I read a long time ago that plants could either produce roots, produce top growth, or produce fruit, but not all at the same time (don't know if it's true). But if it is, maybe they are just getting their 'feet' under them in preparation of a top-growth spurt. Or, has the weather cooled? Sue

Mike, I have nothing against Miracle Grow water-soluble fertilizer and, in fact, do use it sometimes myself. It is just that I prefer to use organic fertilizers most of the time. One difference between most organic fertilizers and most synthetic fertilizers is that the synthetic fertilizers seem to give the plants a bigger boost more quickly, although that is not necessarily desirable in some cases. Why is a big, quick boost in growth sometimes undesirable? There's lots of reasons, but the one that I am most concerned about is that sometimes the ones that verge towards being a bit high in nitrogen will cause more top growth to occur too quickly and the still-immature and smaller root system cannot support that top growth. Also, if you're working to create biologically healthy soil with lots of microbes, synthetic fertilizers can have an adverse effect on your microbe level so those fertilizers are working against you in your effort to create soil that is teeming with microbes. I like using the Espoma line of dry fertilizers because they do contain some of the microbes needed in biologically active soil. However, I've liked them less and used them less since they changed the formula of the Tomato-Tone a few years ago. I think that there is room for both synthetic and organic fertilizers in any gardening program, particular when we are talking about growing plants in containers. Because container growing here requires so much watering in the summer, even with very large containers, it can be hard to grow in containers organically because of the way the constant watering leaches nutrients from the soil. In a year when we have tons of rainfall (here in my part of OK, I'm thinking back to 2010, 2007 and 2004), the constant rain can keep the root systems of the plants so saturated with water that they cannot take up adequate nutrition and the plants will stall in growth and develop a sickly color, that generally indicates a lack of nutrition because of the waterlogged roots. In a case like that, I'll spray the foliage of the plants with a water soluable fertilizer because at least that way they are getting some nutrition. Using Miracle Grow in this way pretty much saved my garden in 2007, and also in 2009 when a freak of-nature rainstorm dumped almost 13" of rain over our part of the county in one 24-hour period. The last thing my plants needed was more water on their roots, so by using a water-soluble fertilizer sprayed on the foliage, I could give them food without waterlogging the roots even more. Larry, Everyone I know here at the southern end of OK is way behind too. Pretty much all I've seen in any garden other than mine is onions. I do think some of my fellow gardeners here will be trying to get the rest of their cool-season crops in the ground this weekend because it is getting too late to put it off any longer. I have onions, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, radishes, potatoes, sugar snap peas, strawberries and some herbs and flowers growing now, but the only ones that really went into the ground on time were the onions, and I feel like I've been playing catch-up with everything else. Oh, and the tomato plants in the one early bed, which were planted my favorite way--early. The rest of my tomato plants (the ones I grew myself) aren't fully hardened-off, and won't be for another few weeks. I keep moving them into the shade-cloth covered greenhouse to get them out of the strong winds, so it has been hard to get them the ever-increasing increments of light needed to harden them off. This year its been a one step forward two steps back effort with the hardening off of the plants. I've got tons and tons of seedlings on the light shelf indoors and might move a bunch of them outside to the greenhouse later today. I am fighting a losing battle because the minute I move a flat or multiple flats of plants to the greenhouse, I feel compelled to fill up the empty shelves on the light shelf by starting more seeds. Carsonsmimi, Well, April is around the corner and it usually brings the onset of severe weather, so it might not be so bad to be a little behind with the seedlings. When the early-April severe weather hits, your seedling babies will be safe indoors. It's so hard to put them in the ground at the time that feels right if the weather forecast shows the potential for severe weather that same day. I cannot tell you how many times I have said "the heck with the weather, I'm planting" and then have had hail hit my seedlings the very same day I put them in the ground. It would be so much easier to be gardeners in Oklahoma if the weather didn't have so many ways to attack our gardens. It isn't fair that we have to worry about frost and freezing temperatures overnight and early in the morning, and then worry about high wind, wildfires, hail, and tornadoes the rest of the time. Kim, The very first time I bought fish emulsion and opened up the bottle, I thought I had bought something that had gone bad. : ) It sure is stinky stuff. Dawn

Hi Bruce, similar to you the MG Orchid mix along with MG Organic Choice, a little extra perlite. When I pot up I use the same mix but throw in bonemeal at that time so it's useable down the road when they will need it. I use the Espoma brand as its almost a fine powder. I use floro lights a grow lux and a cool white both T12 none are 6500K one is in the 4000 range and the other 3900 I think, but I know for sure none are 6500k as some recommend to use. I use tap water that has sat in an open container for at least 24 hrs and top water. At this point no additional ferts just what comes with the MG mix. Here is a pic to see the container and the size of the peppers. Mark This post was edited by habjolokia on Mon, Apr 8, 13 at 7:42

Beets take a long time. Especially if the ground is cool. I planted my first crop in mid-winter here (where mean temps are 40F or so), and they grew very slowly. Didn't see much root development for two months. Sort of disappointing. Then the roots started to fill out rapidly, and we've been eating beets almost continuously since April. They won't be done until mid-June, and I'm hoping they don't bolt. It will be different for different locales, and maybe more experienced beet growers will weigh in. But I found the pace of growth to be a little surprising. DTM is something like two months, but that's evidently not for cool weather and soil.