I encourage everyone to raise their own tomatoes, at least a few to supplement your meals. They are so much tastier than store-bought! Plus, you control what goes into them. After all, if harmful chemicals go into your tomatoes, they also go into you.
Tomatoes are easy to germinate but, during that period after germination and before planting outdoors, pay attention to your watering methods as well as light and temperature. My little plants were turning yellowish-white on the tips of their leaves and starting to curl. As careful as I had been to set up a grow light and control their temperature, I had been using our tap water for the little plants. After all, we drink it so it can't be that bad, can it? Well, yes it can. Two of the chemicals in our tap water seem to be the culprits that were killing our little plants: chlorine and calcium chloride. Although lime is good for them, the chlorine/ides could ruin them. The solution for us: Catch rain water. Not as pure as distilled water, rain gathers nitrogen (great for tomatoes!) and other seemingly harmless elements from the air, actually filtering the air we breathe. On the other hand, if you live in a smog-ridden area or happen to be near a faulty nuclear power plant, rainwater may not be your best option.
Now onto another question: How to remove the chlorine and calcium chloride (that limy residue) from our tap water without breaking the bank--any suggestions?
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