Hi Kurt, Mint's way of being evasive is it spreads fast! And it's sneaky!. It will send shoots under the soil and they pop up everywhere. To be honest, one or 2 would fill an 8" pot by the end of summer, unless you really keep on top of it, and cut the shoots out. I just got 2, 4" pots last week, and they are about to bust out! It will not stay a small patch. Yes, Basil and dill should probably go one plant per pot. Now with the dill, I would ,and have planted smaller herbs around it, or maybe greens. I do 90% of my garden in containers due to a gravel landscape, and take advantage of what space i have. Cilantro may do O.K. with 2-3 per pot. It's been a few years since i've grown it. So don't quite remember how big it got. If your going to be harvesting it should be O.K. Like any other plant, they need air circulation, so it's important to keep them harvested if grown close together. I find peat pots to be a royal pain, and they just don't 'rot' away like they should . Have you used them before? If not, one bit of advice I can give you is to cut slits carefully in the sides and bottom before planting in the ground. That will help some . JoJo

Well I understand the concept now that you've explained it with the rows. You're basically saying two rows on the right and left hand sides down the center and rows on the right and left hand sides on the sides of the container. Is this right? If not, then please clarify. Unfortunately what I STILL don't understand is the figures you gave me. I understand that you're suggesting to make two rows in the center and two rows on the sides; one row on the left side, one on the right. What I don't understand is how far apart to space the "rows" in the center. Another thing I don't get is the figures you gave. Were you just giving them as examples to try and clarify what your idea was, or was this actual row and plant spacing for one of the vegetables I gave you. Here is the row and plant spacing for the veggies I plan to plant (this is directly from the seed packet info on the back of the seed packets I have). What I REALLY don't get is the figures you gave here: 9 Seeds = 9 6 Next rows on either side of the center = 12 3 On the edge = 6 27 TL MAX (remembering that you'll be able to eat some radishes while thinning them out). I thought it wasn't possible to plant multiple rows in a cylindrical container because of the shape. If you could PLEASE give clarification with the figures you gave, I'd appreciate it. I would like to try your idea. Unfortunately parts of it are still confusing me. I can't apply what I don't understand. I gave the row and plant spacing for my seed varieties as a reference because I didn't know whether or not the numbers you gave were just as a general example or referring to one of the vegetables I want to grow. Parris Island Cos Lettuce: Row spacing:18" (1-1/2 ft) Plant spacing: 12" per plant Turnips: row spacing:1-1/2 to 2 ft apart Plant spacing:4" per plant (this is after the seedlings have been thinned) Carrots (little finger variety which is a shorter variety than a regular carrot): Row spacing:I don't know; the seed packet doesn't say Plant spacing:1"-2" (this is after you've thinned the seedlings out) spinach: Row spacing:1-1/2 to 2 ft. Plant spacing: 6" per plant (this is after the seedlings have been thinned out)

Don't do "one plant per container" unless they are very very close. The plants need to pollenate each other. Do use Ray's EarthTainers and plant multiple plants in each. Add water and you'll have happy pretty corn like in the pictures. If you get the black smut fungus, contact me. It's a delicacy! But you are not likely to have the fungus using the containers and good new planting mix. Rick Here is a link that might be useful: EarthTainer

ÂIs it true that winter rye cleans the soil of destructive nematodes, or adds beneficial nematodes, can't remember which.....? **** No, not true. Ebon rye has been suggested as a cover crop that might help lower the population of pathogenic nematodes. But I have many friends, especially in CA, who have bad Root Knot Nematode problems and several in the past have done controlled experiments with Ebon rye and found little to no difference. No, it doesn't encourage beneficial nematodes. Ppod, you don't have RKN problems where you live and you know I know where you live. LOL About TMV. As Dave said the strains of tobacco grown in the US , and that's at least for the past 20 years or so, are TMV tolerant. But Turkish tobacco is not TMV tolerant. Sudzy, in any case TMV is transmitted, or was, primarily by insects and these days any transmission is manual and occurs in large commercial greenhouses. But growing in one spot every year is not going to predispose plants to TMV b'c it's not out there to worry about any more. CMV is and many folks confuse TMV with CMV b'c the two viruses can exhibit similar symptoms. Growing in one spot can predispose to a build up of foliage pathogens, but I spoke to that in a post above in this thread. Carolyn