Barbara101 wrote:you must have some green thumb. I did the same thing 2 times in fact.. I got nothing. well maybe a few green things & they disappeared.I have the same box too.I bought garden soil.Used seeds & plants.......got zip. I decided no more wasting money on tomato plants either..
I think in our warm climate that the mistake people make with tomato plants is that they don't plant them early enough. Once it gets too hot, the tomatoes don't fruit. You'll have blossoms with no fruit, as it's too hot. We plant ours no later than March 15. This year, I'm going to try to see if I can get them in the ground by March 1st. If you get a cold night, they just stop growing a bit and you might lose a couple of blossoms. But you can always cover them with, say, an upside down pot, either plastic or terracotta, if the temp goes below say 55.
There are types of tomatoes that take more heat than others, but they don't even do well down here once nighttime temps get over 75. Even the local "garden gurus" will tell you the high heat ones are a crapshoot at best.
I know people who plant tomatoes just about every year and get nothing. But they wait until it's gorgeous outside and head to the garden center, which, of course, still have tomato plants for sale. But it's usually mid to late April by then and it's too late for our climate. Trust me on this one, as I did the same thing when I was younger.
When I add soil to the garden or to pots, I always use potting soil instead of garden soil, as it's a bit looser and lighter.
A week ago we planted some radishes and also some beets, both by seed. Brian also planted some brussel sprouts, but I think it's too late in the season in our climate for them, so I'm not expecting a miracle. But then it's only seed so the "investment" isn't much to lose.
Our mixed baby lettuces are still producing lots of lettuce. It's so pretty, too, as the lettuces are different colors. It's so much fun to go get fresh lettuce out of the garden for a nice salad. The freezes haven't hurt the lettuce at all. Brian insisted on covering it one night but I laughed, as I told him the first freeze didn't hurt them at all. So that was the only time we covered them and they're still going strong. First time we ever did lettuce, too, so it will be a regular thing for late fall for us (it's too hot here to plant them any earlier).