When I lived in TN I used mainly Mills Magic Mix (which was "local") and sometimes Rose Tone. Ingredient for ingredient they are much the same. I favored the MMM - I think it did a better job in the clay soil (for which it was designed), but that is an opinion, nothing scientific. Also, Rose Tone changed its formulation the third year I had roses to make it much closer to the MMM forumulation. The contents of MMM was much under discussion here on the forums during that time and I compared lables on everything in the market. Here, in NC, with no ready, relative inexpensive supply of MMM, a strong, willing DH and a nearby Southern States, I do it myself, much like rjlinva. I buy the bags of alfalfa meal, cottenseed meal, fish meal etc. and feed from my own "mix". We can get compost $20 for a ton and have a trailer that will haul 3 or 4 yards (depending upon how wet it is). The first roses went in the ground here in August 2005 and I've been adding new beds a couple each calendar year, so I'm doing a lot of soil amending. I have been adding the compost to the 'established' beds once a season, the newer beds are getting it twice to help get the soil turned around. I thought I knew clay, but NC clay is different than TN clay. I'm sooo grateful for the ready and inexpensive supply of compost. I also use epsom salts in the spring. If I think a rose needs a pickmeup, I'll go with the liquid Ironnite or something like that. There are several brands of liquid food that do that well. I also keep a bottle of fish emulsion handy for that purpose. I have a couple of roses that seem to require a little more iron than the rest of the crowd - its easy to spot them when they get needy.

Hi again Poko, Well, they don't look bad at all. Could be the yellowish tint isn't showing up well, but they look ok:) I sow all of my seeds into 3" and 4" pots(not singly, but broadcasting them...so I'm averaging about 20-40 plants a pot). Then when they get big enough to handle I prick them out into individual cells...most times not waiting for first true leaves. Last year the transplanting went ok, but the celosia didnt enjoy the cool basement. This year they are 'growing up' upstairs in a warmer room. They are looking great. I have found you can transplant most anything when young enough(and roots are small enough and not tangled)....yes even those they say don't transplant well. Its when they are a bit bigger that difficulties arise...but by this time they are in their individual cells and will get very little disturbance from this time on. And after you explained the peat scenario, I understand it better. Yep, better to mix it in, or don't even add it if your mix is a commercially bought soilless mix. But, I am sure those roots have reached the soil already...they're way ahead of what you see aboveground:) That thinning out will help and holding back on fertilizer will too. When I do fertilize I use Neptunes Harvest fish and seaweed fertilizer(its organic and very mellow). I just add it to the water and it is easy on the seedlings. Don't worry...it looks like they will make it just fine:) m

It is possible to over fertilize with Organic fertilizers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is one reason why most manures need composting or aging or time after application before planting. Blood meal is an organic nitrogen fertilizer and you can definitely burn your plants with that!!!!!! Just because something is Organic does not mean it can't be mis-used. foliar feeding is often a good way to deal quickly with a deficiency problem or help support plants that have had root injury after transplant. Foliar feeds should usually be more dilute than their soil drench counterparts and depending on the particular spray, they could possibly burn plants if sprayed when the plant is going to be in the sun or on hot days. Many sprays say not to spray when the temps are going to be over 80 F. Here is a link that might be useful: My garden

Teresa, With the tall tomato plant, you can let the uppermost branches cascade back down outside the cage. If they begin to have a heavy fruitset on those 'cascading' branches, you'll need to use something to tie them to the cages as they grow downward or the heavy weight of the fruit can break the branches. Or, you can top your plant by cutting off any growth that extends much beyond the top of the cage. Topping the plants may lead to the formation of additional side branches and suckers, but it will eliminate the issue with cascading branches that might break. I have a Tess's Land Race Currant that is in an 8' tall cage and it already has climbed out of the top and has branches that are cascading back down. With this particular variety, cascading branches normally don't break because their fruit load is comparatively light. They have oodles of fruit, bu since the currant-sized fruit are so tiny, they don't produce enough weight to break a cascading branch. Did the squash literally go to the dogs....as in the dogs picked it and played with it? Or, was it too watery from all the rain so you gave it to the dogs because of poor flavor/texture? Our dogs think tomatoes and certain winter squash, pumpkins and gourds are just big "balls" for them to pick and play with, so I have to watch them if they are near/in my garden. For me, pole beans produce better in fall and bush beans produce well in spring/early to mid-summer or in fall. None of the beans I grow produce well during the hottest part of the summer though. I believe George has said some pole beans (maybe all?) are daylength-sensitive so that explains why healthy plants won't set pods sometimes. Your peppers may do better in the fall. Some years mine do well all summer and other years only in the fall. This year has been a great pepper year here so far--maybe our best summer ever. I think for it is has been a combination of luck and cool nights/rainfall at the right times in June and July. Usually it is too hot here for the sweet peppers to do very well until fall, but this year has been great. Hot peppers do well in the heat so they've been more consistent here, year in and year out. I haven't whipped my toms today.....but the winds last evening whipped them pretty well! The tomtato plants today, after a couple of days of rain and some cooler temps and some clouds for relief from the sun, look better than they have since early June. They look so good that I am going to find it hard to remove many of them to plant fall tomatoes once I fill up the fairly small space I had saved for fall tomatoes. For a year that started off rough, our veggie garden has been amazingly productive. I am hoping the fall plants (and the plants carried over from spring to fall) are as productive, and if the rains continue, I bet they will be. In May, with severely waterlogged soil that seemed like it never would dry, I was tempted to give up on the garden. I'm glad I didn't because it all worked out very well once the waterlogged soil dried up--not a perfect year, and not the absolute best year ever, but close! How odd is that? In May I would have said that the garden was doomed and wouldn't do anything at all this year and I would have been so wrong. Dawn