You?ll never stop improving the soil, but sometimes you can coast for a while and just tweak things a bit. An annual soil test will tell you where you?re headed. Be sure to write ORGANIC on your test request, as most labs will automatically give chemical farming info. Natural inputs come in organic and mineral forms, or a combination of the two. Organic Matter is basically unbroken-down compost and the manure. Both contain varying amounts of nitrogen, and both CAN contain various amounts of various minerals, esp phosphorus and potassium, but there's no guarantee as to levels, because the compost ingredients and the animal feed nutrient values vary all over the place. HUMUS is OM that has been completely broken down by soil microbes, and is the long-term source of nutrients. They are not one and the same. A volatile nutrient like nitrogen can be washed out, blown away, off-gassed due to plowing, or used by the crop. Any of these can reduce the amount of what you think you've got, even from week to week. Minerals come from the soil, from broken-down rock. Some of them are in the organic matter, but not everything your plants need; some just plain isn?t there and won?t be there unless you make a point of specifically adding it. The more crop residue you return to the soil, the more minerals it will retain. Your local soil and climate is going to affect what your soil contains and maintains. If you live in a warmish area with not much more than 25" of rain and a fair (but not excessive) amount of clay, your soil will hold more nutrients than a rainy place. If you live in a wet climate, quite a few nutrients will be flushed out of the root zone by the excessive rain. If you live in a hot place like SoCal, TX, AZ or FL, the heat cooks the OM out of the (usually) sandy soil, but you might retain more minerals. What do your soil test results look like from your unfertilized soil? That's a major clue as to what you're going to have to keep up (or suppress), so find a spot that hasn?t been fertilized or mineralized if you have never gotten a soil test. And your soil pH is going to influence how much of the various nutrients are going to be available to the plants. Just because it?s sitting there in the soil doesn?t mean the nutrients are available. Here in the PNW, soil tests show how the heavy rainfall leaches out nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium and boron -- IOW, all the main important stuff. We either have to keep adding it, or grow fall cover crops that will bind up some/most of those minerals and hold it until the cover crop is incorporated in spring. Some things, like boron, have to be added continually. What levels are ideal? It depends on what you're growing, as different food plants need different amounts of nutrients. Corn is the big nutrient hog. "Jolj" gave a basic list above. If your soil is nutritionally balanced, you can plant things closer together. If it isn?t quite up to par, space them further apart than recommended so their roots can search for nutrients. Here is what I?ve been able to glean from various sources, so far. Please chime in, folks, if you think my figures are off. Also, different labs use different methods, and those methods may produce different results. It?s not advisable to skip around from lab to lab. Find one you like and stay with them. Nitrogen: 5% good organic matter should have an estimated nitrogen release of 100 lbs of nitrogen per acre (100 ppm). Is that enough for the crop you have in mind? If you have too much nitrogen due to an overload of compost, the nitrogen will drive some calcium out of the soil, and your crop yields will suffer. If you add a LOT of OM and you have disease or insect problems, something else is off, probably due to the excessive nitrogen levels. Too much of anything will almost always cause trouble, including drinking excessive amounts of water. Moderation is the key. Phosphorus: 30 to 60 ppm. How much is available depends on your soil pH ? the closer to 6.5, the better. Phosphorus: 120-200 ppm, but it has to be available, not just sitting there inert. Calcium and Magnesium: The total combination of calcium and magnesium should total 80%. Normal soil should be near 68% calcium + 12% magnesium. But if your soil is sandy, 60 + 20 would be better. A heavier clay soil, 70 + 10. Keep in mind that although lime contains calcium, you have to know your soil pH and your calcium/magnesium percentages to be able to choose the right calcium-based minerals to use. Sulfur: 20-25 ppm, up to 50 ppm for high-yielding crops like woody plants and pasture. Sodium: Some of the areas of the country tend toward excess, above 3%. Other parts of the U.S. go the other way, and a deficiency is often less than 0.5%. Micronutrients only make a difference when all of the above primary and secondary nutrients are balanced. Boron: 0.8 ? 1.5 ppm. This is the least stable of the elements, your crops need a steady supply, it can?t be reused. Boron is one of the few elements that can?t be built up, so if it isn?t naturally in your soil, you may have to add it every year, and maybe even through the growing season. Chlorine is chloride: it normally isn?t deficient, esp if your calcium level is good; but excesses (usually much over 250 ppm) are known, esp in compacted soils, or known saline soils, and it isn?t easy to deal with. Molybdenum: 0.01-10 ppm. Copper: 2-10 ppm, but 5-10 is best. Most soils are deficient, but once you get your level up to par, copper is stable enough to stay there for quite a while. Copper and Molybedenum work together, so test and treat for it together properly. Iron: 200+ ppm. Check for it in chalky, high-calcium soils, where it is most likely to be deficient. Excess iron isn?t a problem. Iron works with manganese and sulfur, so check levels for all three. Lime added within 3 years will affect soil tests. Manganese: 40-250 ppm, but best results in 80-125 ppm range. Zinc: 6-12 ppm, 10 is excellent. Once the levels are up to par, it is easy to keep it up on clay and humus. Too much nitrogen will tie up zinc. Suggestion: for more info, get hold of Neal Kinsey?s book Hands-On Agronomy, available in the library system. Sue

Hey, Jon! Here's something that Al (Tapla) wrote on the subject. I've linked the Thread below. _______________________________________________________ "Why would containers need different pH requirements than in the ground." First, they don't NEED a different media pH, which is much less important in container culture than it is in the garden. I've puzzled over how to answer the question in a way that's easy to understand, because it's a complicated question. First, pH affects mostly the solubility of essential micro-nutrients and other nonessential elements that can become toxic, once certain pH levels are reached. Basically, in mineral (garden) soils, the micro-nutrients are already IN the soil, and the ideal pH is a happy medium where all the elements are in a favorable part of their availability range. Too much deviation either upward or downward in the pH level can have a significant impact on availability and toxicities. In container media, the organic components contain only very small amounts of micro-nutrients, locked securely in the hydrocarbon chains of the medium. So, raising or lowering the pH of the medium or the soil solution has little impact on the availability of these nutrients. If you point to a pH induced Fe deficiency and say Hey, look here - a pH induced deficiency", I'll point to the fact that technically it's not a function of the pH, but of the presence of high concentrations of Ca, Mg, Na, or bicarbonates, with the increase in pH being only the symptom. If you could use a medium that is devoid of potential toxicities, and has all the essential nutrients in the right ratio, you can grow most plants very well (in container media) at pH ranges from 3.0 to about 8.5. Al" Here is a link that might be useful: Al's 5:1:1 mix pH questions

HAVE BEEN GROWING BELL PEPPERS AND HOT PEPPERS WITH GREAT SUCCESS HERE IN EAST OKLA... 1. PEPPERS GROW BEST WHEN STARTED SLOW, NOT MUCH FERTILIZER... 2. I MIX IN A LOT OF HOMEMADE COMPOST....MOSTLY LEAF MOLD ETC. 3. MY TRICK IS: I GO INTO THE FOREST AND SCRAPE A LOT LEAF MOLD AND TOP SOIL FROM UNDER THE TREES...A WHEEL BARROW LOAD...I WILL PUT ABOUT A 39OZ COFFEE CAN INTO THE PLANTING HOLE WHEN TRANSPLANTING....THIS WORKS GREAT WITH ALL PLANTS, ESP TOMATOES AND PEPPERS....THIS SOIL FROM THE FOREST IS LOADED WITH MYCHORRHIZA AND WILL GROW ROOTS EVERYWHERE...I HAVE A TIME GETTING MY PLANTS OUT OF THE POT IN THE FALL BECAUSE ROOT BALL IS SO LARGE...I ALSO DRILL A LOT OF HOLES IN MY POTS FOR AERATION....PLANTS NEED TO BREATHE GOOD OXYGEN...AIM AT GROWING HEALTHY WHITE ROOTS FOR SUCCESSFUL CROP...PEPPERS NEED SHADE FROM EVENING SUN IN 90 PLUS WEATHER....HOPE THIS WILL HELP SOME OF YOU GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES...MY NEXT TRICK IS USING BIOCHAR IN MY HOMEGROWN PRODUCTS.... ALL GARDNERS SHOULD CHECK THIS OUT...I MAKE MY OWN WITH A FIFTY GAL STEEL DRUM....TIME FOR SOME OF US TO CHANGE ....THE MYCORRHIZA WORKS, I KNOW....

you can purchase dried hot pepper powder on the internet. I recommend something mild from New Mexico. then add that to your plate of food. sprinkle it on top. This way you can control the heat. the best flavor and low heat is Chimayo. the oldest true heirloom in america. over 400 years. Phone 505-351-4112 a local in Chimayo who sells chiles. Chimayo from the Casados Farm in Chimayo. 1/3 pound for only $4.50 ( thats over 5 ounces If you want seeds to grow then tell the sales person and get the flakes with seeds. if you are not growing them then get the powder. You will not be sorry. This is very mild and very high flavor. you will love it. They also sell mild not chimayo chile powder for a little less but it will have less flavor. Treat yourself to the best. the cost is very low. If you get the flakes with seeds then just filter out the seeds from the powder in the container. no problem. you only need a few hundred seeds. the germination will be a little low from drying the chiles in the hot sun. but enough will germinate. Then you must save seeds from the plants you grow. these will have close to 100% germination. If you want a similar heirloom pepper from new mexico with more heat then you can try espanola. I picked my first one this week and it might be a little less hot than a Jalapeno. But hard to tell for sure. but definitely hot. the chimayo is very mild and you will love it. good luck Here is a link that might be useful: chimayo