I used it in my containers with 511 for tomatoes this year for about a month. But we've had such high temps for the past couple weeks that I am having to water every other day. Just to make sure the whole pot is getting drenched, I have to remove the mulch. It became too much of a bother. My tomatoes are having a tough year largely due to the weather, but also due to more disease and insect attacks. I can't see that the mulch has provided any benefit, but I really don't know. They are just now beginning to ripen, which is later than average for me.

You will have no shortage of suggestions here for soil mixes and ferts. I like a mix of 5 parts bark fines (pine or fir bark) 1 part peat moss and 1 part perlite- limed with dolomite lime. I like to use synthetic ferts (foilage pro 9-3-6 + pro tekt 0-0-3) in containers because they are available for immediate uptake by the plant. Never had problems with leaf miners but there are several treatment options for all kinds of pests. There is lots of good stuff on container culture over on the Container Forum as well. Good luck! Damon

So, basically what you guys are saying is potting soil is sterile and needs help with things like manure or compost. It sounds like next year I have make up my own planting soil mixture for containers then. You can certainly go that route if you wish and you'll find several recipes for container mixes over on the Container Gardening forum here. Since you are using containers rather than in-ground beds, that will be the best forum source for info for you. But none of those recipes will contain dirt (soil). Some compost and composted manure, fine but soil isn't used in containers because it compacts, drains poorly, and the roots rot. Not to mention that is can be a source of damp-off, pests, and disease problems. Experienced container gardeners use only soil-less mixes in containers to avoid those problems. And it isn't that those mixes are necessarily "sterile", they aren't. There are many good container mixes that come with mycorrhize added to them. Pro-Mix is one that is often recommended on several of the forums here. I use it myself. But that still isn't going to solve the problems of nutrient leach. Containers require frequent, regular supplemental nutrients, regardless of what you mix into the container to begin with since the roots are "contained" unlike in a garden and the nutrients wash out when you water unlike in a garden. That, plus maintaining consistent moisture levels, are the biggest drawback to growing in containers. How much of a problem it is all depends on the size of the container you are using and you didn't mention how large your container is. Take a look at Jaybo's pics linked below. He is using 31 gallon self-watering containers. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Earthtainer Garden Pics

As I look at your first picture, first thing crosses my mind is : It Needs Water. The second thing is (question form) : Why is it so small ? Maybe it is a small det variety ?: WATERING and LEAF CURL. Contrary to the common belief watering is NOT the primary reason. As Linda just said she waters her pots twice a day. No problem. (heard of hydroponics ?) What is the actual root cause is BAD medium/soil. It gets packed and/or stays soggy. This way, the root system is not getting enough air/oxygen. With my 5-1-1 soil mix I can water as often as I want. The only drawback will be washing down the nutrients. To remedy that I water with 1/4 to 1/3 strength liquid fertilizer solution (mixed In watering can), every other time. In other words, it is hard to over water with a good well drained soil. We hear often tha " ..yeah, that year it rained a lot and our tomatoes, peppers did very well.." Drying out, packing, root bounding, smaller pot size, lack of nutrient are the inherent short comings of container growing. Thus it becomes challenging and requiring much more know how and care. Unfortunately most container growers are newbies. It is much easier to grow in the ground/bed that in the pot. I know this because i am doing both ways right now.