parked in their driveway. An entire family, kids, too, were in her backyard digging up her flowers. They had shovels, pails, everything. This was a planned expedition. When they were discovered, they simply took all of their stolen flowers, got in their car, and drove off. On a slightly related note, I have a beautiful copper hanging that I wanted to put out, but it's still in its box. I don't know if it would last a day before disappearing.

I love reading about these experiments. I think often times that gardening literature states the "ideal" conditions, or perhaps just repeats what's always been said. When I first started gardening I wanted to try everything, including growing perennials from seed. I took great care to follow all the instructions to the letter ---- water from below, etc. Well, later I noticed seedlings of similar plants popping up in nursery pots in our backyard, thriving in spite of being (gasp!) watered from above by rain and sprinklers. Heh, so much for "watering only from below"! Another time, I dug up a rose and (temporarily) tossed it on the compost pile. It rooted and produced new leaves. So much for "Roses need lots of TLC", LOL. Thanks for sharing your experience with your tomatoes.

Whitefly nymphs do NOT live in the soil, but can be found on the underside of the leaves. I'd suggest that you make sure that the neem oil you are using is cold pressed, which will have a high percentage of the active ingredient Azadirachtin. Be sure to concentrate your spraying activities to the underside of the leaves, where whitefly of all stages hang out. Azadirachtin has no broad spectrum effect on other insects once it has dried, but will continue to work on those pests that continue to feed on the plant. Since it works as a growth disruptor, the nymphs should never reach adulthood. It also acts as an anti-feedant. Yay!