Tom, I have thughts your problems lie in the kind of soil you have given your plants. Vegetables require their soil to have organic qualities. To that, it is suggested that for each 5" depth of soil, 1 inch be a decent compost or other organic matter....well mixed in. Potting soil of quality and peat moss for each one bushell volume, add 1 bushel of vermiculite, add 10 tablespoons of limestone, 5 tablespoons of superphosphate (0/20/0) and 1 cup of garden fertilizer such as 6-12-12 or 5-10-10. Mix the material thoroughly. The peat moss, to enable it to mix well, soak it with HOT water before adding it to soil. Even in container gardening, such organics is recommended. The containers must drain...so you may decide to add a 1" layer of builder's sand to however you mix and match. You haven't said just what might have been planted in your raised beds. For instance, you mention squash...and with this vegetable cucumbers, eggplant, pumpkin, zucchini and melons would make a nice home for family members. They share familiar pests and can be treated with similar pesticides. Nasturtiums, for example, should be planted with squash and melon and zucchini to fend off the squash beetle. Marigolds are also recommended to skirt your beds. Othe similar families include pepper, tomatoes and eggplant. Asparagus, rhubarb and artichokes should not be rotated...but always be planted separately in their own garden space. Vegetable gardens should be kept clean of debris so that insects cannot make nests in the rotting matter. The containers you have chosen should have sufficient rooting volume for the plant/s you select. if you stick with squash, it should have at least 5 gallons of soil for proper rooting. As far as fertilizer, there are ample numbers on the garden centre shelves expressly for feeding vegetables. With containers, one thing that must be kept constant, that is watering, watering and also....watering. That and warm sunshine....but even there, you should keep in mind to protect the roots from that hot afternoon sun by providing the needed shade to the base of the plant. And one important thing to keep in mind....size. The size of your vegetables should allow good air movement and sufficient volume of soil for each of their roots. So don't squeeze them too much.

Northerner...just read your post and seeing as it's a little past 1AM I'm counting the hours until I can get out to the shed to check my bags of Miracle Gro and see what the bags say! I'm bereft of knowledge with nomenclature of "dirt" but am learning fast...usually when I think I've got things covered and someone points out what may be a flaw in my master plan...LOL. Sorry for the "flowery" language...I'm a little punchy right now. After a full three days of turning over packed soil down to 18", chopping out grass & roots, amending and planting "1 gal. starter plants" what was supposed to be a 10'x10'x9' Butterfly Garden ended up being more like 20'x20'x15'...as we can all see my powers of estimation are not to be overestimated! Although it did stand me in good stead since I bought way too much fencing to keep out the deer, rabbits, groundhogs and everyone else who will want to eat my garden down to nubs in the spring...LOL. My poor little size 9 tootsies were numb by 5PM when I finished since it was a very cloudy, windy 43 degrees here at midday but it had to be done. Finish bulbs this weekend and then get ready for Thanksgiving. Thank goodness so many posters on this forum have said it's fine to wait til Dec. and beyond to WS! Gotta plan on more "body insulation" for really cold months. I decided to use the moisture retentive potting "mix" or whatever it is for all the bulb containers I have to finish this weekend. A few local nursery people told me not to worry about bulbs getting "wet feet" from moisture retentive property so I'll use it up for that. They were also the ones who told me they used it for their "container plants" which is another thing I might have needed to clarify but that's water over my dam or under my bridge by now. You're absolutely RIGHT...the distinction between Potting "Soil" and "Mix" didn't even register in my mind. Since I'm heading out tomorrow, finally, to grab the bags of my WS "planting medium" I now know I have to look for potting MIX and not SOIL. I had no idea everyone was using "soilless seed starting mixes" that are sterile. I thought I was just going to use very high class DIRT...LOL. Thank you big time for pointing out the distinction. Still haven't ordered any seeds yet. Checked out the Park Seed sale and they're out of anything I might have wanted. Haven't looked in Lowe's or Home Depot yet for seeds and didn't even know they carried them since haven't been frequent visitor to their gardening centers until this year. Everything in both stores has been "cast out" to make room for all the holiday things. Some in the forum have mentioned SwallowTail & HardyPlants as to dependable sources and more I can't remember. I have to maintain some degree of decorum in ordering seeds so I don't end up with way too many plants and nowhere to put them. Then again, after reading one winter sower's experience with losing all her little ones the first year I shouldn't be so cavalier as to think that will be a problem! Planning on WSing natives as much as possible to fill out Butterfly Garden but not being a purist at this early stage I'll go with non-natives if I need to. Want to duplicate few of gallon size plants I already put in for greatest effect in terms of "masses of color" since butterflies apparently can't see individual plants too well. Between the soil, sun, height, spread and now the visual acuity of butterflies is just another little detail but I just couldn't wait to start the garden! Also want to WS things for spring and summer containers since most of ground here is rootbound and can't penetrate it even when jumping on spade. Had to use an ax to break up small areas I eked out for couple "land based" projects I've done. Thanks again for the info...much appreciated. Before I go to get my potting MIX tomorrow morning there's a clearance on all leftover perennials & ferns at a local nursery that I've got to stop at just to see if there's something ready to plunk into that Butterfly Garden now. If they work fine...if not there's always my WS babies to count on if I play all my instructional cards right. I keep reading the FAQs over and over and didn't even notice the soil versus mix thing. I've got leaves spread out all over the yard drying out from recent rains so I can fill the fenced in Butterfly Garden to 6-8" which is what nursery from which I bought gallon plants suggested. Thanks again.

If you need bulk quantities, you might consider the county free mulch sites. Free is good. Not many people are thinking about gardening in December/January so I get 4-5 pickup truck loads then. It is aged, so is mostly broken down into black soil. Now in Feb./Mar., it is fresher, not as aged and more like mulch, because more people are feeling the spring weather and getting some. I don't know what part of St Pete you are in, but there is one a few blocks east of 1st St on 62nd Ave N, across the street from a golf course. Just something to keep in mind for future reference.

Went by today and bought a bag of Plant A Cote 120 day CRF with the minors in it for $63/50lbs. Not only do they also have the best price on 4CF bags of perlite, they also have 3.8 & 5CF bales of compressed peat, and 2CF bags of PINE FINES!!!! This is the first place in Pinellas County I've seen that has the fines we need to make Al's mix. Can you say ONE STOP shopping :-) Thanks John, you've done good by all of us here in Pinellas County. Tom