Adding according to the soil test recommendations will give you a good, general level of nutrients which will start your plants off well. Most of the nutrients are fairly stable in the soil and won't disappear over the summer, other than uptake by the plants. Nitrogen, however, is fairly easy to leach out of the ground with excess moisture and can gasify under some conditions. Your recommendations for a general garden may need some adjustments depending on the favorite nutrients of the plants you are growing. As mentioned, corn loves nitrogen, and you would likely want to side dress with some additional nitrogen when the corn is about 2 feet high. Corn, however, isn't the only nitrogen lover although it is extremely transparent in telegraphing its nutrient status so shortages become quickly and easily visible. Pretty much everything other than legumes (which use bacteria to make their own) love nitrogen too, and even legumes can respond to nitrogen. Watch your plants around 6-8 weeks after planting and if there are any signs of potential shortage or weaker/slower growth, then side dress with some additional nitrogen. After mid summer, let the plants use up what is available in the soil. You don't want to fertilize so heavily that you leave a lot of available nitrogen in the soil at the end of the season where it can leach to groundwater or anywhere else.

If your soil isn't well draining Turface will certainly help but otherwise it's an inert substance and won't add anything. I use it for my cacti and succulents and add it to potting mixes that need better drainage. It's used to make most of the gritty mixes. I agree with Kathy, put them somewhere a bit cooler or maybe use a salt marsh hay type mulch to try and keep the roots cooler. You could also paint your containers white to reflect the heat. Not sure if that will work or not and you want the heat early in the season. Most of mine don't bloom well during the hottest part of the season and only take off when it cools down. My arborea and Snowbank didn't even begin to bloom until the winter. Lots of fertilizer, micronutrients and water. Good luck.

Wow - Willow what a great price for Vermiculite! And I've been buying the skimpy bags at the garden centers for the same price. Thanx for the tip! I love all my fresh compost too - Yesterday I turned 2 big piles and started a new one. The last 2 I dug in and spread around was a marvelous experience! I bet a health study would show positive benefit form inhaling fresh compost aroma. Preparing soil today - for planting my *first-ever* FOUR Dahlia beds - with Tubers sent by Poochella! This is so exciting. Quite a few are showing sprouts already - so I'm really eager to get 'em in the ground. I'm mixing soft crumbly peat (NO gukky clumps) into mixed sterile steer compost today - that looks and feels really good: dark with light texture, so I couldn't resist mulching a bunch of transplants with it - so i needed to make even more. Then will dig that in this week - to new lasagna beds that were turned under in last few weeks, after having been covered with cardboard, coffee-grounds & mounded leaves all winter. The lasagna soil gets broken up to a crumbly state, then a spade of fresh home-made compost goes in - with the steer-peat mix for each wide planting hole - mixed well into the origional average dirt that formerly hosted grass. Then planting time - will be irresistable - Should I wait for planting till I buy more Perlite - (or that vermiculite) or is the 1/3 peat, 1/3 dirt, with the 2 kinds of compost mix good enough to keep soil both light and free from baking/compacting in summer? I'm leaning toward adding perlite or vermiculite first - so tubers can form more easily for sharing. (In Oregon it gets VERY wet sometimes, and also so HOT that the ground can bake into near concrete...) Besides STAKES, Can you think of anything else that should be added for better bloom, stronger stems, disease resistance, etc? For Powdery Mildew prevention - I am considering using an early Comfrey foliar spray. And I've realized realize I've got borage in the garden - not comfrey - and I bet that would work *equally* well - but to my knowledge has not been thru the formal studies. Any opinion/experience? I'm SO ready to go on this! I sorted alot of tubers into groups today and added the individual markers to each set so none get lost once planted. I plan to add groups if some mystery glads, Lucifer Crocosmia, and Canary Yellow Crocosmia (also from Poochella), with Liatris (the spiky Purple GayFeather) to the beds for foliage contrast, near existing Roses and Peonies that have nice bronzy leaves. I expect to remove lower leaves from most Dahlias - and I don't really want their bare legs to show. So on borders I'll also plant some smaller flowers and add contrasting foliage plants. Who needs grass in the Front yard anyway?! Mine will be reduced nearly to just a wide path for flower-bed access. I'm mulling how to best do the watering - I think by hand, slow with an aerating wand on the hose, so I can watch everything develop and spot weeds before they compete. Another quick question - I have a free source for Hemlock Bark Dust, that I'm thinking of using it in front just as an edge between grass and the Flowers. Is this OK? I assume Hemlock is too acidic to use more widely as mulch. In back it's being used just for soft walking paths in full sun areas where grass does not do well and only weeds (and my cookng Amaranth) tend to flourish. I look forward to finished planting, & seeing pix of everyone's gardens! Thanx so much for sharing info - I've learned alot already.

One of our composting experts and friends on this site, David Hall (DcHall_San_Antonio), recently gave a great list of some of the major benefits from soil high in organic matter: ************************************************************ "Chemical fertilizers rely on an assumption that plants only need three elements to survive and thrive. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are those three. This is the equivalent of saying that we need protein, fat, and sugar to live. While this may be mostly true, pure protein, pure fat, and pure sugar do nothing to supply the vitamins, minerals, and diverse supply of bacteria and fungi in our diets. Here is a list of a dozen things that you can do with organically fed soil that cannot be achieved with conventional chemical feeding. 1. Decompose plant residues and manure to humus. 2. Retain nutrients in the form of stable humus. 3. Combine nitrogen and carbon to prevent nutrient loss. 4. Suppress fungus and bacterial diseases. 5. Produce plant growth regulators. 6. Develop soil structure, tilth, and water penetration/retention. 7. Clean up chemical residues. 8. Shift soil pH to neutral and keep it there. 9. Search out and retrieve nutrients in distant parts of the soil. 10. Decompose thatch and keep it from returning. 11. Control nitrogen supply to the plants according to need. 12. Pull minerals out of inorganic soil components for plants. Soil microbes need sugar and protein to thrive. When you apply synthetic ferts, none of the things on this list gets done. The microbes normally get sugar from plant roots. Protein in nature comes from dead insects, plants, and animals. The organic gardener applies protein artificially in the form or organic fertilizers. It is usually in the form of a ground up meal made from plants and animals to try to replicate the natural process." ******************************************************* With that being said, many times it is difficult to find good organic or natural fertilizers and soil amendments from garden stores because most of the garden people that we meet are non-organic users. Therefore as an organic gardener, we have to be creative in order to find our supplies. This is a simple list of sources for uses in foliar teas, composting and green manure techniques, and other soil amendments: 1. Deer plot mixes or cheap bird seed bags - 50 lb bag is a great source of economical cool season cover crop seeds. Most contain a mixture of legumes and grasses like crimson clover or hairy vetch or winter peas, oats, winter wheat, and rye. Most bird seeds contain sunflowers or millet or other types of non-legume seeds that can be planted as excellent cheap cover crop seeds. Bird seeds make great composting ingredients too for extra protein-nitrogen to speed up compost decomposition. 2. Catfish or pond fish feed - Excellent source of alfalfa meal and fish meal for topdressing or compost teas. Like cat and dog foods, some people may not consider it a truly organic soil food source. But it does contain lots of protein and micronutrients. 3. Cat or Dog foods - Some people would not consider this a truly organic source of soil nutrients. It does contain lots of protein and micronutrients. There are some amounts of corn gluten meal in these feeds. (NOTE: Probably not enough to really do the job of weed seed suppression control in lawns or gardens.) 4. Seaweed - If you can't collect it free from the beach, you can buy economical packs of fresh seaweed from oriential markets for compost teas. (To be on the safe side, it is a good idea to always wash your seaweed first to remove any salt.) Take all your remains from your teas and recycle them into your compost piles. If you liquify the seaweed in a juice, you can use the whole product as a foliar feed or soil drench. Even though most fertilizer companies rate seaweed with a NPK of 0-0-1, it contains at least 1% total N and over 3% total P. Seaweed may contain as much as 60 trace elements. Seaweed and other algae plants are some of the greatest soil amendments on earth, or should I say in the ocean. Seaweed also contains beneficial growth hormones and benefical fungal food sources for soil microbes. 5. Fish emulsion - Commercial brands contain no fish oil and little or no aerobic bacteria. Homemade versions supply extra beneficial oils for beneficial fungi and fish bones for extra calcium. Free fresh fish parts are the best if available. However, cheap canned fish products will do fine. Experiment with canned mackerel, sardines, herring, etc. If the fishy smell is a big issue, just mix your fish products with a lot of high carbon sources like sawdust, leaves, or straw in a 5 gallon closed bucket. You can add molasses to your fishy mixture to speed up decomposition by increasing the microbial growth in the mixture. The molasses will also control the fishy odors. Let this mix decompose for at least a week or more before adding to the hot compost pile or to your compost tea recipes. The extra carbons will help absorb the offensive odors as well as keep most of the organic nitrogen in your compost pile or your compost teas. Also the aerobic bacteria kill break down any bad pathogens that may exist in decaying fish meat. Read the other FAQ's on aerated teas and homemade fish/seaweed emulsions also. 6. Fava beans, soybeans, and other legume cover crops - Mostly all bagged dry beans and peas in grocery stores will sprout and make great warm season green manures. Fava beans and soybeans can found in oriential markets or health food markets. 7. Horse and cattle feeds - These contain a great supply of alfalfa meal and corn meal and other proteins for soil amendments or compost teas. The whole corn or oat seeds in the bags, may sprout and give you an extra green manure benefit. The extra molasses ingredient from the feeds draws and breeds lots of beneficial soil organisms. Molasses also contains sulfur which acts as a mild natural fungicide also. NOTE: Check the label also for total salt content in the feeds. Most grain meals that I get are no salt (less than 0.7%). 8. Corn meal - very cheap source for a nitrogen activator for heating up the compost pile or as a topdressing. Great natural fungicide also. Corn meal is a great phosphorus source also. 9. Liquid molasses, dry molasses powder, brown sugar, corn syrup - source of fast consuming sugars for feeding and breeding the aerobic bacteria in compost teas. Most microherd populations love the high carbon content in sugar products. Sugars are best dissolved and broken down by microbes in compost tea that has brewed at least 1-3 days, before applying to the soil. If too much sugar is added on soil straight as a topdressing, it may cause a temporary nitrogen deficiency in the soil as the microherd populations grow too fast. Molasses also contains sulfur which acts as a mild natural fungicide also. Molasses is also a great natural deodorizer for fishy teas. NOTE: Recent studies have shown that unsulfured molasses or dry molasses powder is best for faster aerobic microbial growth in tea brewing. For a more fungal tea don't add too much simple sugar or molasses to your aerobic teas. Use more complex sugars, starches and carbohydrates like in seaweed, rotten fruit, soy sauce, or other fungal foods. 10. Alfalfa meal - best source is 50 lb bags of rabbit food or alfalfa hay bales. There are also 100% alfalfa pet litter or beddings if available. Alfalfa products are best used in teas, mulches, or as topdressings. Alfalfa is an excellent natural complete fertilizer, containing great amounts of N, P, and K, and many growth hormones and micronutrients. 11. Blood and Bone meal - this classic combo can be found almost everywhere these days. However blood meal is very expensive. Bone meal can be even cheaper if purchased in 20 lb bags from feed stores. Since blood meal is totally soluble, it can be added to compost tea recipes.. With a NPK around 11-0-0, it has the highest total nitrogen ratio of all natural fertilizers, and may burn plants if used improperly. Steamed bone meal has a recorded NPK around 0-11-0. Usually steamed bone meal has a total N from 1-6%, 11% soluble P but 20% total P, and 24% calcium. Raw bone meal has more total N but none of the P is water soluble. 12. Urine or Urea - yes, human urine is an excellent source of organic nitrogen for compost teas or as a free nitrogen activator for composting (45% N). (NOTE: Unlike human manure, any pathogens, diseases, or other mild toxins in human urine are quickly killed and digested within 24 hours after they escape the human body. Therefore human urine is very safe for all types of composting methods.) 13. Animal Manures - High in N and great sources of P and K and soil microbes. Use only vegetarian animal manures, like cattle or horses, in order to be on the safe or conservative side for all your gardening uses! Chickens are not vegetarians. However chicken manure is a safe, classic, high nitrogen, highly alkaline farm animal manure. Chicken manure is ok, mainly because the foods that chickens consume are easily broken down by normal gardening composting systems. DO NOT EVER USE ANY PET MANURES OR DOG OR CAT POOP! It is extremely dangerous to humans. There are special hot composting procedures that must be performed to use toxic, pathogen or disease prone, heavy metal manures like pet poop and human manures. So don't do it! Always compost animal manures first or use aged animal manures before applying to the soil or as an ingredient in foliar teas. 14. Grass Clippings and Green Weeds - Excellent sources or organic N for special foliar teas or use as an organic mulch/top dressing. Some gardeners even hot compost strange weeds and herbs like kudzu, bull thistle, dandelions, comfrey, stinging nettle, thorns, ivy, etc. 15. Wood Ashes - Wood ashes, not charcoal ashes, are great organically recommended soil amendments. Wood ashes contain up to 70% calcium carbonate or calcium oxide (natural liming agent) and lots of potassium. If you have native acidic soil, a little sprinkled wood ashes are perfect for your lawn or garden as a soil amendment or liming agent. However, if your native soil is highly alkaline, never put wood ashes straight on your soil! Wood ashes is absolutely safe in a hot compost pile. A hot compost pile always buffers the pH of its ingredient organic matter materials so that the mature compost has a near neutral pH. The main disadvantage of composting wood ashes is that the high alkaline ashes will chemically react with high nitrogen products in the pile like animal manures or grass clippings, thus creating excessive ammonia gases that will be wasted and evaporated out of the pile. Therefore if you compost wood ashes, only use a few cups of ashes per cubic yard of compost piles. The above soil amendment products can also be buried straight in the garden soil for trench composting. You can also bury these materials in planting holes under the roots of heavy feeder transplants like tomatoes for extra NPK for plant growth. You can poke holes in the soil around crop roots with your spade fork, to get more oxygen in the soil to further increase organic matter decomposition and increase microbial activity in the soil. All natural soil amendments as well as homemade compost, do more than just fertilize the soil and growing plants. Most natural soil amendments have a total NPK rating sum total less than 20 (i.e. fish emulsion NPK = 5-1-1, compost NPK less than 4-4-4). Don't be fooled by the numbers. Most P and K ratings only record the soluble available portions in the products. The N portion recorded could be either the soluble, insoluble, or total N portions as based on the company. The insoluble non-reported portion of OM is continuously consumed and broken down with the existing OM in the garden soil, thus raising the available soluble nutrients for further season crops. Happy Gardening!