You've opened a door that many want to chime in on. According to many, organics will not work in a container grow. I am hardheaded, and proceeded to do what many won't or can't do to make it work. Last year, i grew 40 some pepper plants, and some other stuff in my containers and was quite successful. If you are looking for more than one season, I reccomend using Al's mix - see the container gardening forum. If you are not going to try and grow more than one season with organics - you can do it, it will work, but it is more costly and time consuming than most gardners wish to stick with. As I said, I am hard headed and want challenges, and was able to do extremely well. Still here, OK here goes some of my .025 I mix my soil mix in two stages now. One is for first transplant, second is for fruiting and final transplant. Both are mixed well in advance - as much as 6 months or as few as 6 weeks depending on time availability and funds hee hee. I mix into huge totes and keep them around 68-74 degrees to let the microlife grow and develop. The containers I grow in are *mostly 8-14 gallon plastic nursery stock. With the weight of the containers while growing, they tend to settle into the ground quite a bit over the summer, and thats exactly what i want. I also do not really do more than trim the grass at the top level of the containers to prevent the sun from cooking the soillife and roots inside. I do use some 5 gallon buckets too, but those plants are severly root bound by seasons end. I use a blend of fertiloams red label, a very "woody and chunky" potting soil that is locally available for both of my mixes. For a 50 gallon batch I add the following. first mix 15 lbs of worm castings. 2 lbs green sand 2 lbs cottonseed meal 1 lbs blood meal 5 lbs bone meal - either steamed or not. 1 lbs kelp meal 5 lbs pelletized dolomite lime 1 bag composted cow manure Alot of folks stay away from the worm castings, but to introduce microlife, it's important. After mixing thoroughly, I make a "tea" from 1 gallon of spring water, 1/2 cup worm castings, 4 tablespoons of liquid fish ferts (alaska), and 2 tablespoons of non sulfured molasses. I put an air pump (aquarium) and stone in this, and bubble it until it foams hard - usually 12 to 16 hours. I mix this with another 4 gallons of either rain water or spring water and 1/4 cup molasses. This I add to the mix in the totes to lightly moisten, and mix thoroughly. I then cover the totes, and store them, turning lightly weekly and monitoring so that they do not go anaerobic on me. "hot mix" 5 lbs greensand 30 lbs worm castings 10 lbs bone meal 7 lbs cottonseed meal 5 lbs blood meal 5 lbs bat guano high pk 2 bage composted cow manure 3 lbs kelp meal 6 lbs pelletized dolomite lime 2 lbs grain limestone the mix part and tea is the same. first mix is for 1st transplant into 1 gallon containers, before this I use straight red label, second mix is for final transplant into large container. I add a few teas during growth, water daily unless rain, and put a mix of chunky shredded bark and alfalfa pellets on top to mulch with. Once a month or so, I water with a 2 table spoon molasses to 1 gallon water mix to enrich microlife. i have changed this mix several times, and will probably continue to do so. You don't have to get this involved, but without the microlife, the nutrients are not that available to the plant, and it will not flourish. I had mature peppers - even Bhuts in late June, early July. My garden planted peppers didn't really yield till later like mid August or so. I harvested over and over and over. Continously. it will work, but like I said, is expensive, and time consuming. My tomatoes and basil were enormous and yielded well into October. Next post I will attach some late season photos. Good luck. TiMo One added benefit is the use of the old seasons mix into my vegetable garden. In January, I could scrape off the leaf covering in the garden and still find enourmous amounts of worms at work breaking this down. This year, my garden should really rock. The greensand and bonemeal last well into the future, more so the greensand.

Not sure where you are in MD, but in Lancaster County, PA just north of the border all the Stauffer's of Kissel Hill stores carry corn meal and Organic Approach does, too. Keep up the noise at your garden centers. SKH finally got with the program after several "what is it you said you wanted?" stares. This is my third year using corn meal and I love it. It doesn't take care of every "weed", however, it makes the job easier. It's the best of all worlds when this stuff won't ruin the water table any more than it is, the kids could practically eat it, and of course, the weed control. Jenny

Given the numbers I see there is no reason to add anything. There is adequate amounts of organic matter (9.89 %) as well as most everything except P. For drought protection I would want the soil depth to be 6 inches, not 3. Why does this soil need aeration? Given the amount of organic matter the Soil Food Web should be keeping that soil well aerated, unless something was done to the soil that killed them off. Will this person be adding fungi that will work with grasses or trees or flowers? Mycorrhiza, myco = fungus and rhiza - roots, refers more to a mutually beneficial relationship some species of fungi form with plants and different fungi develop that relationship with different plants so the fungi that form a symbiotic relationship with trees will not do so with grasses. Get the soil into a good healthy condition and the fungi will be there without spending money on "magic elixirs" that most likely are not what you want.

No, that probably won't work. I'd put it in a larger pot since it looks like it's probably maxed out the root space in its current pot and the mix for nursery growing may not be ideal for long-term. Usual general guideline is 2 zones hardier for things in pots, but I've had a difficult time with most things in pots overwintering here on the northern edge of zone 5. Try insulating the pot really well - surround it (including on the soil surface) with bags of something like densely packed foam packing peanuts and put it against a corner against the building to prevent the soil freezing solid or even worse, multiple freeze-thaw cycles. You could also surround the outside of the pot with sheet builder's foam if it surrounds all sides and the bottom with something on the surface to help reduce temperature swings. A larger pot will help mitigate the temperature swings, but no guarantees. Try it and report back how it goes.