The soil above should come in at a pH in the neighborhood of about 5.2 - 5.5 before liming. Gypsum has no, or nearly no effect on soil pH, and tomatoes growing on prefer the soil in the 5.2 - 5.8 range, so it hardly gets any better. When you factor in the tendency for soils to climb in pH as they age, you should be just right. I never worry about soil pH in container culture. If a hobbyist tells me, "I maintain a soil pH of ______", or even give a narrow range pH and claim to be able to maintain it, I immediately suspect the veracity of the claim, even if I don't challenge it. As hobbyists, we can generally point the pH in the right direction, and that's about as good as it gets. Trying to maintain pH at any predictable potential is an exercise in futility because of the number of factors that vary by the hour and have large sway on container soil pH. Al

Philoz, I used Air-Pots last year. I used them only for rooting (which will change this year) but they come in sizes to 120 gallons. One of the nice things about them is they are shipped flat. Therefore, the assembly involves one to wrap the flat sheet and secure it with a "fixing" (in my case its something very similar to what holds the upholstery into your automobile sheet metal.) When it is time to repot/root-prune, you can remove the fixing, and unwrap the container from around your tree in place. This is necessary because of the design of the container, but it comes in handy for other reasons as well. The overall design of the container is suppose to prevent (or at least minimize) many root problems associated with container growth. I found it to be moderately successful. I posted on the use of the pots in this forum. I think I just titled it "Air-Pots". I seem to remember a distributor in Australia. good luck, ~james

There are several aspects to creating a cohesive look in a planting arrangement... color, plant shape, texture, scale, height and growth habit, etc... The reason a typical planting of spikes, geraniums and vinca vine looks so good together is because you have a nice contrast between the long, strap-like green leaves of the spike and the rounded leaves and flower color of the geranium... and the contrast between the vining habit and variegation of the vinca and the growth habit and color of the spike, etc... I usually choose a color palate and work from there... last year, I used purples and chartreuse as the main colors. This year, I'm going for orange, reds, salmon and yellows as the main colors, with blue and white or silver as accents. I'll know the right combo when I see it! Xuan - I think Sweet William would look great if planted with petunias in white or pinks, and some variegated english ivy... and something tall and green as height, with a contrasting leaf shape. Cleome may be a bit too tall for containers, unless you can find a dwarf variety, or inter-plant it with something that compliments the scale of that particular plant. I had fully intended to take lots of photos this year to post... so, I went outside yesterday to get new shots of the bulb beds in bloom... and I dropped the camera on the cement floor of the garage and now it doesn't work! I could kick myself for not being more careful!! I'm absolutely sick about it! We've had that camera for quite a while, and could probably use an updated version, but I'm so mad at myself for not paying closer attention while carrying it!! My wonderful husband said it's no big deal... it's just a camera. Accidents happen, and we'll simply get a new camera. Even if I have to borrow a digital camera or buy a disposable one temporarily, I am going to get shots of the gardens and patio pots as things progress. This is the only photo I have of last year's planters... you can see that I used both annuals and perennials in my arrangement... see how the colors and shapes compliment each other by contrast? Here's an idea that I use sometimes when I'm having a mental block... I'll go to Lowe's or Home Depot or Meijer's and thumb through the gardening magazines and books... especially any that advertise how to do combination container plantings. A few years ago, I bought some books and magazines that deal mostly with container gardening... just going back to them from time to time for a peek gives me a fresh perspective, and lots of new ideas!

Peat starts out at a very low pH and is adjusted upward by adding lime, which also supplies Ca and Mg. Coir starts at a pH that is already too high (around 7.0) for container media, leaving no chance for using lime as a Ca/Mg source. So what are you using that ensures your plants are getting the Ca and Mg they need, and how do you address the high pH issue that needs no attention with bark/peat-based soils? How do you know you're getting your coir/CHCs from a reputable packager? and that the solubles level isn't excessively high ..... until your plants are surviving or failing? Seems like an unnecessary risk to me. Lots of things become the rage when people don't understand the product well. It's only after they've been brought into the light that people start to say, "Hey wait a minute". Lots of people simply decided that coir (or CHC's) are a great idea based on the fact that THEY bought into the idea that peat is not renewable and they wanted to feel they made a wise choice in switching. Look at the impossible claims you hear about products like Superthrive, Eleanor's VF-11, Bloom-booster fertilizers ...... A few people repeat something they heard someone else say, and pretty soon it's an urban legend and touted as the best thing since sliced bagels. There are reasons commercial ops don't use significant amounts of coir and CHCs in media - cost, high levels of soluble salts (are common) and a pH too high to deal with w/o acidification of the irrigation water. "Isnt the point of drainage layer so there isnt a saturated layer at the bottom of the pot?" It may be your intent, but wishing it would work that way doesn't change physics - no matter how hard you wish. 'Drainage layers' do not promote drainage unless the particles in the drainage layer are no larger than 2.1x the size of the particles in the soil. If they are larger than that, water 'perches' in the soil above the 'drainage layer'. "If the styrofoam was rock I could understand the water perch idea." Rock or big chunks of foam make no difference. The water reacts the same way. "The op was asking about making containers lighter. Annuals and alot of plants dont need the 20+ gallon size of large containers for root colonizing. Why have a 100 pound pot if you dont have to. What would you suggest?" One of the best ways, from a scientific perspective, would be to upturn another (plastic) container inside of the one you're planting in and put a screen over the drain hole. Second best would be to insert a false bottom with a wick through it. You could also partially fill the container with soda bottles or milk jugs with screw-on caps. You CAN use chunks of foam or peanuts to reduce the amount of soil needed to fill a container, but these layers of material in the bottom of containers do nothing for drainage. Al