OT: tomato plant progress and grow light setup.

Chudo Rinka Tomato plants (above) on March 10. These were sown on February 28.

Same tomato plant today (March 24) 2 weeks later. I guess I have been a bit impatient with my thinking that they don't seem to be growing too fast.

Grow Center: $30

If anyone is interested in the setup that I have to grow my tomato plants, I used an old microwave cart. I have been meaning to freecycle this microwave cart (FOR YEARS NOW) and finally came up with the idea to turn it into a grow station. The cart rolls around on wheels and has a shelf underneath. I purchased 2 undercounter fluorescent lights (about $15 each, one for each pocket) and lined the inside of the shelf with aluminum foil. However, the shelf is already white which is highly reflective, so in hindsight, I could have skipped the aluminum lining step. I used packing tape to tape heavy cardboard over the big opening in the back of the cart. Then, I used an old sheet to cover the entire thing. This keeps the plants warm at night -- recently, they've been growing in 75 degree temperature!