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For my tomatoes, I just stick the broken or cut off branch into a pot and ignore it for a week or two. Never occurred to me to try peppers since they're not as subject to collapsing in the heat as the tomatoes are and seeds at the home level are such a small investment. Are they that much harder...

  Rinaldo AND Ernesto? So envious, I somehow missed picking up either and I hear they're amazing! Seriously considering hunting up Dester next year, too. And thanks for the reminder about Frog's Leap Farm, I completely forgot to check them this year.      I almost popped one of the Costolutos on...

If you can't find any other review threads, there's usually one on Dave's Watchdog. Given those ratings, and seeing that the complaints are generally of slow shipping or never arrived packages, and knowing how many great vendors are out there, I don't think I'd try them.

Vanilla flavor! In a pumpkin!   If you weren't literally an entire country away I'd camp on your doorstep until seed sharing season! As it is, I will wait patiently, secure in the knowledge that you probably don't have two squash vine borer seasons and will no doubt actually have a harvest...

I haven't tried Opalka, but I'd figure any of the good pastes would work? I should see if I have some Heidi seeds around here somewhere ("The fruits are elongated, red, thin-skinned, thick-walled, meaty, weighing about three ounces.  Unlike typical bland tasting paste tomatoes, 'Heidi' has an...

These all sound like such fun varieties!  The "Pastila-Champagne Vanilje" especially! 

I wouldn't count the seeds that haven't germinated as duds just yet. I just had a tomato sprout a couple of days ago after nearly three weeks (everything else sprouted in a few days). Peppers are pretty notoriously slow on that front.   Now comes the hard part. Don't overwater those little guys...

Jack Be LIttle, Cinderella (PIE!), and a standard hybrid-type I'd have to go look at the packet for. Basically your standard jack'o'lantern type.   My space is a bit small for rampant pumpkin and melon vines and they don't seem to like the heat much here anyway. Plus we have two squash vine...

You might enjoy reading this article about some experiments with pepper isolation. Upshot seems to be "nobody really knows".   Good luck with your grow! It'll be really exciting to see what you end up with! :)

That is stunning! At first I wondered why you were posting a picture of swiss chard and then I saw the flower. Beautiful!

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that the pellets were the sole reason they're more robust; I've improved on watering and had a more controlled environment with better lights this year. And I think the lower temperatures to start helped.   As far as using the pellets goes, I think, after...

I appreciate you doing this experiment! I used strictly peat pellets this year (most years I use primarily soilless mix). I'm seeing a huge improvement in robustness over past years, but I think a lot of that is that I'm being really careful not to overwater. Maybe I'll do some seed starting...

  Hey, what is the medium in those bags? Is the stuff on top a mulch layer?   Also, I tried using a Kroger reusable bag (the black ones) a couple of years ago and it disintegrated in less than a season. Was in full Texas sun. It was impressive. Never tried the Walmart ones though!

It's a trial year for me too. Hard to let go of "optimal" and what everyone "knows" is best and just try new things that might darn well fail. So I think it's worth trying just to grow as a gardener.   And why not try both? You could do a few 5 gallon buckets (I think those hold more like 7...

Well, what kinds are you growing? How much yield are you looking for? Are you experienced or inexperienced? Growing with pots on the ground or on concrete? I've seen people successfully grow large plants in little tiny containers (like beer can size) but I don't think I'd have any success with a...

I'm trying to picture how that would taste but drawing a blank. Sweet and spicy, the closest I'm coming is Mexican chocolate brownies, which have cinnamon and chocolate. Or maybe Aztec hot chocolate? Seems like it'd definitely be worth a try or two.   Definitely a lovely gift and best (belated)...

  I inadvertently grew nightshade behind one of my roses over the winter. I hacked it down to the roots and it popped right back up again. This, to my mind, suggests wintersowing tomatoes and peppers here might be a worthwhile thing to try!   I would suggest growing garden huckleberry instead of...

I look at it this way -- if you don't start them, you're guaranteed you'll have no results.    If you start some and they don't produce pods, you'll still have beautiful healthy plants and, most valuable of all, experience.

Awwwww. I hope you're feeling better today!   Could you do a dunk instead? I've read about dunking indoor plants in soapy water for aphids.

Big Beef. It's not an heirloom but it's been pretty indestructible for me. Makes really perfect globes that look amazing sliced and taste pretty good too. For heirlooms, Homestead -- I've read it described as "bulletproof" and I agree. Semi-determinate, early, doesn't mind heat or humidity much...