Hi, I am interested in the tomatoes,peppers, and the gourds. I have some of the herbs that you want and also some hen and chicks. Let me know if this would be a good trade for you, Suzy

Many growers tell you they 'like a low N formula for plant x and that 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers supply too much N to make X happy. So who/what controls how much N a plant gets? Is it the numbers on the box or the hand of the grower? The later, undoubtedly. To SAY you're feeding a plant a low N diet is something not many actually DO. If you're fertilizing, you usually decide when your plant NEEDS fertilizer based on how green to yellow the green parts are. When your plants start looking chlorotic, out comes the fertilizer to green em back up; so, in the end, some growers are using a fertilizer lower in N than those of us using 3:1:2 ratios, but since they use the plant's state of 'green vibrancy' as a guide, they're applying the same amount of N as we are. So what does that mean? It means that because you can't supply enough N w/o over-supplying P and K, you're creating toxicities of P and K so you can say you can pooh pooh 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers and fool yourself into believing you're supplying less N because of a low N ratio. Hey - you know it's true ....... if growers will supply massive overdoses of Mg (Epsom salts) and Fe (iron supplements/chelates) to turn their plants green, you KNOW they're not going to use the restraint you need to have if you're going to keep your plants perpetually in want of more N. Al

First of all, I'm not sure that all cacti like to be crowded in their pots, but be that as it may, it's quite common to see cactus species grouped together in small, shallow containers. There's all sorts of instructions and advice in books and online about how to do make a "mini garden." Main thing, I'd say is that you want to make sure the pot drains, since a lot of cute ceramic containers don't. Of course, use a proper soil mix. Decide in advance on how you want to arrange the plants to create your mini-desert landscape, because the less you handle them, the less you get stuck. Most people put decorative gravel on top of the soil, and maybe plant a rock or two to look like a boulder. As far as the design aspects, about all I know is the advice about "pillars, spillers and fillers." In my own experience, the squat globular plants should be mixed with the more vertical-growing species to get some contrast. If you have any of those tiny bonsai shovels and rakes, they'll come in handy for this job. Disposable chopsticks and plastic "sporks" are useful as well. Matter of fact, I don't think sporks are good for anything else.

What is your bed top dressed with? You could... Pull everything away from all plants w/in the bed. Invest in good quality garden fabric and stakes, then cover w/the topdressing of your choice: lava rock, river stones, pea gravel, whatever suits your eye. If you wish to go back and add more plants to the bed, simply push the rocks away from the area, cut an X through the cloth where you want the plant placed, roll back the four points, do your thing and put it all back, anchoring again well. If you don't want "just" rocks for topdressing, There are a number succulent ground covers you can use for 'color spots' to breakup the rock look: cold hardy sedums come in all type leaf shape and shades of gold, red, lite, dark, variegated and tricolored greens. As well as Aptenia Cordifolia (tho it dies back in winter). At any rate, the initial expense in time, effort and $ will give you better weed control over a longer period of time, eventually saving you time, effort and $. HTH - Jo btw - you can save money on garden fabric by using newspaper BUT 1)still use the stakes to anchor them down 2)make the layers of paper Thick - like a whole section at once - and make VERY sure you overlap all edges 3)For extended life of your project, use paper under and garden fabric over, all anchored, then cover w/an aggregate. This 3-step method w/guarantee many years with little/no weeds.