Yellowing leaves on tomato seedlings

[Todd Ziegler]

Thank you very much to everyone who posted a comment on my first thread. I have never been so welcomed on a forum. I hope I can be of assistance to other gardeners. I am 46 and I have had a garden since I was 12 years old. My specialty, if you can say that, is seed collecting. I have over 200 different varieties of garden produce. With an emphasis on tomatos and melons. I have around 50 different tomato seeds, with one being a family heirloom and around 40 different melons (including watermelon, Muskmelon, cantaloupe and honeydew). I look forward to participating in the forum. Also as a side note I grow freshwater aquarium plants too.

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh boy, you're going to fit in well here Todd! We have a wide spectrum of gardeners, many are seed collectors. Be careful of that bean thread, they'll suck you in and turn you into a beaniac.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

That's is funny. I just ordered a bean called "Mascotte" it was bread as a green bean that grows well in containers. It's the smallest bean seed I have ever seen. I should have mentioned that all my melon seeds are geared towards small garden sizes and short cool growing seasons. Tipton county where I live has odd weather.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i think you will fit right in with the rest of us. and there are quite a few of us that are seed collectors too. i'm up to about 130 different types of tomatoes. there are a couple here that also have ponds & aquariums so we might need to pick your brain on some of those aquarium plants.

i've never had much luck with the Jiffy stuff so i have moved onto other soils to use for starting. i think Ridge is right & giving them some fertilizer & potting up is needed.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Thanks Chickie'sMomaInNH I will be overwhelmed with joy to help with aquarium plants or pond plants. I have been growing aquarium plants for about 10 years now and have collected plants from all over the world. All my melon seeds are geared towards short, cool growing seasons. Although Tipton, IN where I am from has a rather long growing season but it tends to be windy and cool.

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Let me pick your brain. Do you use mylar bags for long term storage of your seeds? If not what do you use?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i've used for many years these little paper coin envelopes when saving my own seeds, usually not saving a huge amount of seeds though. this year i did buy some little plastic ziplock baggies so i can see what i have in the bags, but i will probably stick to putting them in the paper envelopes till they are dry enough to withstand being in the plastic. then i store the same types of seeds in plastic coffee canisters.

i haven't bothered with the mylar bags yet since they are expensive & what i've been doing has been good for years for me & i can easily run out & get the coin envelopes whenever i run out. the oldest seeds i've had dated back to 1998 that i last planted with successful was in 2012
-tomatoes of course.

i am mucking about with the idea of storing some of my larger seeds like beans & Glass Gem corn in PVC tubes for longer term storage. i had a lot of pipes left over from a project so i was going to cut them into shorter section & cap off the ends then place a bag of silica to keep the moisture at bay.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Depends on the seed. Some I usually store in the freezer in zip-loc type bags, say beans. Some I store in glass jars with the lid on tight to keep mice and bugs out, such as okra, tomatoes, or peppers. My zinnias and marigolds I usually store in open gallon sized coffee cans. I know I should do better on those and at least put them in a large jar so I can seal them after they dry well but it's worked so far. My long-term is just until the next season though. I think you are talking about a lot longer. There are others here that can better help you with that.

I suspect @digitS' would like to chat about the short season stuff. There are several people on here with that challenge but I think Steve is a leader in that category.

 

[ninnymary]

Todd, I love melons and wished I could grow them. But our summers are just too cool here. They average around 67°

Mary

 

[Todd Ziegler]

Have you tried any of the short season and more bush type? Blacktail mountain was developed by a breeder in North Idaho and there's "bush sugar baby" and there's a lot of Russian varieties out there. Rareseeds.com is a great site for melons.