Hello Everyone I am a beginner gardener I started earlier this year from seeds. I am choosing to grow organically but had issues this year with the heat, pests and I will admit knew nothing about soil etc I made mistakes and some veggies did well considering my lack of experience and knowledge. I lost some plants due to pests, the severe heat. I did container gardening as that is what suites me at the moment with moving etc. I took a break as I recently moved but do miss planting my seeds with my son (2 year old who LOVED waking his seeds up with our lamp and watching them grow!). My question and concern is....I really really want to do things right this time around and I must admit I am educating myself heavily before proceeding. I feel I have the seed starting down for the most part, its the transplanting and continued growth that I struggle with. If someone can PLEASE break down the whole idea and concept and NEEDS when it comes to container soil? Literally in kindergarten level. From what soil should contain, where earthworm casting, compost and fertilizer come in the picture and HOW/WHEN these should be added to my base soil. Can I mix Casting, Compost with a Soil that has fertilizer as I am transplanting? Should they be separated and used at different times? My apologies for lack in knowledge I just want my plants to thrive this next time around and be able to understand better as resources explain but not enough breakdown to say OH I GET IT! Please Help Thank You :) ALSO! Is Bat Guano, Manure etc a MUST? I would like to avoid this along with anything non organic method. I Personally Love Black Gold brands of soils etc so if anyone has experience with their products listings would be wonderful :)

Has anyone got suggestions for watering 5-gallon buckets? Depends on how much time you have to regularly and dependably water. If you know you aren't going to be able to water more than once per day then use a growing mix that majors in water retention to extend the watering interval. If watering at least once a day is not a big deal, then choose a highly porous, fast draining mix that offers tons of aeration and then water whenever you even think the plants might need it. When in doubt, water. Over watering isn't likely with veggies in a super fast draining mix. If you know you won't be able to keep up with the watering demands of a super porous mix, but want the benefits of the superior aeration anyway, go with an automated drip irrigation system. Another option is to use a larger container. The larger the container volume, the more water it can hold. The more water it can hold, the longer the interval between your having to water. Yet another option is to make the 5 gallon bucket into a self watering container. This will also extend the watering interval. It's all about what will work for the plants as well as the plant grower. You just gotta go with what is the best compromise for the both of you ;-)

This is a link that I've found useful as when it's feasible for me to do so, I would like to do container gardening as well. It's not for Canada, however it does recommend what veggies are ideal for container gardening, what size containers to use for what veggie you're planting, as well as how many plants to put per container. NOTES FOR ALL LINKS:It won't let you just click on the links and then they'll redirect you via opening a new website via opening a new window. You'll have to manually copy and paste these site links into your web browser then press enter after you've done this. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/containergardening/herbveggie_vegvarieties.cfm http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM870B.pdf Here are some sites with tips of how to prevent damping off: http://gardengal.net/page80.html http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seed_starting2.php Here is a site that tells what damping off is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_off Here's a site that says how to sterilize your potting mix/soil, which is highly recommended that you do prior to planting whatever it is your going to plant. The reason for doing so? To prevent damping-off http://www.momsbudget.com/containergardening/sterilizeoven.html Here's information on creating a potting mix that somebody recommended to me: NOTE ON USING SOIL FOR CONTAINERS:DO NOT use top soil. It's recommended you avoid using topsoil at all costs for container gardening. IT IS recommended that you use a "soilless soil" potting mix; a potting mix like Miracle Gro is ideal and the most highly recommended. Potting Mix (for container gardening) mix together pine bark fines, perlite, and Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Use 3-5 parts bark with 1 part perlite and 1 part Miracle Gro Potting Mix. If you choose not to make your own "mixture" with potting soil, then you can add fertilizer to it. Here are the recommended varieties: Recommended Fertilizer: Miracle Gro 24-8-16 granular soluble or 12-4-8 liquid fertilizer. NOTES: pine bark fines is...... Small pieces of pine bark. Majority of it will be dime sized or smaller. Is often labeled as "soil conditioner" or "aged pine bark". A "part" is...... A "part" is any unit of measurement you like (eg: a cup, a gallon, etc.) Ex: 5 parts bark and 1 part perlite would be the equivalent of..... 5 cups bark, 1 cup perlite; OR 5 5 gallon buckets bark, 1 5 gallon bucket Here is a place where you can order perlite off the internet if it's not available where you live: http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/Coarse-Perlite-4-cubic-foot-bag/productinfo/SO-PER/ If you don't need such a huge quantity, here is a site that offers it in smaller portions: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=156581-446-74278300

The mix you are describing is the gritty mix. It would be more common to use the 5-1-1 mix (bark, peat,perlite) for SWC (cheaper, too). In either case there is nothing in these mixes that isn't either a. organic or b. not offensive to organic principles. The only possible objection is that some ingredients are 'processed' such as clay being fired at very high temps to ensure it never reverts back to the muck it once was. there are many of us on this forum who grow in containers and while we try to be as organic as possible when growing in the soil, we have learned the hard way that trying to be successful using things like manure and compost in large amounts generally leads to disappointment in containers. There are some really nice options that are affordable though. As I noted, there is nothing 'unorganic' about the ingredients in the mix you described or the 5-1-1 mix. The Espoma line is pretty popular and as of this year I believe all of them are considered fully organic. Many using self watering containers use this product and report good success. I have seen pictures of plants in SWC using this fertilizer and the plants look good. Look on the container or tomato forum for 'Raybo' who has his own SWC designs and uses the Espoma line of fert in them. On the topic of reusing your container mix, that is fine to do right up to the point where it has broken down to the point it's 'too dense' and doesn't permit much oxygen to the roots. Pine bark based mixes will resist this collapse longer than peat or coir cased ones will. What you have to consider about things like worm poop and compost is that they don't really have much to offer in a container. These are food for the biology living in the soil. The idea behind using them is 'feed the soil' as well as soil conditioning. In a container you won't have any soil to feed and plants are fed directly rather than relying upon soil organisms to do it. There is no soil to 'condition' either. Lastly, there is little value in adding bone meal to containers. It takes a long time to release any nutrients. It has it's place in some soil applications, but in a container it's lack of solubility means it just sits there and does a lot of nothing.