Successful Tomato Germination!

Hooray, the tomato seedlings have started to arrive! Last Saturday, I started several varieties of heirloom tomatoes: Pink Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Gold Medal, Isis Candy Cherry and Soldacki. Also started two types of peppers, Sweet Napolean and Red Habanero, but they haven't surfaced yet. Given that both the tomatoes and peppers need higher soil temperatures to germinate than other vegetables, I did toy around with the idea of getting a heat mat. But, prices for these start at around $30, NOT including a thermostat, so I decided against getting one and resigned myself to the fact that it just might take a little longer for the tomato and pepper seeds to germinate.  I'm glad I held off on buying a heat mat as it appears that it wasn't really necessary. And, here are the the Soldacki tomato seedlings leading the pack (photo below).


On a side note, you can buy a waterbed heater (which includes a thermostat) for about $40. I truly believe that any product containing the word "garden" or "plant" in it's title automatically hikes the price up by 50% or more. Seriously, take wooden plant markers for example. "Official" wooden plant labels/markers can run about $10 for 50 labels but what are they really? Umm, popsicle sticks! For around $6, you can buy 1000 popsicle stick (aka craft sticks) from Amazon. Practically the same dimensions and the only difference (and not a big one in my opinion) is that "official" plant markers have pointed ends. Price difference: one popsicle stick, less than 1 cent each vs. "official" wood plant label, 20 cents each. 


Anyhoo, still no signs of life from the pepper seeds. But, given that my tomato seedlings started germinating in 6 days, I have faith that the peppers will be making their debut shortly.