Mark Smith

Following on from the Auckland 95k thread, I'm looking to grow some heritage tomatoes (especially yellow ones) from seed. I tried last year and failed miserably. Will have another crack this year, sewing in hot house in late august with better seed mix compost and not sow as deep. Any tips/thoughts?

Also wondered if anyone had any experience of mini avocado trees? I came across this link and wondered if these would grow down in Chch?
AvoPro Mini Avocado Trees - Home

The Weezer

I've often grown tomatoes from seeds, never had a problem with them spouting. I've mostly used those mini seed starter greenhouses, but it also worked with peat pots and plastic wrap. Trick is to keep them covered, moist, and uncover them once they sprout. I put the peat pots in a tray, and water from the bottom, not top. Saying that, after I put them out in a nice sunny spot, they grow and flower well, then it all goes to custard after that. For some reason my plants always get attacked by fungus. I've tried moving the plants from year to year to a different location, but no luck. I don't even crowd them. Haven't had a problem with any other vegetable or herb.

One year we made the mistake of buying a cheap brand of potting mix. Our plants looked so pathetic and ill, we had no idea why. Then we saw on a TV expose show the same inexpensive brand being featured because it did not actually contain several vital nutrients. Since then, we just go ahead and get the name brand variety.

Mark Smith

Could I be cheeky and ask which named brand of mix you use?

The Weezer

Yes, I believe it was "Just" brand, bought at the Warehouse. This happened about 5 years ago, so it's possible they've improved the mix since then. I was putting my tomatoes in pots, since they seemed to get fungus in the garden proper.

One summer I had the best garden ever, for me. Tomatoes, radishes, corn, capsicums, chilis... then a horrible storm came through and devastated most of it. That, combined with fungus, pests, rats, cats makes it challenging to grow all your own food, that's for sure.

One of the things I love about NZ is that I can grow so many of my herbs pretty much year round. My citrus trees right now are full to bursting with grapefruit and mandarins. Unfortunately they'll be fully ripe while we're away.