Please be careful not to turn my words around. I said, "I don't think you understand nutrition and soil science well enough yet to make the judgements you're making", which is quite different than insinuating you don't know what you're doing. Just because event B follows event A, is not necessarily evidence that A is the cause of B. Evidence, because so many have started and transplanted seedlings into the gritty mix and the 5:1:1 mix, strongly supports the idea that you're doing something wrong or inconsistent with a favorable outcome using a well-aerated soil, and I can say the same thing for Buzzsaw. I would be telling you the same thing, whether you were using MG soil, your own mixture, or any other soil. I have no idea how you made the soil, but if it contains ingredients other than the ones listed, it's not one of the soils I recommended. You mentioned coffee grounds in the soil. Here is something I left only a few days ago on the soil/composting forum: Forum discussions frequently center on the question of adding dilute coffee/tea or grounds to plants as a 'tonic', but Arabica (coffee) and Camellia (tea) are known for their toxic alkaloid (caffeine) content and their allelopathic affect on plants as well as autotoxic (poison to their own seedlings) effects on future generations. Caffeine interferes with root development by impairing protein metabolism. This affects activity of an important bio-compound (PPO) and lignification (the process of becoming woody), crucial steps for root formation. We also know that the tannins in both coffee and tea are known allelopaths (growth inhibitors). There are ongoing experiments to develop herbicides using extracts from both coffee and tea that cause me to want to say they might serve better as a nonselective herbicide than as a tonic. I would not use either (stale coffee or tea) by applying directly to my plants - especially containerized plants; nor would I add tea bags/coffee grounds to my container soils. It's entirely possible you've compromised your plants ability to grow to their potential via your inclusion of the coffee grounds or one of the other extras you're using. Al Here is a link that might be useful: The thread I quoted from

Everyone is saying "MULCH"! >> I have added several inches of mulch around the tomatoes and cucumbers >> I used a composted soil amendment as mulch Mulch is insulation. Like fiberglass insulation (which would work, in its own weird way!) the thicker the better. Also it's best dry on top, damp on the bottom where it touches that non-insulating soil amendment, and airy in the middle. Several inches isn't a lot if you are having problems that could be linked to heat and humidity. Tomato roots are impressive water sucker-uppers. IF they're healthy. Water and healthy roots do not add up to heat wilt, even without shade cloth. I have conditions similar to yours: heat, sun and wind. What the tomatoes DO have is gangster roots, and they haven't the slightest tendency to wilt. YET. Knock on wood. I just jinxed it, didn't I? Are you absolutely SURE that the watering goes down to an appreciable depth? Water it with a dribble for hours! Since there's no such thing as water wilt on a grown tomato that's not going to die, what do you have to lose? Then add another four inches of straw on the previous four.

Peter 6, Doing just a quick scan of favorites I found this from "Earth Wise" (a commercial tea brewer) as it relates to fungi/bacteria growth in compost tea: "Bacteria/Fungi -- Bacteria can be grown in tea. They will actually multiply. Fungi are different. It is very difficult to grow fungi because fungi are basically one organism that breaks small parts off to keep growing. While you are growing bacteria, you are extracting fungi from your compost. Your brewer must agitate the water enough and your food must be in the liquid so the fungi will come out of the compost into the tea. Brew times that favor fungi are a little long for simple bacteria so you have to balance your brewing to get the best of both." One would have to say the person stated the known facts correctly according to this web page, and Earth Wise did link to "Soilfoodweb.com for testing of a tea. Just my quick look around; I do trust this helps somewhat Blutranes Here is a link that might be useful: Earth Wise Compost Tea Recipes'

Hello all. Thank you for the feedback. What a crappy morning it has been, I went to my little seedlings and oh my gosh, finally I had a beautiful new peach bloom, my first bloom, it was perfect... I was dancing around joyful with excitement and then... I found myself jumping out of bed in such a hurry I stubbed my toe, ran limping down the hall to the "green house" only to find my tiny little seedlings, with no bloom :o) It was all a dream! GRRRRRR! Back to reality... Over the past 8 days I have had a few changes. I lost 3 more seedlings. First, one of their leaves start to turn brown and then over time all of the leaves turn brown and wilt, leaving only the stem that soon dies too. I have another 4 seedlings showing signs of browning and wilt. Here is a photo, arrows pointing to brown wilting leaves: Anyfeedback to what I might be doing wrong?? Or are the seedlings just not healthy and there is nothing that can be done to fix the problem?? I have tried not to over water or under water. I water each day, throughout the day with a spray bottle containing water and peroxide. The grow light is approx. 3 inches above the seedlings, I have kept the heating pad on low so not to over heat them. Not sure what to do for them. Today I decided to cut off the brown and or browning leaves and give them a little extra water to see if it helps. Now, a little good news, 7 of the 9 germinated seeds from last week are seedlings and I had another 7 seeds germinate over that past 3 days. For the question asked about harvesting the hips: The same day I brought the hips home, I cut each one open, removed the seeds and placed them in a measuring cup of approx. 3/4 cup water mixed with 1/4 cup peroxide. I had forgot the instructions on soaking them overnight, so the only soaking they received was the time it took me to cut open each hip, remove the seeds and place them in the water/peroxide solution, thus total soaking time for the first seeds removed from hips was around 2 hours or so, the last seeds removed from hips, maybe 15 minutes or so. I then drained the seeds via stainless steel strainer, placed the seeds on a paper towel soaked in the water/peroxide solution, placed them in a platic bowl with airtight lid and set them in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator, pretended they did not exist for about 10 weeks and then started checking them for germination about every 2-3 days. Around week 11, every 3rd day or so I would give the seeds a very light spray with the water/peroxide solution to prevent and or cut down on mold and keep them moist. (As for the hips, I didn't wait for color changes, I cut open each hip... red, orange, yellow and the green ones all the same day. As for the seeds, I kept them all, floaters and sinkers.) So, for today, with each throb I am still feeling in my toe, I am reminded my dream just might soon be a reality :o) Never stop dreaming. The Lioness