The reasons are: Too much/too little moisture - the conditions change rapidly, unfavorable pH - also changes rapidly, extreme temperature swings - changes rapidly, soil composition/compaction/aeration - compost-based soils can usually be counted on to compact badly, making anaerobic conditions ......... any one or combinations of several factors affect microbial populations in containers, and because they are tied together with nutrition organic soil supplements - nutrition as well. Since bio-populations rise and fall dramatically in containers, it follows that nutrition availability follows the activity levels and population numbers of the critters. Add to that you often have no idea of what you're supplying (% of nutrients) and when they will eventually become available, you can easily see how a chemical nutrition program for containers could be easier, less worrisome, and more reliable than depending on soil amendments to deliver the goods. That someone indicates his plants grew better in compost than commercial potting soil is no clarion call to hurry to a water-retentive medium as a solution to container culture problems. I grow in a bark/peat/perlite mix and it has been proven by many to be extremely productive, in large part because of its structural durability. The FIRST thing any container gardener should consider when it comes to soil is it's (structural) durability. The question should be asked, "Will it remain well-aerated for the intended life of the planting?" The bark based soils garner a resounding 'YES' while the compost-based soils get a weak "probably not". If compost is in large enough pieces that it is appropriate as the basis for a container soil. it's not finished and will quickly break down and collapse, bringing N immobilization along the way. If it IS finished, particulate size is too small for it to be the basis for a container soil. The chemistry and physics of container culture are often, if not usually, quite different than growing in the earth, and we often create more problems than we solve when we try to bring the garden to our containers. Al

midwesternerr, I'm not too familiar with tropical milkweed, but I can tell you this much about any seedling started inside under lights: they're gonna need to be hardened off before they go outside permanently, which can take as much as two weeks with DAILY incremental increases up from an hour or so in the shade gradually increasing the time and SOME sun exposure (increasing the sun gradually too; do a search on hardening off and you'll find some great tips on what to do and what not to do). If you're only able to go out to the site once a week, it's going to be very hard to properly harden them off, unless the seedlings are at your house and you can do this on a daily basis from home. And for the record, it's going to be too early to plant out anything with "tropical" in the name until probably at least 2 weeks AFTER the last frost date, which hasn't quite hit for zone 5 yet; again, that's AFTER hardening them off. One of the things that you can do to avoid legginess is to make the light brighter--move them as close to the bulb as you can (as close as 1-2 inches even--but also to put a light breeze on them, as from a fan on low. Yes, peat pots will dry out very quickly, so there are a couple things that you can do if there isn't an automatic daily watering system. If you leave the peat pots intact, be sure to BURY THEM COMPLETELY, as any portion of it sticking up above the surface will wick out moisture and you'll come back to dessicated remains of your seedlings! Whenever I plant anything that has been started in peat pots, though, I at least tear off the bottom of the pot. I will frequently tear away the entire peat pot, letting the soil-to-soil contact be at maximum; it just depends on the fussiness of the roots and that particular plant's temperament for transplanting. Whatever you do, don't just stick those babies outside (unless you're not overly concerned for their survival) or they'll surely fry. You could direct-sow some, but again, being tropicals, you'll want to wait until after the last frost--but could probably direct sow ON the last frost date--just be sure to protect the area from critters that might dig up the seeds or mow down the seedlings as they emerge. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

HHMMM - Mixed bag. My usual routine with planting anything, (even B4 I was educated to the degree I am now, which is still a newbie), is that I'd thoroughly dust the roots with Sure Start with Micorrhizael fungi and organic fert. also adding this to the hole etc. So that is where my dilemna started since I couldn't do this routine with the peat pot interferring. I was surprised to see a peat pot on a bush of this height & maturity but it was only $20 to my surprise since I wanted this and didn't expect to find it. 2 of the flowers opened today & I can tell already that I'm really going to like it. The hole is still dug and I'll tackle it tomorrow. I put in an email to Star Roses but it turns out the other climber I put in was Star and this is Weeks or vice versa so I'm not expecting a response. I'm liking the soak, slit, pop holes and remove bottom of pot and maybe I'll still be able to get a little Sure Start dust in there somewhere. Maybe the reason peat pots are done is other parts of country to prevent damage from frost and freeze, just a wild guess as well. JERI, I took a trip to Roger's Gardens since I read they were a test garden or something. My list consisted of Polka, Colette and CandyLand or Berries 'n' Creme. You got me started on the interest of multicolor from your sugg. of 4th of July, but I'm not a red rose person so the combo in B 'n' C worked. The 3 Colettes they had just didn't look nearly as good as these other 2. I figured I'd pick up the Colette at another nursery I visited. I've got designs on 2 more block walls of mine now. It's a sickness. So I'll just keep my research list with me at all times. Thx, again, Nicole

I've been using peat pellets (Jiffy pellets) for two seasons now, but last year, I noticed some of the plants never really grew enough through the netting around the peat, and they just pulled out of the ground too easy even after a month or two. This year, I carefully peeled the netting off (or just peeled it down and left it attached to the bottom if too many roots grew through the bottom). I think that worked much better. The netting got fragile enough that it peeled off easily and didn't seem to break off small root tips growing through the sides. I'll probably keep using them in that manner. One thing I HAVE TO remember when using peat as a growing medium, though: I tend to leave the seedlings in it for too long and they don't grow much once they've put out their first true leaves. Peat is nice for moisture retention and for its fine texture for planting seeds, but it doesn't have much (or maybe any) nutrition for the young plants. I just finally potted some Japanese maple seedlings that have been sitting in six packs of peat for three months (I've been busy!), and they didn't grown ONE INCH after getting their first real leaves. I'm glad they didn't die while waiting for me to put them in some real potting soil. With all the flowers I grew from seed this year, none of them really started growing until I potted them up into 4" pots with a potting soil.