Seed Mix Trial Part 3: Do You See What I See?

Hey Sherrill! Good to hear you are still alive & breathing! If anyone knows that life can get stupidly busy, it's me, so no worries! If it makes you feel any better, I bought a spendy purse this month. Nobody's perfect! There are still 10 months left of the year to get back on track, lady friend! 

On to the tomato babies! First off, let me just apologize right now for the crap-tastic photos. Sometimes I'm just too lazy to change the lens on my camera, which is what I really should have done to get better shots, but, truthfully, you don't need ultra-crisp details to see what I'm seeing here:

So we're all on the same page, the tomato starts with the black dot on the markers (back row) are growing in Black Gold seed starting mix. The red dot (center row) indicates Jiffy seed starting mix, and the green dot (front row) is Green Planet Naturals seed starting mix. Look again. Notice anything?

Here are close ups of the same variety of tomato, Lizzano (a cherry-type I will be using in pots or hanging baskets), planted on the same day & sprouted under the same conditions:

Black Gold

Jiffy

Green Planet

Do the seedlings planted in the Jiffy Mix look stunted & small compared to the ones planted in Black Gold and the GPN? They do to me! None of the seedlings planted in the Jiffy have true leaves yet, while the seedlings in Black Gold and GPN are just getting them now. Overall, there is a very noticeable difference: the seedlings growing in the Black Gold and the Green Planet Naturals seed starting mixes are significantly larger, greener & more robust in their growth so far.

Only a few varieties of my peppers have started to emerge, and there's no noticeable difference in the onion starts, except for the fact that the onions emerged more quickly from the Jiffy mix, probably because it is so lightweight.

I'm going to reserve final judgement until these babies put out more leaves, but I'm a little worried about the red dot tomatoes! In order to have a true test, I just have to leave them as is, although it's taking a significant amount of self-restraint over here not to mix up some fish emulsion to feed the poor things!

In conclusion, I would say that so far the race is neck and neck between Black Gold and Green Planet Naturals, with Jiffy Mix way in the back... eatin' dust! Alright, Miss Sherrill. How are your starts shaping up? I know your tomatoes are way ahead of mine, since you start them in, like, November or something crazy like that! I suppose you're eating fresh tomatoes already, correct? Heh.

I wanted to also add that Linda from Green Planet Naturals contacted me the other day to let me know that their web site is now up and running and ready to take orders! The shipping charges there are also significantly lower than through Amazon, so yay!

To take us out, here's a pretty nifty time-lapse of a couple of tomatoes from little green things to harvest! Ciao for now, my friend!

If you're just joining in, here is Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.