I should have started a progress thread with pictures...but, like everyone time is limited. A closed system would definitely seem to be easier, and work more efficiently. I mostly went with open tops because I was unsure how my wicks would work. So far so good, but its also not 95 degrees out there yet. Right now, as I said, everything is working. However, I did notice that the containers that I applied a fertilizer ring or semi-circle around the edge were doing better. So, I added some fertilizer to all but one container. I also finally began my application of liquid fertilizer. I am giving "organic" a shot in the containers, so we will see. My in ground plants were looking much better than the containers until I added additional fertilizer. Now everything in the containers is catching up. Nothing was dying but the maters were lagging their cousins in the ground and some of the peppers were getting a light green. Looks like everything is back on track now. I am using Dr. Earth 3-3-3, fish fertilizer, big bloom, micro blast, seaweed, epsom salt ( in the foliar spray ) and a compost tea brewed from worm castings/compost from my indoor bins and compost from a local compost business. Growing in containers seems to be an excellent back up if you dont have the soil space( which I dont ). I am interested to see how emgardener's "zero cost" containers work out this year, I hope he/she keeps us posted.

Al, I've appreciated the thoughtfulness and vigor with which you approach your subject and have learned a lot from you while browsing these forums. I have around 300 plants in containers, in and outdoors, orchids, ferns, common junk stuff, lots of epiphytes on wood, begonias, vegetables, maples, succulents, cacti, etc. I haven't given them a lick of inorganic fertilizer in three years and would agree that the results can be mixed. Lately I've been brewing my own actively aerated compost tea using homemade worm compost, kelp emulsion, a handful of good garden soil, and a few other organic additives in small amounts. This mixture is aerated and vortexed for 18-24hrs during which time the microbial populations multiply, making a rich actively biological soup. I use this regularly on all my plants, and fertilize between compost tea applications with organic seaweed or fish emulsion type fertilizers. I also keep a small anaerobic compost tea brewing and I'll use small amounts of this every month or so. Since I've started using the compost tea my plants have all seen a remarkable uptick in both foliar growth, blooming, and just general "health" as compared to just organic fertilizers. My take on it is that the compost tea supplies a steady stream of microbes that the plants can symbiotically partner with to convert the organics into usable nutrients. I totally agree that good drainage is key and if the soil is too heavy the compost tea can quickly turn anaerobic in the pot and result in all sorts of problems. A fast draining mix combined with regular compost tea applications and organic fertilizers seem to have a lot of advantages and to keep my plants reasonably healthy. I can't tell you exactly what proportion of NPK the plants are getting, instead I rely on an entire ecosytem with all of its sloppy redundancies to allow the plants to orchestrate their ancient microbial dance and get what they need. I understand that chemical fertilizers work, it's just the widespread and longterm impacts that these substances have on the larger ecosystem (gulf dead zone, algal blooms, groundwater nitrification, etc) that makes me want to avoid them, even for container culture. Nurseries are large contributors in this nutrient-pollution overload, but if you add up all small-scale homegrowers who put miracle-gro on their tomatoes it equals a whole lot of nutrients that are being converted from fossil fuels and released into our larger environment. Historically nitrogen has been a severely limited nutrient on the earth, thus the biosphere's incredibly tight hold on it via the humus and soil building processes. I totally respect that you seem to be solely interested in what's best for the plant when it comes to container culture, and I agree that inorganic fertilizer do yield amazing results. But I believe we need to think beyond the individual plant, to the ecosystem in the pot, and then to our wider community or plants animals and humans that we share our planet with. We can (we have the choice!) develop new technologies and techniques that allow us to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers that imbalance our environment and tax our natural resources and instead rely on the built-in recycling and life-support systems of the greatest systems engineer imaginable, mother nature.

Gudang, a lot of people here on this forum started with a heavy dense soil mix, often with compost and other soil components - because that is what is commonly available. Then they noticed that their plants are start to suffer at one point and came here for advise. Al (Tapla) has relentlessly taught the concept for better soil mix, fertilizing, pruning, repotting and many other topics. Most made an effort to follow in his foot steps and found his teachings to be invaluable and succeeded in keeping their plants flourishing. In short, he has a lot of credibility here. Not only that they have subsequently helped others because they understood the concept that no book can offer. Whereas you have yet to offer sound advice with evidence of success. First you have to build and establish your credibility - show your work and explain not only what but also how and why. For example, terms like less porous and more porous does not make any sense - more or less compared to what?

Hmmm - I answered this question last night, but where went my post? I think the 15-9-12 Plus would be ok, but it's actually lower in N than 3:1:2 ratios. If you compare the amount of N it supplies relative to P and K, you'll see that reducing the ratio to how much P and K (that's actually P2O5 and K2O) based on 3 parts of N, you come up with 3:1.8:2.4. Which means if you supply an appropriate amount of N you'll be over-supplying both P and K. Ir conversely, if you supply appropriate amounts of either P or K, you won't be supplying enough N. It's not like it's an off the charts issue like using 10-52-10, but the 15-9-12 actually supplies less N relative to P and K than FP 9-3-6. Al