Are you talking about straight manure or compost with manure added to it (aka manured compost)? Or plain compost which is any organic materials without manure added? Straight manure is great IF it has been age/stockpiled for 60-90 days first. Fresh manure from any animal isn't recommended for the food garden. If you are going to apply fresh then the recommendation is that it be applied 90-120 days prior to planting. Manured compost - a mix of all sorts of organic materials such as hay, straw, bedding, table scraps, etc. plus some manure is also great stuff IF the manure isn't fresh. And plain compost - quality depends on what all was added to make it - is also beneficial but not as high in nutrients. Does wonders for the soil tilth but it takes time for it to supply nutrients to the plants. Keep in mind that all compost requires time for an active soil bacteria herd to develop. The micro-herd is required in order to convert the compost to useable nutrients for the plants. So the first year you will have to supplement the nutrients with other organic or non-organic nutrients. You'll find many more discussions about this all over on the Soil & Compost forum here so be sure to check it out. Do I just mix it with some topsoil? I'm trying to do it organically. Well you mix it in with soil. Ratios vary from 1/3 to 1/2 compost and the rest soil. Whether or not you use topsoil all depends on its quality. Lots of things are call 'topsoil' and some of them do NOT belong in a garden so get the best quality dirt you can afford. Good luck with your new garden. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Soil & Compost forum

Here is a little info on it. Thanks everyone for the rapid replies, I was a convinced at first it was good stuff but now I am a little woried. BioComp BioComp®, a Class I quality compost, is a stabilized organic material that can be used with all plant types and in any type of soil (sandy to clay). This compost (screened 3/8 inch minus) greatly enhances overall soil structure and improves movement of air and water within the soil  essential to healthy plant growth. When salts are a critical design factor, BioComp® is the compost of choice. Low salts also mean that you can safely double the amount of compost used and still have vigorous plant growth. Salt in BioComp® are primarily from nutrient salts and not sodium chloride, as indicated by an ag index greater than 10. BioComp® is listed by the Colorado Department of Agriculture as an amendment approved for use on Organically Certified Crops. Independent testing by Colorado State University confirm that BioComp® safely provides higher levels of nutrients. Application Rates: As a Top Dressing  BioComp® can be used as a top dressing, however the large particles limit its use to where grass is mowed high.  1/4" to 3/8 (1 to 2 CY/1000 sq ft) As a Soil Amendment  BioComp® can be used at any time of the year, in any type of soil. It is especially well suited for use in clay soils where it can be used at twice the normal application rate.  3 CY/1000 sq ft or 1" Deep  6 CY/1000 sq ft or 2" Deep As a Mulch This is one of the few composts that can be safely used an a mulch. It can be used for the protection of flower beds, especially perennials and sensitive root crops.  6 CY/1000 sq ft or 2" Inches Deep  12 CY/1000 sq ft or 4" Inches Deep (Fall application only. Till in the spring.) This compost product has been sampled and tested as required by the Seal of Testing Assurance Program of the United States Composting Council (USCC). Test results are available upon request by calling A1 Organics at 970-454-3492. Class I Compost

The mix you are describing is the gritty mix. It would be more common to use the 5-1-1 mix (bark, peat,perlite) for SWC (cheaper, too). In either case there is nothing in these mixes that isn't either a. organic or b. not offensive to organic principles. The only possible objection is that some ingredients are 'processed' such as clay being fired at very high temps to ensure it never reverts back to the muck it once was. there are many of us on this forum who grow in containers and while we try to be as organic as possible when growing in the soil, we have learned the hard way that trying to be successful using things like manure and compost in large amounts generally leads to disappointment in containers. There are some really nice options that are affordable though. As I noted, there is nothing 'unorganic' about the ingredients in the mix you described or the 5-1-1 mix. The Espoma line is pretty popular and as of this year I believe all of them are considered fully organic. Many using self watering containers use this product and report good success. I have seen pictures of plants in SWC using this fertilizer and the plants look good. Look on the container or tomato forum for 'Raybo' who has his own SWC designs and uses the Espoma line of fert in them. On the topic of reusing your container mix, that is fine to do right up to the point where it has broken down to the point it's 'too dense' and doesn't permit much oxygen to the roots. Pine bark based mixes will resist this collapse longer than peat or coir cased ones will. What you have to consider about things like worm poop and compost is that they don't really have much to offer in a container. These are food for the biology living in the soil. The idea behind using them is 'feed the soil' as well as soil conditioning. In a container you won't have any soil to feed and plants are fed directly rather than relying upon soil organisms to do it. There is no soil to 'condition' either. Lastly, there is little value in adding bone meal to containers. It takes a long time to release any nutrients. It has it's place in some soil applications, but in a container it's lack of solubility means it just sits there and does a lot of nothing.

Thanks yet again. For some reason I cannot open phoenixpermaulture website. The other two were interesting ones. 1/ Seedlings As for the seedlings, today I took my seedlings on the roof top for the early morning sun for 1 hour and put them inside a plastic sheet (not so clear though - will get a clear one). The temperature then was not more than 75 when I moved them back inside. Right now I have put them on my eastern window - which fortunately or unfortunately does not receive any direct sunlight. Light is fair enough however. Enough to be able to read and write easily. Is the above schedule going to be ok for approx. 3 weeks? What else can I do? or am I doing extra? For how much time the seedlings should be in the dark every day? 2/ Plants I also had bought two small plants (approx 6 inches) - 2 tomatoes and 1 pepper (dont know which variety) and they have been under my care for approx. 2 weeks now. I transplanted them in bigger pots of 14" and 10" respectively. Depending on the temperature and the heat of the sun, I place the plants under 50% shade (my wife helps me as I am usually out for work :) ). This may start from 10 am if it gets to around 90F by that time. While the pepper is going good, I am not particularly happy with the tomato plants, as they seem to be showing signs of yellow leaves - Am I over watering them? Its almost 48 hours since I have not watered them as I can feel moisture beneath 2 inches of soil. While this tells me not to water, but my heart tells me to water them. Today I just did not listened to my heart. I hope this should not be too much stress for the plants :) Previously I use to water at least once a day. But then the pepper plant has not shown any yellow leaves as yet. I haven't fertlized them as yet - I believe the potting soil is fertlized enough to last for a month (that's what the nursery guy told me). To be very frank with you - I am still not able to understand the delicate balance between under and over watering. I was advised to be titled towards under watering when in doubt - but in this heat, should we do that? Probably, by putting the shades, I am bring the heat down and thereby the soil moisture is not evaporating as it would otherwise do. 3/ While I do put the plants under 50% shade (and sometimes double 50% shade - I did these a week back when the temperatures used to go upto 105). I am just thinking whether light through the 50% shade, is it enough for both the tomatoes and pepper sun loving plants to fruit later? When they say 6-8 hours of direct sunlight for tomatoes and pepper, does that mean direct unobstructed sunlight???? 4/ As for fertilization, I dont have quite a lot of option - either those NPK pellets or composted cow manure. The nursery guy tells me to sprinkle composted cow manure (his preference) over the soil once every month - but I am not quite sure about his ability / experience with container vegetables. What would you advise? How about composted cow manure tea as part of each watering or some other periodical watering? 5/ The potting soil that I use does drain but then how to measure its drainage effectiveness. What is the yardstick to measure it. When I water it for 30 seconds continuously, it starts to drain from the bottom holes but not like running water - just drop by drop - each of the 6-8 holes start dripping. Now this drop by drop could go on for an hour or two. The dripping speed may be high to start with but slows down as time passes. Does this mean the soil is good enough? Isn't that excess water sitting there for 2 hours inside the container harmful for the roots. Did that cause the signs of over watering / yellowing of leaves to appear on the tomato leaves? 6/ Unfortunately, at the moment, in my apartment there is no provision for florescent lights. I was however, thinking of putting four 20W CFL bulbs - two warm and two cool. How far should they be from the top of the seedlings? Is 80W going to be enough? How long the seedling should be sitting in light? And can the CFL be installed top down (standing upside down) rather than left right (laying)? Sorry for asking you so many question in just one post. I hope you don't mind that. Your much appreciate help awaited. Thanks and best regards Saood This post was edited by saood on Tue, Oct 1, 13 at 6:37