1) If the plant has leaves, you shouldn't bare-root it. Just tease the roots apart a little, being careful not to let them dry out - and pot it. If it doesn't have leaves, go ahead and remove the soil before you plant. 2) It's helpful if the soil is a little damp when you make it. Beyond that, it doesn't matter much if it's damp or dry, but you don't want it wet. It's too hard to work with. 3) No problem I can see. 4) Wait about 2-3 weeks before you fertilize. Then use something like FP 9-3-6 or either of the 3:1:2 MGs, like 24-8-16 or 12-4-8. Let me know if you need that translated. By the looks of the soil you made though, you're pretty well-schooled. ;o) 5) I can't tell you how often to water, Nik. You'll have to figure it out for yourself. It will partially depend on how deep the roots of your plant go - how large the root mass is. If it goes deep into the container, you'll need to water much less often than if your plants are small & the roots only go down a couple of inches. After the plant is well established, you might want to occasionally withhold water until you see some sign of wilting - just to get a handle on how long the plants CAN go between waterings. You CAN over-water, but you have to work at it. Use a dowel pushed deep into the soil. If it's wet/cool, withhold water until it comes out dry. Al

Wow, dickiefickle, you sound pissed! :-( I didn't mean to offend anyone by asking about this product, nor was I dismissing Blake's posts. He stated that in his experience Bentonite was not a baked product, but, just from what Amturf claims for their product, I would think that they must process it in some way so that it maintains its integrity like Turface does, thus my response to his posts. I am not sure what you meant by Does say anything about in "CONTAINER GARDENING " but I will try to explain what I meant by my response. Amturf describes their product as a soil conditioner for improving sand and clay soils, for increasing drainage in heavy soils, etc. Obviously, adding pure uncalcined/unprocessed clay to clay soil or to sandy soil will neither improve the soil nor increase drainage. Their PDF document goes on to say it IS for use in containers, that it DOESN'T degrade, as in, presumably, turning into a sticky mass of clay (or just disintegrating.) As someone whose soil is clay, I can assure you that if it did turn into the sticky mass that wet clay soil can become, it is very far indeed from their descripion of a LOOSE rich growing medium! If it blocks the drain hole in the container, how can they claim that it improves drainage? Turface is 100% clay...my point was that I believe the bentonite clay in Amturf must be processed (calcined??) in some way, as was done with the clay in Turface, so it will not degrade. All I have to go on is how Amturf advertises their product, as no one with experience with the soil conditioner seems to have posted on the Internet (maybe there's a reason for that!!) nor have I found anything on GW about this particular soil conditioner. My last statement was that I would probably need to buy the product and put it through the freezer test, as was done for NAPA Floor Dry and other Turface substitues, to see if it would actually work. So, when I am about to run out of my current supply of NAPA Floor Dry, I will do just that. Anyone have any comments about the other part of my "will this work" post? Will the pine bark mulch I found at the nursery work for the 5:1:1 mix or is it too composted, or...? Holly Here is a link that might be useful: Amturf usage instructions

Toxcrusadr, While never having spoken (conversed) with you before I have read some of your posts and am happy to be able to share a few thoughts with you. As has been stated earlier in this thread, I did my best to keep things simple but do not feel that limit necessary with you, the pleasure is mine. The reason your limit of familiarity with "colloidal humus compost" is due to the fact that the author of the book spoken of coined the phrase is my understanding. Each term stands on its own; however in the original discussion that was the name given to the substance at the time and it has stuck. Humus can develop colloidal properties, yet compost cant; compost can lead to humus, yet humus cannot lead to compost. "Humic substances are key components of a friable (loose) soil structure. Various carbon containing humic substances are key components of soil crumbs (aggregates). Complex carbohydrates synthesized by bacteria and humic substances function together with clay and silt to form soil aggregate. As the humic substances become intimately associated with the mineral fraction of the soil, colloidal complexes of humus-clay and humus-silt aggregates are formed. These aggregates are formed by electrical processes, which increase the cohesive forces that cause very fine soil particles and clay components to attract each other. Once formed these aggregates help create a desirable crumb structure in the top soil, making it more friable." (See link below) While I do enjoy making compost, my larger focus is allowing said compost to develop the largest amount of humic and fulvic acid as possible. And too, auxins, cytokinins, and other grown hormones and enzymes can be present and ready to go to work once the compost is applied to the soil. It is for this reason I constantly stress allowing ones compost be allowed to cure/mature. Those of us who have developed soil with such an organic foundation find we grow plants that refuse to die. As an example, those "Georgia collard greens" in the photo above will live well past a year, growing a stalk over three (3) feet tall, and will harvest collards with a taste to die for. I do have a different understanding of the nature of humic and fulvic acid, with fulvic being much smaller than humic, thus is the main carrier of nutrition in foliar sprays. Fulvic acid and the many wonderful functions it provides for all life on earth is one of my favorite topics so all I will say for now is that once our planet has replaced both fulvic and humic acid in our soils our health will be akin to those collards I just spoke of, in human time. I too will avoid the topic of bio-char as well; I trust you will understand. I do appreciate your insight and sharing of knowledge, it is very much well taken Blutranes @gmail.com

So many good suggestions - thank you. I am glad I'm not alone. I printed out the recipes posted by Nicole, Glenda and the one chi83 mentioned from Ina Garten. I noticed that Ina's recipe calls for an 18 x 12 pan and then the recipe says that it makes 20 large brownies - I normally get 16 brownies from my 9 x 9 square pan. If she cuts hers into only 20 brownies they must be huge! That's a real treat. lowspark - what a neat idea - a muffin tin. Never thought of that one or warming up the dry brownies and making a brownie sundae. I'll have to try buying several boxes of the same brand and then experimenting with the cooking time to determine the best one. I tend to buy whatever is on sale. I have tried the Ghirardelli's mix and it is really good. My son is stopping by the house tomorrow after work to celebrate his birthday and he asked for comfort food for dinner- a baked ham and mac and cheese. Since he doesn't care for icing I think I'll make 2 batches of brownies - one for our dessert and one he can take home. That way I won't be too tempted to eat them. I have to admit that I had no trouble eating either my overdone or underdone ones in the past. Thanks again everyone. Maire