I think you guys are referring to this: Organic fertilizers do work to varying degrees in containers, but I would have to say that delivery of the nutrients can be very erratic and unreliable. The reason is that nutrient delivery depends on the organic molecules being broken down in the gut of micro-organisms, and micro-organism populations are boom/bust, varying widely in container culture. Some of the things affecting the populations are container soil pH, moisture levels, nutrient levels, soil composition, compaction/aeration levels ..... Of particular importance is soil temperatures. When container temperatures rise too high, microbial populations diminish. Temps much under 55* will slow soil biotic activity substantially, reducing or halting delivery of nutrients. I do include various formulations of fish/seaweed emulsions in my nutrient program at certain times of the year, but I never rely on them, choosing chemical fertilizers instead. Chemical fertilizers are always immediately available for plant uptake & the results of your applications are much easier to quantify. I try to use them when temperatures are favorable & there is little chance of carry over. I also mix them right in the same container with chemical fertilizers when I use them. Probably one of the most unscientific things you'll hear me say about container culture is on the subject of fish emulsions. I include them in my fertilizer program, even though I cannot quantify or see the added benefit. I suppose that is because I use other sources to insure that all the minors are available. The scientific side of me asks, "Why do you use them when you cannot justify their use?" The practical side of me has to answer, "I don't know - I just do." Perhaps it's because the nurturer wants to be sure the plants have every possible advantage to become what they can be. It works fine, so I'm not going to waste a bunch of additional time on introspection. ;o) Al

"""Hi Seysonn, Have you checked out any of the on-line seed sellers? ..... Remi's Sample Seed Shop. They send along a free packet of seed which covers the postage and they have lightning-fast shipping! Just a thought for next time (wink). Cheers, Linda""" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thanks Linda, I know SSS well. But I have everything that I can afford to grow. In the EARLY division I have: EARLY TREAT ( Burpee hyb.) BLOODY BUTCHER BUSH STEAK (Burpee hyb?) LEGEND 'MATINA SIBERIAN' SILETZ Those are among the Top 10 earlies. I bough all the seeds from HD, Lowes, Fred Myers. Otherwise I was going to order from Sample Seeds Shop. I like their selection, descriptions and prices. I will order some different veggies seeds from them later. The other three EARLIES that I know are MOSCOWICH , KIMBERLY, and STUPICE.

@john how Define "good". Do they provide soft water? Yes, like any other ion exchange water softer that is properly sized and set up, it will provide soft water. The aren't doing anything that makes the water "more soft". Is it more reliable than other softeners? They are probably more reliable than very low-end water softeners, but very reliable softeners are readily available built with industry standard parts for (Fleck control valves, for example) for not much money. Does it provide better value? Value driven customers can probably do better by ordering a Fleck based softer online from Amazon. Do they provide better service? There's a large network of Culligan dealers who can install and service a water softener. If you need that level of service and want a national brand name, they probably aren't a bad choice. Local water treatment companies can also do a very good job, without the cost of a national brand. So, what sets them apart? Water softening is a commodity business - there's no secret sauce. There's no water softer that's going to make your water "more soft". There are some gimmicks out there - such as twin tanks and units that don't require electricity - that don't provide any real tangible benefits. Some of the hardware is better than others. But there is industry standard, highly reliable and highly serviceable hardware available for moderate cost. They have a memorable brand and a dealer network.

Likely only talking to myself here in this old thread, so here goes anyway: amazondk, I do note much nuanced thought in your writings and I applaud that, but a few discrepancies have easily been spotted. First, way back up yonder, you speak of the methodology of a "sustainable" harvest, whereby only trees of large size are removed, the rest being left to grow on. Well, many decades ago here in the US, this was recognized for the mistake it is, and is known as high-grading. It can amount to the systematic removal of a given stand's best genetics for profit, leaving the weaker and less vigorous stems behind. Then, you also speak of how in the US PNW, there is so much replanting post harvest. Sure, sure, but it's all one species, so where you had doug fir, w. hemlock, w. red cedar, perhaps grand fir, etc. you now have just doug fir. That's hardly environmentally wise and is certainly not preserving the previous forest genetics. Also, in speaking of, for example, ipe's rapid growth, you do not mention that it is precisely the huge expanse of time which has allowed that and other species' gradually slowing growth rate (As they near maturity) that allows for such high-quality product. Finally, you repeat the long-discredited notion that it is young forests which are sequestering the most carbon. This erroneous thought came about when researchers initially only measured height increment in determining overall use and hence, sequestration of carbon. In fact, the old-growth tree is still, by dint of its immense overall size, still growing "faster" than the young pup, its growth simply being spread all over its many growing points. I learned that 20 years ago. All that said, I do certainly agree with some of your other points. For the best example, the often erroneous portrayal of a logged-out stand as a ruined one. If that's the case, I sure do wonder where all this great woodland here in Wisconsin came from! We supplied half the country with the wood to build this nation, in the case of a little town called Chicago, twice! Yes, nature is resilient and it can bounce back impressively. It is too bad though that your buddy seems to only want to hurl names and stereotypes around in this thread. Everybody else had reasonable things to contribute.