Anthony, "...the soil im using is Pro-Mix BX but it dries out very fast." Premier's Pro-Mix BX is good stuff and I would be using it myself if I could find it here in this area of Kansas. I used a lot of it when we lived in Maine. It retains water better than the bark-based stuff I am using here. However, BX has a very limited amount of nutrients, and is designed to nourish seedlings for only a few weeks. I am treating my fast-draining medium as if it were a hydroponic substrate and watering it with a dilute solution containing a complete hydroponic diet. Since my operation is quite small compared to yours, I can afford to use premium quality urea-free nutrients like Better-Gro's Orchid Plus and Better-Gro's Orchid Bloom Booster, but that stuff costs about $7 a pound, so for greenhouse quantities you would probably be looking for a cheaper source of nutrients. My hand-pollinated zinnias love the orchid food. There are a lot of commercial-sized hydroponic operations, so there are hydroponic nutrients that cost much less per pound. Most "complete" nutrient formulas, like Miracle-Gro and Better-Gro, don't have calcium, because if they did it would precipitate with the phosphates and sulfates in the solution. Both calcium phosphate and calcium sulfate are relatively insoluble in water. I discovered the need for calcium nutrition the hard way a few years ago, after my indoor zinnia plants developed severe calcium deficiency symptoms growing in Pro-Mix BX, even though BX does have enough calcium for a few weeks. I ordered a pound of calcium nitrate from EveryBody's Garden Center and, by feeding calcium nitrate solution separately, I solved the calcium deficiency problem. With the added calcium nitrate, my zinnias became quite healthy and went on to produce big blooms indoors under my fluorescent lights. Since I dilute the calcium nitrate to one-half teaspoon per gallon, a pound of it goes a long way. Plants use a lot of calcium, and it is classified as a macronutrient instead of as a micronutrient. I later learned that if you predilute the calcium nitrate and predilute the other nutrients, that you can combine the solutions without precipitation. But it is OK to apply them separately, too. ZM

To all, No flowers yet on the asymetrical one. But then again, it did not flower until the middle of July last year. The other one with the white cross got a bud early, but I also put it out early this year when nights dropped to the low 40's and high 30's and the bud shriveled. However, I did give my Mom one of them and the pictures of it were very very nice. Looked the same and the flower size was huge. Hopefully, my asymetrical one will flower later this Summer. Wildcat

Field corn, yellow- Leaming corn, In this area it does better than Reid's Yellow Dent. It has big fat ears that mature sooner and dry down better. Field corn, white- Hickory King, It produced great despite one of the worst droughts we've ever had. I want to try Boone County White also. Sweet Corn- Golden Bantum, It grows like weeds and tastes good, not to sweet. It tastes like corn instead of like the nasty, super dooper, sugary ehanced hybrids. Beans- An unknown cranberry type I bought at the hardware store from a bulk bin four years ago. It produces very well and makes a good soup or snap bean. Yellow eye also does well here as a dry bean. Tomatos- Red Brandywine which I originaly got from Heirloom Seeds in Pennsylvania. It's the best tasting tomato I've ever had. Winter Squash- Walthum Butternut. It yeilds well, has good disease resistance, tastes good in pies. Summer Squash- Yellow Crookneck. It is easy to grow and tastes great. Potatoes- Anything from the grocery store that has a lot of sprouting eyes. Some people say don't plant those old potatoes from the grocery store but I've never had a problem with them. For some reason they just seem to grow as well as any seed potatoe sold at the hardware store. Peanuts- Raw Virginia jumbo peanuts sold at the grocery store as food. For seed it works just fine. Tobacco- Pennsylvania Seedleaf varieties also known as Pennsylvania Broadleaf which is better than any I've found for cigar filler, binder or wrapper. Virginia Gold, It's just one of the best for any type of filler. Any type of Burley filler, binder or wrapper. Pumpkins- New England pie pumkin. It produces well and is strong. It also tastes good. I want to try the Winter Luxury Pie variety though. I think it might taste even better but the New England Pie has done well for me. Okra- I had very good luck with a dwarf hybrid but you can't save seed. I think I will stick with the Clemson Spineless from now on as it also does well and I can save the seed.

feel like sharing some seeds for postage? :) I have a huge fence I need to cover... Ri