Selling Plants on Line

I sell plants and seeds on line and thought others may be interested in learning how to d the same thing.  This is information to get you started.

Here in NY state, there are two essential bits of paperwork you need in order to do business.  One is the certificate of authority which allows you to collect sales tax and the other is a nursery license issued by Agriculture and Markets.  Selling without this license opens you to fines.  In other states, check with state agencies to see what you need to do to be in business.  The license is $100 for 2 years.  An inspector comes and inspects your plants to make sure you are not trying to sell diseased or infested plants.  They also check to make sure what the source of your plant material is so they can monitor whether or not you are bringing possible pests into the state. When selling seeds, there are certain things that must be on the label.  The inspector will tell you what is needed.

Once the legalities are done, you can begin to sell. Local venues are ok, but I found them not to be very satisfactory.  I live in a village and zoning prohibits a business in residential areas.  I get around this by not selling from the property.  I sell strictly on line. You can also do community events that allow you to sell for a “table” fee but I will be honest.  It is a pain to do it this way.  You have to lug all of the plants to the event along with enough water to keep them hydrated while they are there.  Then, you hope you’ve sold enough to make the table fee, and then you drag them back home.  It is much easier to sell on line using one or more of several venues. 

There are several online venues and I suggest you use as many of them as possible.  Online auctions such as ebay can be quite profitable.   A site called Bonanza, although new to the market place, is showing promise in attracting customers.  On Bonanza,  it is free to list as many items as you wish.  Customers can buy the item out right or make offers for your consideration.  Bonanza takes a small fee when an item is sold. Your own website is also a possibility.  If you are computer savvy and can build your own, that’s great.  I’m barely literate when it comes to computers and so chose a ProStore, a company of ebay, which provides a template to set up the site.   I am not totally happy with the way the service is provided and may be changing to one of the free sites.  With some template sites, you are charged a fee to have the site.   There are also free website templates like ecrater which you only pay when you want an upgrade to get more features.  Ebay selling involves fees to list, fees taken when the item sells, and store fees if you have an ebay store.  Prices for the products have to be high enough to cover the fees and still leave some left over to make you money.  There are protections on Ebay for buyers and sellers and once you’ve earned a reputation as a decent seller to deal with, more customers are attracted. 

No matter what way you sell online, if you haven’t all ready created a Paypal account, I highly suggest you do so.  I like the convenience of it as well as the protection.  Customers can pay with their accounts, their credit card or checking account, even without a Paypal account.  It is essentially guaranteed money.  You don’t ship until the payment clears.  They also charge a small fee per transaction but it is more than worth it.  It is absolutely essential to have Paypal if plan to sell internationally.  If you sell to someone in Europe, they pay with Euros and you get paid in dollars.  Selling to the world increases customer base…by a lot.  I’ve shipped seeds all over the world and sometimes, international sales outpace domestic ones.  It definitely is a good idea to sell internationally.  I will go into this aspect in depth another article.  

Whichever venue(s) you choose, spend some time investigating how other sellers set up their listings and what price they are asking for their plants and seeds. Then decide what you will ask for your products.   What do you put in the listings?  Information such as life cycle (annual, biennial, perennial), latin name, which USDA zones will it do well in (can be found on the web), a description of the plant and flowers, how tall will it grow, light, water, and soil requirements, and it’s uses.  Be careful not to diagnose or prescribe because many states will prosecute if they think you are practicing medicine or pharmacy without a license. Wording such as: “I’ve seen references”, “traditionally used”, or “personal experience” with the herb is ok.  If the plant is poisonous or harmful in some way, that should be stated.   I have a disclaimer, in all my listings, which clearly states use of the plant is the responsibility of the buyer.

One thing that is absolutely necessary when listing plants and seeds is pictures.  Good pictures sell the plant for you.  If it flowers, catch it in bloom.  If it is just ornamental, catch it when it is at its best. Tomato pictures should include the whole tomato and one sliced open.  There are sites on the web to obtain pictures but you shouldn’t take someone’s photos without their permission and particularly if they are copyrighted.  All the selling sites I have mentioned have some way of uploading pictures. You can take regular photographs and scan them in or the easiest way is to have a digital camera.  The photos can be manipulated in any way you wish, made larger, smaller, text included, etc, and they are easily uploaded to the sites.

 

Organic Pest Management For House Plants

Pest and disease management.  I prefer to go organic on pest management because the plants are in my living space.  If only a few plants are infested, I take the plants to the sink and rinse them every day for 3 days, then once a week for a couple of weeks to get any eggs which have hatched into plant feeders.  If there is a higher population, the simplest, and usually quite effective spray for soft bodied insects, is simply 1 tsp of dish soap to 1 quart of water.  By soft bodied insects, I mean aphids, mealy bugs, and mites. I do not have any pictures of such insects at this time, but if you google images you will find plenty of pictures.  The dish soap is safe to apply, safe to be around, and often smells pleasant.  The soap must contact the insect in order to kill so it is important to spray under the leaves as well. There are a few plants which are sensitive to soap so it is wise to try it on one plant of a species before spraying all of them.  I found the following plants to be sensitive to soap:  lemon verbena, pepper plants, and sweet peas. 

Mites are sometimes controlled with the soap, but I find it much more effective if other ingredients are added. You need a blender, one quart of water, 1 tablespoon of red hot pepper, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1 clove garlic and whir that around to tiny bits.  Let it sit overnight and then strain through a coffee filter.  Put the strained liquid in a 1 quart spray bottle and add 1 tsp of soap. Do not add the soap to the blender.  What a mess if you do. This mix is good to control thrips as well.  If you have access to fresh tobacco leaves (do not use commercial dried tobacco because there is a possibility infecting plants with disease…especially tomatoes) add a fresh leaf of tobacco to the blender. Nicotine is a deadly poison and is quite effective added to the mix. 

Another safe spray is neem oil and soap. This has become my favorite method of control.  Neem oil is the oil from the seed of the neem tree.  In India, neem has hundreds of uses from food to medicine.  It is not recommended to eat the oil, but it is safe for people, pets, and usually beneficial insects.  It’s mode of action is manifold.  There is a physical mode of action.  The oil sprayed on the insect clogs it’s breathing pores and it suffocates.   Second, there is a chemical that causes insects to stop feeding and reproducing when neem coated plants are fed on.  This is where neem protects beneficial insects because they do not feed on the plants.  Being directly sprayed will kill them, but they do not feed on the plants so are safe.  Not only do the pests stop feeding, but they are unable to enter the next stage of their life.  Eggs do not hatch, larvae or nymphs do not become adults, adults do not mate and lay eggs.  There is also some residual protection for about a week.  And it is said if the plants are watered with this solution, not only will soil insects be killed, but neem is taken up into the plant and will have some systemic protection as well.  I’m not sure about this last one because I’ve only seen claims and not any science behind it.  Lastly, neem oil will control powdery mildew, a common affliction of African violets. Neem oil can be purchased on line.  Make sure you get pure neem oil because if there is any water present, neem breaks down rapidly and will not perform as expected.  The spray mix for this is 1 and a half teaspoons of neem oil and 1 and a half teaspoons of dish soap (soap aids in kill as well as acts as an emulsifier for the neem) to 1 quart of water.  Use all of the spray within a couple of hours because the water will start breaking down the active ingredient in neem.  There are precautions when using neem.  It will damage flower buds and open flowers.  It also should not be applied to water stressed plants or it will cause damage.  All plants that are sprayed with it should not be in full sun for a few hours after spraying.  The oil intensifies the sun and will cause burning.

OK, what does it smell like?  The closest thing I can describe is it smells like garlic.  Could be offensive to some but I don’t find it so and the smell only lasts about a day. 

Disease control. The best way of controlling disease is to discard the plant unless it is something like powdery mildew.  Powdery mildew looks like whitish dust on the surface of the leaves and will not wash or brush off.  It can kill the leaf and spread to other susceptible plants.  A good control is the neem and another is milk. Yes, milk.  I use half  skim milk and half water making sure to coat the leaf surface.  Spray all susceptible plants whether or not they show signs of the disease...almost all plants are susceptible. 

As for other diseases, spots and lesions, you can try copper soap. This is a product sold in garden centers as an organic disease control.  

Root rot is usually caused by over watering or poor drainage. You can try to save the plant by knocking it out of the pot, trimming off brown, decaying roots, cutting back the top growth to match the amount of root left and re-potting it in very well drained soil.  Careful watering must be observed to allow the plant to recover.  Water the plant sparingly to allow new roots to grow.  Crown and stem rots, are usually caused by bacteria getting into wounds and often is incurable so the easiest thing to do is to discard the plant to protect the others.

Mixing Your Own Potting Soil

The most cost effective way to have a quantity of potting soil for your use is to make it yourself. The following is information on how to do that.

Soil.  A more appropriate term is soil media because the material being sold as potting soil is actually soilless.  Outdoor soil isn’t suitable for potting plants because it can compact in the pot, causing drainage problems for the plant.   It can contain weed seed, disease organisms, and insects.   What the soil-less media provides is support for the plant by anchoring the roots and a medium for water and food to enter the plant through the roots.  There are many options for potting soil that can be purchased ready mixed.  Pro-Mix is a professional potting mix which is light and fluffy and doesn’t compact easily.  There are also types of soil specifically formulated for orchids, cacti, African violets, and seed starting.   I find it cheaper and just as effective to mix my own. 

Basic mix.   A good basic mix is 3 parts peat moss or coir (coir is great if you can get it bulk…from coconut hulls) and one part perlite. Perlite is the white granular material found in premixed soils. For every one gallon of the mix, add 1 tablespoon of ground limestone. The best would be dolomitic limestone because it also provides magnesium.   Wear a dust mask when mixing and handling the materials because it is quite dusty and is quite  unhealthy to inhale a lot of this material.   Once the lime gets mixed in a little, you can add warm or hot water and continue mixing.  There isn’t a dust issue if the materials are wet and it seems easier to get a good mix if it is moist. Peat moss doesn’t absorb water easily if it hasn’t been treated with chemicals to allow it to.  It will absorb water if the water is warm-hot and you continue mixing the mix.  This basic mix can be used for nearly all plants except cacti, carnivorous plants, orchids, and can be used for African violets but it needs a further ingredient to make it more suitable for them. 

African violet soil. 1 part peat moss, 1 part perlite, 1part vermiculite.  To every one gallon of mix, add 1 tablespoon of lime.

Cacti mix. 1part basic mix, 1 part perlite. Doesn’t need lime because there is enough in the basic mix.

Soil Amendments. These are whatever else you want to add to the potting soil to obtain optimal results. They can provide feeding for a couple of months.  I usually supplement with a liquid feed once a month or so just to give the plants a boost because sometimes the organic amendments don’t break down fast enough to feed the plant during rapid growth. 

Amendment Recipe.   I mix this by the handfuls.   It doesn’t matter what size your hand is just try to keep the same amount for each handful.  Or you can use a scoop etc.

1 part cottonseed or blood meal.

1 part sulpomag (a product sold by that name)

1 part greensand

1 part bone meal

1 part dried worm castings (optional)

1 part compost (optional)

The cottonseed/blood meal provides nitrogen, the sulpomag provides sulfur, potassium, and magnesium, the greensand provides more potassium and iron, the bone meal provides calcium and phosphorous, the dried worm castings add all the nutrients including many of the micro-nutrients required for plant growth, as does the compost.

I add 4-6 tablespoons of this mix to 1 gal of basic soil-less mix.  A couple of tablespoons can be added to planting holes outdoors as well.  I particularly like this mix because it is organic and provides all the nutrients the plant needs and will not burn the plants.  I also like the fact that this is higher in potassium.  Potassium helps the plant to have good disease resistance as well as makes it more tolerant of cooler/cold temperatures…something I like the tomatoes to have.

One note, cottonseed meal will cause harmless mold to grow on the surface of the soil.  It won’t harm the plant but is unsightly.  If you want to use cottonseed meal despite the mold and would like to keep it under control, sprinkle a little cinnamon on the surface of the soil.

It may be difficult for an apartment dweller to have access to a compost pile, but if you do, harvest it and pasteurize it for use with the plants.  Heat the compost to 180 degrees F and keep it there for half an hour.  This can be done in the home oven and checked with a meat thermometer saved for this purpose.

About worm castings, sometimes they can be purchased or they can be “grown” in a bin in the kitchen.  It depends on how squeamish everyone in the house is whether you do this.  I have a bin of red worms that compost all of my kitchen waste (no meat) paper towels, plant clippings, and newspaper.  They take this raw waste and turn it into dark, rich material that is super food for plants.  Worm composting is a topic for a future e-book.

I hope this information has been helpful to you and increases the joy you receive from working with plants.

Carnivorous Plants, Are They Right For You

Carnivorous Plants, are they right for you?

Who isn't fascinated by carnivorous plants? I've seen grown men on their hands and knees next to my bog garden trying to tease Venus fly traps to close. Or who hasn't wondered at Mother Nature's psychiatric profile for designing these little monsters of death? PMS expressed in the form of plants. It could have been worse, people, it could have been worse. They could be the size of trees and prefer their meals to be human.

Of course, you will have to endure the kidding of friends and family if you decide to acquire and grow carnivorous plants. "Got to feed Master", "Geeze, you've got a dark side to you", and the ever popular, "Where's the cat? Has anybody seen the cat?" are the ones I hear. Let them scoff, they're just jealous because when no one is looking, they are right there trying to tease a Venus flytrap to close.

Here’s a summary of what carnivorous plants, in general, need. Most come from a bog environment which means very acidic soil, often peat, and constantly wet. It can be duplicated in the house by mixing half pure peat moss and half sand or perlite. The water is as critical as providing the acidic soil mix. Water needs to be pure with no minerals in it. This can be provided by using rain water collected for this purpose, water from a dehumidifier, or store bought distilled water. Carnivores can be grown in un-drained containers like yogurt cups that are kept wet or in pots with drainage holes set in another container that can hold a couple of inches of water. Nearly all of the carnivores need full sun so then need to be grown under lights or in very sunny window. All can go outdoors for the summer to make pigs out of themselves catching and eating insects. If they come from an environment that causes them to become dormant, that must be observed. Those that need a cold winter to go dormant can be kept in the fridge over winter in a little damp peat in a plastic bag if they can’t be overwintered outdoors. Some sundews go dormant during hot, dry summers and do their growing in the cool rainy season. Carnivorous plants can be fed live insects that are caught for it or let it catch them on the window sill or outdoors in the summer. It's not a good idea to feed carnivorous plants ground beef or other meat. It's just too fatty and pure protein and they have a hard time digesting it and it often goes bad and rots the plant. Never, ever feed carnivores plant fertilizer. They make their own food from the sun and the insects they catch add nutrients they can’t get from the bog soil. Fertilizer can burn them and cause all sorts of problems such as root death and rampant algae and slime mold growth. Slime mold is definitely unsightly and looks like its name.

How do they catch insects? All have some way of luring insects to their doom. The sundew’s dew drops look sticky and they might be sweet, the butterworts are often light or pale green which attracts fungus gnats and aphids, as well as they may emit a fungus like odor. Venus fly traps waits until an insect crawls into the trap and triggers the hairs that make it snap shut. They all secrete enzymes and acids to digest their prey. Some, like the sundews, wrap more of their leaf around the victim, sometimes, as with the long leaved kinds, tying themselves in a knot. They move, but not quickly.

The basics are out of the way, I would like to describe a few. If it is allowed through this article site, I will provide links to pictures. I submit many articles to many sites and some allow links in the body, some don’t, some limit the number of links per article, etc. I will discuss the species I have because I know them the best. I will start with the sundews because I’m partial to them.

>Sundews.

Sundews come in a variety of shapes and sizes, gigantic multi-tentacles down to pygmies which are no bigger than a dime. They come from every continent except Antarctica, from all types of environments…ones that are hot, warm, experience hot dry seasons, cold winters, cool year round, etc. Some may be able to spend the entire year outdoors depending on the climate and the species. I kept several Drosera intermidia, round leaf sundews, and a few varieties of thread leaf sundews outdoors in a bog garden (read that: in a turtle sandbox that I converted to a bog garden) in upstate NY where they had to endure possible winter temperatures of -25 F. Now, I put all the carnivorous plants in the fridge for their winter dormancy. Put a little peat moss dampened with distilled or rainwater in a zip lock bag, close it, label and date it, and put it in the fridge until March. I start checking for signs of growth then and if I see any, I take them out and pot them up. If I don’t see growth, I take them out in April regardless. They usually spend from November-April in dormancy. The one thing they all have in common is the sticky, sparkly, bits of dew which is used to capture prey.

Drosera capensis ‘alba’ and red variety. This plant will self pollinate and produce a lot of seed, which if you don't want them seeding every pot in your collection, it's best to collect it....a form of birth control. Then you can choose where and when they multiply. These are interesting members of the Drosera genus. Their leaves move rather slowly, but eventually will wrap around their victim like a knot. I highly recommend this plant as a beginner's carnivore. It is easy to grow from seed because it requires no special treatment. The seed germinates quickly and the seedlings grow quickly as well. When it gets to about 3-4 inches tall, it will send up tall flower stalks which will bear white flowers if ‘alba’ or pink if it is one of the red varieties. As the flowers mature up the stalk from the bottom, tap the stalk over something to collect the seed. Store in the fridge or sow immediately. Put an inch or so of soil mix for carnivores in an un-drained container. Make sure it is very moist with distilled or rain water and sprinkle the seeds on the surface. Keep it warm and make sure it is very wet all the time, Germination is usually in a few weeks depending on the temperature. The following is a link to a cool picture of a D.capensis with quite a large "mouthful" >D.capensis.

Droseras intermidia and rotundifolia. These are 2 sundews that are from northern climates and can overwinter outdoors. The round leaf one (rotundifolia) grows in a rosette close to the ground and actually likes to be in live sphagnum moss. It will grow in regular carnivore mix and will do so to about 3-4 inches across. D. intermedia grows as a rosette with its leaves more upright. The leaves on both these plants will wrap around their victim, but do it slowly.


Drosera burmanni ‘Beerwha’ which is light green with white flowers and regular D. brumanni which is light green with red tentacles, are annuals. This means that they live only one growing season. These grow very quickly from seed, flower, set seed, and die. Seed must be saved and sown in order to continue having this type. These grow as close to the ground rosettes and the biggest they get is an inch and a half. >Drosera burmanni.

Pygmy sundews. There are quite a few of these and I won’t list species. This type of sundew is tiny. Most times not any bigger than a dime or nickel rosette and they often grow in colonies. Pygmies generally come from environments where they go dormant through a dry summer and actively grow only during the cool, rainy season. Pygmies can be kept from going dormant if they are kept moist throughout the year. One thing they do that is very interesting is produce something called gemmae. These are asexual reproductive bodies. They form in the center of the crown when the days get shorter like little green seeds though they are not seeds. These come easily from the plant and they can be sprinkled on damp media and they will begin to grow in a few weeks and become more plants. These also flower but I have never been able to collect viable seed from them.

Drosera binata, forked leaf sundews. This type of sundew grows leaves that are shaped like a “y”. The sticky bits are the forks of the “y”. These can get gigantic. Some forms that split into several forks can become a mass of impenetrable sticky death. They prefer to have a dormant period.

Butterworts

These carnivorous plants are also low to the ground rosettes. Their leaves are generally wide with curled edges. These are called butterworts because their surfaces are slippery like butter. When an insect lands on the leaf, it gets stuck to the slipperiness and the edges of the leaves curl slightly to contain the enzymes, acids, and nutrient soup that comes from the digestion of the insect. These come from all types of climates. Ones from tropical areas do not need a cold period, northern ones do.

Venus fly traps

Last, but by no means least, the world’s most popular carnivore, the Venus fly trap. This is the one that fascinates. Inside the trap, there are 3 trigger hairs. When an insect enters the trap and it triggers 2 hairs or one hair twice, the trap dramatically closes. This occurs quickly and is a surprise because plants just aren’t supposed to move like that. The trap doesn’t close all the way at first. The claw-like projections interlace to form prison bars. If it is an insect small enough to get through the bars, it escapes and the trap reopens. If it is too large to escape and keeps moving around, the trap closes and seals and begins digesting the insect. I rarely see flies in these plants. I find earwig carcasses and daddy long leg spiders. The latter is very pitiful. The juicy big bit that is the body and the head is completely shut in the trap and the long legs are sticking out of the trap, and here’s the pitiful part, they are twitching. I think they are going after the insect carcasses in the mistaken notion that they are alive and will become a meal. In fact, it is them that become the meal. Venus fly traps can only take temperatures down to about 20 F. Mine spend the winter in the fridge as described previously.

There you have it, a short introduction to a few carnivorous plants. I find it a very rewarding hobby and the ones I mentioned are usually easy to find. Just do a google search for sundews or carnivorous plants and some are sure to be located to become part of your collection. If you can provide the correct growing conditions and are fascinated by them, carnivorous plants definitely are for you.

Drosera capensis, Cape Sundew, Carnivorous Plants

Who isn't fascinated by carnivorous plants? I've seen grown men on their hands and knees next to my bog garden trying to tease Venus fly traps to close. Or who hasn't wondered at Mother Nature's psychiatric profile for designing these little monsters of death? PMS expressed in the form of carnivorous plants. It could have been worse, people, it could have been worse.

Drosera capensis and the variety is 'alba'. This plant will self pollinate and produce a lot of seed, which if you don't want them seeding every pot in your collection, it's best to collect it....a form of birth control. Then you can choose where and when they multiply. These are interesting members of the Drosera genus. Their leaves move rather slowly, but eventually will wrap around their victim. I'll send complete instructions on the plant's care as well as how to germinate the seed. To give you an idea, give it distilled or rain water, keep very moist ( I use undrained containers like yogurt cups and solo plastic cups) in a mix of straight peat moss and perlite ( I like 1/2 and 1/2...the plants seem ok with it too) and keep it on a sunny window sill or under lights. I definitely suggest letting it summer outdoors where it will make an absolute pig out of itself catching and consuming insects. I highly recommend this plant as a beginner's carnivore.

Of course, you will have to endure the kidding of friends and family if this is the first carnivorous plant you have owned. "Got to feed Master", "Geeze, you've got a dark side to you", and the ever popular, "Where's the cat? Has anybody seen the cat?" are the ones I hear. Let them scoff, they're just jealous.

You can either feed the plant live insects you've caught for it or let it do it's own on the window sill or outdoors in the summer. It's not a good idea to feed it ground beef or other meat, it's just too fatty and pure protein and they have a hard time digesting it and it often goes bad and rots the plant. The following is a link to a cool picture of a D.capensis with quite a large "mouthful" >D. capensis with a moth.

Black Tomatoes!

Black Tomatoes!

Yes, there are black tomatoes, well, not really black, more like mahogany or brown. I have a friend who absolutely refuses to even consider eating one. She associates the label “black” and food as meaning spoiled. Spoiled they are not. They are one of the tastier types of heirloom tomatoes. Black tomatoes are beautiful to look at, tasty, and they are healthier than red tomatoes to eat. Research has found them to be higher in anti-oxidants and anti-cancer properties than red tomatoes. What do they taste like? Well, they taste like a tomato but fuller flavored. Often, it is a taste that is complex, tending toward more acidic than hybrid red tomatoes. They are an interesting addition to salads, fresh salsa (especially when mixed with red, yellow, white, pink, green, and orange tomatoes) , and the sauce types make a wonderful, dark, rich sauce full of flavor and goodness. By the way, the research also found that cooked tomato is actually higher in the anti-oxidants and anti-cancer compounds so the best way to eat tomatoes, black or red, is to make them into sauce or stew them.

Heirloom tomatoes in general are getting easier to find so the chances of finding black ones are better than they used to be. Searches on line often result in many sources of seeds and plants. I grow 80 varieties of heirlooms and have several black heirlooms among them. Below are descriptions and links to pictures of a few of them so you can see how nice looking they are.

Cuban Black.This is a somewhat rare variety that I got from a woman in Greece. It is a new variety for me this year. It is a good producer and has a good mix of meat to seed which gives the best flavor. Cuban Black has the typical flavor of a black tomato and is multipurpose fresh, canning, and sauce. Its country of origin is Cuba.

Carbon. This indeterminate (needs staking or cages because it grows very tall) plant bears medium size beefsteak type tomatoes. I've seen references that state that this tomato wins taste test after taste test. The idea that an heirloom is a variety that has been grown by generations and passed down from person to person is really very fascinating. And they just taste better.

Slovene Black. Very rare This variety is from the country of Slovenia. It is a medium sized beefsteak type black tomato. It has excellent black tomato flavor and as with all black tomatoes, is healthier for you because of the extra anti-oxidants. This variety is great sliced for sandwiches, cut up for salads and can be made into a rich, dark, healthful sauce. This variety produces well even in cloudy, rainy, cool summers. I picked quite a few tomatoes of this variety during our lousy summer last year.

Gypsyrare This indeterminate plant bears small to medium very flavorful black tomatoes. This is the first year I've grown this rare variety. I'm quite pleased with its production and flavor. Makes an interesting addition to summer salads, sandwiches and home made fresh salsa...especially mixed with red, white, yellow, pink, and black tomatoes. Being small to medium sized, makes them great for eating out of hand.

Indian Fleisch..Rare. I got the original seed for this variety from Germany. I don't have a positive country of origin for these. Indian was in English and Fleisch means "meat" in German. I'm thinking it means it's an Indian Meat tomato meaning it's from India. No info came with the seeds. This is the first year I've grown this and am pleased with its production and taste. It's a medium size tomato, black, with rich flavor. Fruit is born in clusters of 6 or so. Being a black tomato, it is healthier to eat than a red tomato.

Japanese Truffle Mystery Tomato. OK, I'm going to be very upfront about this tomato. This is the first year I have grown it and the fruit that is being produced is NOTHING like the description. The description is a pouch shape, pleated tomato which is quite dark black. This is not what I got. The plants are producing large, round, beefsteak type tomatoes that are black and remind me of Carbon, but not quite. So, if you are looking for Japanese Black Trefel, this may not be it. I think the seller mixed up seeds, which is incredibly easy to do because they all look alike. All the Japanese Black are growing fruit not to description. And yes, the picture is Slovene Black, but this is a very similar tomato, except the mystery tomato is larger and I forgot to take a picture of the fruit. Whatever this tomato is, it is large, often over a pound, and very flavorful. I will call this Japanese Black Trefel Mystery because I don't know what else to call it.

Braun Plaume This indeterminate plant bears small to medium size dark mahogany tomatoes in profusion. In my humble opinion, this is the best sauce tomato on the planet. Its size is perfect for dropping whole into a food strainer (like Victorio). This variety came from a Russian woman living in Germany. She called it by its German name because I couldn't read Russian. It means brown plum. The original seed was grown by her parents at their home in Russia.

Brown Berry is a sweet little jolly to pop in your mouth when working in the garden. It is dark brown, somewhat like Chocolate Cherry. It bears well and the flavor is excellent. These are great on a vegetable dip platter and it really looks attractive if you have a mix of black, red, white, green, and yellow cherry type tomatoes. This is an indeterminate tomato and the fruit is borne in clusters of 8 or so. The tomatoes are said to be 78 days. I've never been one to believe the numbers because my tomatoes apparently can't read to know if they are early, mid, or late season and all ripen at once. The only thing consistent seems to be the larger the fruit the plant grows, the later in the season it ripens.

Chocolate Cherry I've seen a lot of claims for the blackest tomato but I think the little Chocolate Cherry wins hands down. The inset picture shows it compared to a red tomato. It is dark, rich brown with green seed gel. It is sweet and it’s so easy to pop many into your mouth. So easy, this is one of the cherries that my kids devastate during a garden grazing. It’s difficult for me to get any! This is an indeterminate tomato and the fruit is borne in clusters of 8 or so.

Black StarThis is the first year I've grown this tomato. I got the seeds for this variety from Germany. The name on the packet was in English making me think it is a variety from an English speaking country. Sorry, I've forgotten to take a picture of it, but it is black, round, and is medium in size. It would have been more productive if a storm hadn't broken the stake and the plant at the base.. The taste is good, like a tomato ought to taste and could be used for fresh eating as well as for sauce. Sorry I don’t have a picture of the tomato itself, but the link will take you to a picture of a bowl of fresh salsa made with all the colors of tomatoes.

If you would like to learn more about growing heirloom tomatoes, see my article on Growing Heirloom Tomatoes

Proper way of helping plants recover from shipping

Plants that spend up to 3 days in a dark box need a little TLC when they arrive. Take them out of the box, remove any damaged leaves or stems. If they are very dry, soak them for a couple of hours in warm water. If in need of water, just pot up and water. Pot up in any good soil media or plant outside if danger of frost is past. Because their foliage has become tender in the dark box, keep the plants in bright light but not direct sun for the first day or so. If outside, shade in some way. The second or third day, let them have a few hours of morning sun. The next day after that, a few more hours, and by the 4th day, let them have as much sun as they are supposed to like. Keep well watered during establishment. If they should wilt during the day, and not recover at night, cut the plants back further. If the plants grow in rosettes, remove some of the outer leaves.