tomatoes II

even though the top photo is of a happy yam plant this entry is mostly about tomatoes (as if the title didn't give that away)...the yams are happy and the bigger one has reahced the top of the trellis...the smaller one is recovering from the wind damage and is catching up...if i do it right the garden will have an arch of yam vines...the other two photos are of the tomato plants i put in this morning...they are a sub-tropical perennial species (Lycopersicon spp.) and , like the sub-tropical teosinte, have been pretty sluggish about growing...they popped up on april seventh and have been hanging around in peat pots for more than a month...i hardened them off weeks ago and they've been basking in full sunlight for some time...still slow growth, which may be simply because they're prennials, or maybe they just don't like it here...i though that perhaps putting them in the garden might help...so i did...could be that a more natural environment than my livingroom and peat pots will get them going...it's warm enough that i don't think the move will harm them and maybe their roots just want more room ( even though they weren't pot bound )...this leaves only the teosinte yet to go in and that looks like it's still a few weeks away...if not longer...i have more seeds germinating on the heat mat and will experiment with growth mediums and ph balances to see if i can get something to grow beyond seven inches or so...and as soon as that elephant garlic blossoms i'll post a photo.