We have some somewhat interesting results form the tomato seeds I sowed a couple of weeks ago.

It’s very difficult to get a good photo in the purple LED light, but one week after sowing the seeds, 5 of the 16 pots of tomatoes I planted had seedlings coming up, and all 5 were MiracleGro pots. Hmmm….
And further more, in instances where I had fermented and non-fermented seeds, only the fermented seeds had germinated. Fermenting the seeds at the time you collect them from the tomato is supposed to remove a gel coating around the seeds that inhibits germination.

However, a few days later, every tomato pot had seedlings (both fermented and non-fermented seeds) and the Kellogg pots looked virtually identical to the MiracleGro pots.

So, while there may be a slight initial advantage to using Miracle-Gro potting soil over Kellogg potting soil or to fermenting your tomato seeds, the Kellogg-planted and non-fermented seeds quickly caught up and any initial differences are non-existent now. It’s still too early to say whether the seedlings will grow faster in one potting soil or the other, but so far these results tell me that next year I won’t have to bother fermenting tomato seeds.
We’ll have to wait and see if it is the tortoise and the hare.