Here's the question: In your opinion..do I really need to fertilize these plants in these conditions? Or would it be sufficient to feel the tomatoes (which I realize are heavy feeders) with a solution of compost or manure tea? I see so many points of information here and elsewhere that I admit I'm thoroughly confused. I realize the question I am quoting is from March 2006 and the thread has long since diverged into another (interesting) discussion, but I think the question posed is well worth spending a bit of time on. The question, as I read it is this: Do I need to fertilize (name the plant here) if I grow it in (fill in the growing medium here). The answer is, the plant will tell you. Unfortunately the plant won't tell you in a timely manner. It will tell you only after you notice the effects of the plant getting too much or too little of something. There really is no shortcut to experience and don't be in any rush to have perfect growing results from day one. There is always the farmer's market or grocery when the garden plants fail ;-) It simply takes time to learn what conditions a given plant does best in and all the guides in the world are, at best, approximations and often they are simply inaccurate or only accurate in the writer's growing conditions. As an example, srburk said in his OP that he realizes tomatos are heavy feeders. Now, where did s/he get that idea from? No criticism of srburk intended at all, it is a common misperception propagated by many sources. Tomatos are not heavy feeders, they are moderate feeders. This is an example of the kind of misinformation involved in gardening that is spread by many otherwise helpful and knowlegable sources. How on earth can the newbie seperate the wheat from the chaff? It can't really be done. Nothing short cuts experience with a plant. Whether or not a plant requires supplemental fertilization or not can really only be determined by the grower after observing the plant. If you know you are growing in a nutrient poor condition (like growing in containers) then you can pretty much be assured that supplementation will be required, but when growing in soil amended with organic matter, the plants simply have to be observed. There is no short cut.

"... Her house build demonstrates that. She described the floor and stair riser issues in her first post ..." She does not go into detail on why the condition of the construction is the way it is. You are assuming it was all the gc's fault. While I am certainly not going to defend the GC she fired, I will say part of that condition might have been from the house being open to the elements for a period of time. ANother part was that she never gave the original GC the opportunity to make the work that was done ready to be installed over. The GC did not complete the project and was removed from the job before he could finish his work, so of course it was not ready to be installed over, because the work was not completed and the original GC did not have the opportunity to make sure the stair system or any other part was in a ready state to be installed over. She very well may have had just cause to remove the CG, but nevertheless she took on the GC responsibility on herself to ensure it was ready for finish trades. I believe it is apparent that this house was not ready to have finished trades in it performing finish work, and it was her responsibility as GC to make sure it was unless soneone else accepted that responsibility by contract. "...A person does not require a GC to have a floor put down. ..." The problem with this is that it was not as simple as getting a floor put down in a home that was ready to have finish trade present. Again, we do not know what caused the stair issues, which could have been: Framing problems caused by the GC's incompetance, or being open to the elements, which flooring installer holds no responsibility for because its a hidden condition, unless it was a tile contractor who must check for build stability, and deflection and rigidity requirements. You might not be aware that carpet, wood, and resilient installers are noit trained for, nor do they hold any responsibility or liability for framing issues. All of which she holds responsibility for as the project GC. The only way the flooring installers would hold liability and responsibility for framing (hidden conditions) issues is if it was addressed on their bids that they agreed to do the work. Any flooring installer would address this in their bids if they elected to take on the added responsibility and liability from stair framing condition and height requirements she may ahve had which could only ahve been taken care of with additional prep they should have addressed in their bids if they wanted to take on the additional responsibility and liability for an added fee. Additionally, she admitted she has no local building codes for such things as stair height. Could they have done better...sure. But it begins and ends with who is liable and responsible. She took that on by electing to be her own project GC. "... While it might have been possible for her to have stepped in earlier to babysit the install where she would have seen that they weren't able to handle the job, stopping it sooner than what happened, that doesn't relieve that company of their total responsibility for having installed a floor over an (obviously) unsound substrate. You can't remove prep from the flooring equation. The flooring company is the professional here and in charge of their own work. It's their job. Once they start putting the floor down, they have accepted the substrate as sound and taken ownership of the results. They did not act responsibly or professionally. Period. Doesn't matter who did the hiring. They and they alone are responsible for their own incompetent work ..." Again, (and again, and again, and again) an installer absolutely is responsible and liable for the surface they install over. However, I will disagree that prep cant be removed. It very well can, and often is removed. While most professional flooring installers do much surface prep, others do not, and FEW, if any, will concern themselves with framing issues AT ALL. I do, but most do not. It all boils down to what was included in the bid. Flooring installers have no responsibility to do added prep work unless they agree to be contracted to do it. They ahve every right to stop work, tell the GC this or that prep needs done before continuing, and tell them to give them a call when its ready to be installed. Lastly, you seem to be taking everything she says as gospel. I dont. I have alot of experience with customers, and customers lie alot... and often. Mostly to save face, save a buck, and/or to shirk their responsibility. The customer is not always right. Thats a falicy. I find it hard to believe that she had issues with the GC, then issues with all the trades. Everyone was wrong in every aspect of this project ... except her. I dont believe that for a moment, but I am not saying its impossible. What I see as possible is someone who bit off more than they could chew, and is blaming everyone else. I am not stating no one else holds any blame though. Could be a little of each. Bottom line its mostly her responsibility unless she has a piece of paper saying different ...except the subfloor issues which the installers absolutely are responsible for if they elect to do the prep and/or install over it.

Yay, glad you're getting your Super White! I had an idea that might help you test out whether a small prep sink will work or not. Find a plastic bowl or tub in the approx size and shape of the sink you'll be able to fit into a 12" cab, drill an appropriately sized drain hole in the bottom (I think someone posted sinks this small would have something like a 1.5" drain hole,) and fit a piece of PVC pipe into it. You'll need to caulk it to seal it. Then put it in a sink or over a bucket, pour a pot of water into your mock-up sink as if you were draining pasta water or a pot of boiled potatoes and see how well it works. Or doesn't. It's not going to be fool proof dry run (er, uh, wet run, haha), obviously, but if the mock-up doesn't work well, it's likely a good bet the real thing won't either. btw, our pop-up tent camper has a small sink in the kitchen area, and after the first few mishaps, I learned to pour a pot of water very slowly to keep water from splashing all over the place. The sink is wider than a small prep sink, its depth is similar to the depth of old SS sinks. In other words, shallow. That's my experience with small sinks. YMMV.

I'd absolutely go with the black (I can't remember the correct name) Silgranite sink. I have darker granite also, verde peacock. Not only does it look amazing but it's the best sink functionally I've ever owned and I've had quite a few! We tore out a stainless steel sink we had just installed a couple of years ago because it looked as old as our 20 year old house! I always assumed they'd be too pricey. Boy was I tickled when I saw how affordable they were. We bought ours sight unseen online based only on the advise of the forum folks and they didn't guide us wrong! We love it and I guarantee you will too!