Grow Lettuce Grow: tomatoes babies, are you cold??

here in the land of tornadoes and rain, the stunted tomato seedling saga continues. i have been reading and researching tomato growth all over the internet, and yesterday i hit the library for books specifically about tomatoes.

a little light tomato reading and some vintage tunes.

what i've come to learn is that my little babies just might be to cold. the other day, i noticed that some of the stems and underneath of the leaves seemed a little purple. this could be a natural discoloration depending on the variety, or it could mean that they are suffering from a lack of phosphorus, either from the mineral lacking in the soil or the soil being to cold for the tomatoes to properly uptake the nutrients. i figure that the cooler temperatures of this house, as compared to the house in greenville, might be a big factor in the stunted growth. even though the temperature inside ranges from 65-70 degrees, which is ideal for tomato seedlings, i definitely see a difference in their growth after they spend a day outside in the near 70 degree sunshine. unfortunately, here in st. louis, that has been a rarity this spring, as gray rainy days have become the norm. this has not been the case in years passed at the greenville house, where the tomatoes had fairly consistent warm and sunny window to grow in. also, i might have leached out some of the nitrogen and other nutrients from the soil on the super soak days. next time i will follow up these days with some food for the little guys, and/or save the water run off to reuse. so finally, the other day all the seedlings got a dose of worm castings and a few hours in the sun and seem to be doing better today. unfortunately, the next sunny (and not windy) day in the forcast is not until friday, and that is followed by yet another weekend of rain and thunderstorms. all in all, what this means is that i need to start feeding them sooner, AND i seriously need to work out a plan to build a mini tomato greenhouse for next year's seedlings. till then, the little guys need to hang in there just a little longer before they can safely go out into the garden.

little guys trying their best to grow during the indoor rainy days.

hang in there. you can do it!!

i guess you could say the silver lining to all this rain is, i haven't had to go out and hand water my garden for about two and a half weeks. the peas, potatoes, and onions don't seem to mind the excess moisture and are growing really well. i took advantage of the little bit of sun we had yesterday to grab a few shots, and discovered the most exciting thing......