You might be able to get STEM or Micromax from

Southwest Fertilizer & Farm Supply
5828 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77081
Phone: 713-666-1744

It's usually only available from wholesalers in 50 lb bags, and you won't find it in big box stores. I use it myself because it is so simple & insures the right % of the minor elements every time I fertilize. You may need to do a little research & come up with a more readily available blend, or make sure your fertilizer is supplying them. Most soluble fertilizers will be lacking the important Ca and Mg, so be particularly careful that your plants are getting these nutrients.

I was pretty confident you'd do better on the perlite price & availability. ;o)

Al

Thanks Al, I bought all their bags of perlite so they didn't stock much, lol. All I lack now is bark fines but I did see soil conditioner at HD.

Would epsom salts or agricultural lime do the same thing if Ca and Mg are the primary nutrient in STEM? Is it dolmite that has both?

Thanks for the replies

Yes, Dolomitic lime contains both Ca and Mg. STEM doesn't have Ca or Mg in it, but Micromax has 6% Ca and 3% Mg. Micromax is an insoluble product and STEM is soluble. Micromax is generally incorporated into soils at the time they are made, or less effectively broadcast on top of soils in established plantings, while STEM, since it is soluble, is dissolved in water and applied with fertilizer applications.

There are also other products that are more readily available, and will supply the minor elements, if you go looking for them.

Al

I made several HM EB versions last year and had zero probs.
What I did was place a thin screen on top of the holes drilled into the bottom of the container that supports the mix..and 1/2 inch below the level where the support sits (it will sag as you add potting mix) I drilled a 1/2" hole to allow overflow. Perhaps yours got plugged because the mix dipped into the drain hole. As far as your plants going kapuut..ya did moisten the mix as you put it in I hope..and cover the top with a garbage bag..( i used white ones) and sinched down with duck tape?
I used Jungle Growth potting mix and a cup full of dolomite, a cup full of epsom salt, and about 1/2 cup of slow release
14-14-14 osmocote mixed in. Plants did great.

Atascosa, I did prewet the mix when I put it in but not sure I wetted it enough. Maybe I should wet it more this year. The mix fell down the sides of the platform and stopped up my drain hole. I saw somewhere else that someone placed those foam peanuts around the edge to prevent the mix from falling down the side. I'll try that this year. As far as lime goes, All I had was pulversized limestone (couldn't find dolmite). Its says it has less than 2% Mg though. I would like to know if you use both dolmite AND epsom salt. For some reason I got the idea epson salt was for Mg. I kinda get confused about when to use each and was going to ask Al but figured I used up my question alotment for the week, lol. Btw Al, thanks for all your help. I keep reading but seems the more I learn the more questions I have. Houston is about 14 hours away from here for the STEM.

Dolomite is just garden lime, and you need to be careful you're not applying hydrated lime. Use dolomitic lime to supply Ca and Mg on/in soils that are more acidic (like the 5:1:1 bark:peat:perlite recipe I use often), because you can afford the little elevation in pH the lime offers Commercially prepared soils are often pH adjusted to around 6.2 - 6.5 with dolomitic lime. If your soil is less acidic & closer to pH neutral @ 7 (like the gritty mix of equal parts of bark:Turface:granite), you may wish to consider using gypsum as a Ca source. When you use gypsum, it doesn't affect soil pH, but it contains no Mg, so you need to include the Epsom salts in your fertilizer water @ 1/4 - 1/2 tsp per gallon.

Al

Thank you Al. I looked at the ingredients and it listed calcium and less than 2% Mg. It was the closest thing to dolmite I could find at the time and I dont see where is says hydrated lime. its just called pulverized limestone as far as I can tell. I am using your mix so that means I should probably use dolmite and epson salt? BTW, I have read somewhere you say the mix you made is kinda general and we should tailor it to our specific needs if we know what they are. I ask because my wife wants me to dig up 4 roses that I planted last year (sentimental value). Is there something I should do for the roses that would better than just the 5:1:1 mix. Also, how do I know whether to use one part perlite or 2 parts for tomatoes and roses. I will probably use the oildri for the roses since I'm not sure if they will be in a container for 1 year or 2.

Thank you for all your help

wyndell,

You may want to see this link:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0321401028869.html?2

Raybo

rnewste, thank you for that link. I have seen his pics before and he does a much better job at building them than me. I think he uses bigger boxes than me but his certainly looks better than mine. I do wonder how he puts the plastic on top with the supports already in place. I think my brain is trying to learn too much and is just full of too many questions of which most in here probably already know. I am thankful to you, Al, and atascosa for sharing all your help.

OK, lets get one thing clear. I am a idiot. Mewste, are you the him that built that, lol. I thought you was giving me a link to something someone else built and now it looks like you and him are the same one. If so, I can be really dumb sometimes. I was at a office the other day and someone was asking what I was going to do. I told them about the earthboxes I was going to try and that someone had a really neat pic with supports. I spent 30 min trying to find your post with the pictures but could never find it (found it later in the tomato forum). Anyway, just wanted to apologize for not recognizing you if thats you at the time posted.