[bower]

Here are some pictures of my trial plants so far, mostly started February 28.

PI 120256 was one of the first to germinate (2/2), shown below next to Stupice, with Siberian Pink in the front row next to LA1478 (Pimpinellifolium) which germinated a full 15 days later (1/2) and was just potted up 2 days ago, still quite tiny and looking a little stressed. This is a cool room with no heat source except the fluorescent light.

The second picture shows the determinate group, with PI120256 and LA1478 at the end of the row. There's a lot of difference in size, partly due to germination times but by now a fair comparison of vigour. From left to right:

1. Glacier (PL) at the back, with an RL seedling presumed Glacier cross in front of it
2. Beaverlodge Plum, very large and vigorous seedlings, at the back.
Petrusha Ogorodnik in front of it was started a week later March 6 and is catching up. It's a new Altai selection with 6 oz pointed pink fruit.
3. Danko at the back; Siletz in front was late germinating.
4. Kimberley at the back; Cold Set in front was late germinating.
5. Sophie's Choice at the back is huge; Alaska in front, also a bit slow germinating.
6. Al Kuffa at the back has a very sturdy stem. Early Cascade F1 in front, later.
7. Zolotoy Zapas at the back; Zolotoe Serdtse in front.
8. Stupice back, Siberian Pink in front.

The third pic shows one of each, of thirty varieties successfully started. The white tub are the medium sized fruit group, all started March 6: Rozoviy Flamingo, Lotos, Pale Perfect Purple, Pervaya Lyubov, Black Russian, Eva Purple Ball. Pervaya Lyubov is the large PL in the middle - way ahead of the others.
To the right of PI 120256/LA 1478 are Zolotye Kupola/Serdtse Dezdemony, Yaponskiy Krab/Indian Stripe, all started March 6, and Black Early/Oaxacan Jewel from Feb 28 at the end of the row. Overall, Eva Purple Ball and Indian Stripe are the runts of the litter - they were included in the grow for tolerance of humid conditions, rather than earliness or cold tolerance.

I had a couple of no-shows and failure to produce a viable seedling, including the Lycopersicoides accession. 1/2 seeds did germinate and produced a very fat radicle but then stopped growing, failed to emerge, and eventually perished.

This was my first time trying to germinate old tomato seeds, so I read up on it and used the method of pre-soaking in a weak fish emulsion solution, for Early Cascade, Cold Set, Siletz, and LA 4268 as well. Cold Set and Siletz germinated 1/2 with some signs of cotyledon damage but by nursing along with fish emulsion produced true leaves and viable seedlings. Early Cascade germinated 4/7 with 3/4 viable. I have no idea why the LA4268 sprout failed to grow, although it's possible the soil was too wet or cold. I read afterwards about the natural habitat of Lycopersicoides, they get a blast of rain and freezing temps in the winter and then have many months of drought. Possibly watering and/or a cold night in combination aborted the germination process by simulating a return to 'winter'.

I'm thinking to try the bleach method recommended by TGRC, and keep the soil a bit dryer than I would for a tomato.
Also thought about using a method I've used for other dormant seeds - use a handful of snow for the initial soak water as it melts, then plant and, in this case, keep watering to an absolute minimum to simulate natural conditions for the plant.
Any advice or other suggestions would be welcome.