Interesting experiments as always. Is the tomato tone the new one or old one? Can't remember how much tomato tone you use--is it 3 cups? I know you tried 'doc's snack' of calcium nitrate last time with your earthtainers but was wondering if you did any with just plain tomato tone (the all organic one)? Every one (Al and others) who uses predominately bark mixes on this forum have had poor results with organic fertilizer (I already know the explanations as to why this is so) --I often wonder if people use enough org. fert. but I am also beginning to wonder if you need more peat to retain more nutrients in the mix or something. If you did have an all organic tomato-tone box (in your 3-2-1 mix) how did it do in comparison or did those nasty mites do you in before you could make any determinations? I don't mind using synthetics in containers but I want to find equally effective products for organics as well. Preferably one where the yield is comparable. I will being doing some experiments with different products this fall but haven't decided which to use yet. Thanks for info.

Jerry said, "your just stating all the rhetoric that the fertilizer company's dish out" I am not sure if I understood the test results that where preformed by many scientists? "Generally, Amino acids were found to increase number of flowers, fruit setting and fruit yield (Neeraja et al., 2005). The positive effects of amino acids application may be brought about by its cell-internal function as osmo-regulatory (Treichel, 1975) since it is very soluble in water therefore increase the concentration of cellular osmotic components. Application of amino acids (proline) was reported to improve plant growth and production under saline conditions (Hafez, 2001). Mixture of amino acids proved to be effective in improving plant growth under abiotic stress (Tantawy, 2007)." Are those scientists? ;) "What a farmer does to his fields has little to do with what goes on in my containers, (as the nice man at Humboldt Nutrients pointed out to me). " I am not sure what this pertains to? If amino acids application? They are in hydro stores for home users? "I am of a "glass-half-full" viewpoint that House and Garden would have done their field trials before attempting to sell a product which goes for $65.00 for a 250ml bottle." Well Said Raybo Another note to why I am unsure to what is being told to me. Al said, "The reason it was noted in previous intercourse with you that what you posted was marketing technique, is because it was. You copy/pasted advertising hype directly from the manufacturer's website describing their own product, claiming it as proof positive that the product does/will do all it says it will do." Side not: Which we found results from tests preformed by scientists. Other studies that are NOT fertilizer companies are stated aswell. But then a few posts later said: "I think you missed the point entirely. No one is arguing for or against a particular product or methodology"

There can be an underlying anatomic problem causing acid reflux - hiatal hernia, This occurs when part of the stomach prolapses upward through your diaphragm (a muscular structure which normally has a small gap to allow passage of the esophagus). Hiatal hernias may be asymptomatic, but if large enough tend to cause reflux of acid into the esophagus and symptoms of reflux. The dietary and lifestyle measures mentioned earlier may be enough to relieve symptoms, but if they or meds don't do the trick, surgery to fix the hiatal hernia may be necessary. Any other underlying G.I. issues would require a good gastroenterology consultation and not a nebulous "gut healing protocol". Sometimes acid reflux improves whether or not you take steps to reduce risk factors. I used to have a lot of discomfort from it at night some years ago and took medication for a short time. More recently it's only occasionally that I have mild symptoms, and I'm not taking any meds, herbs or special precautions. Sometimes conditions get better on their own and whatever interventions you were trying wrongly get the credit. This post was edited by eric_oh on Fri, Jan 24, 14 at 17:49

Hey I had your same problem, beds full of rubble and thus alkaline soil, i could solve the problem a bit and im still working on it, i currently have lowered the ph by 1 point. What i did was: till, remove the rubble, added lots of cow manure, not aged plain and fresh (i did this because i was not going to plant anything there immediatelly and fresh manure is more acidic), i added once a month generous amounts of iron sulphate (so iron would be available, cause in high ph it tends to lock up not be available, and also it is very acidic, because it contains sulphur), and watered every week with an vinegar solution. After 5 months of doing this i planted roses and some herbs, and they suffered from cholriosis, but in time and with more additions of iron suphate and vinegar an OM i managed to solve this, and now im doing great in that bed. Hope this helped