By Sep, it will prolly be difficult to over-water tomatoes unless you work hard at it. Your weather sounds just like mine. I live on the Bay & we get humidity and dry winds. I don't know how you feel about fungicides like Daconil, but with all that humidity you might wish to consider it's positive effect on blight, graymold, and other diseases that are prevalent when humidity is high. Do avoid spraying foliage if you can - the practice often provides the incubation period many species of fungi need to get a hold. I grow tomatoes in the 5:1:1 mix. My vines are always lush; but still, I never need to water more than once daily. My plants are usually in 18 gallon containers. Part of a mid-July experiment on behalf of the UpsaDaisy Company - just getting started: Al

Ah, the search continues to find the elusive Pine bark fines! I am in awe of Al's vast knowledge and in fact, became a Member of the Garden Web after reading the "Al Chronicles" in seven (or is it 8 now?) Volumes. Al, you are the Zen Master of wicks, water plateaus, and medium mixology! .....but I digress. I wanted to mention one source of nitrogen that will slow release and is more to my liking as it doesn't come out of a bottle (though it does come in pelleted form), which is Alfalfa Pellets. (the horse kind, not the rabbit). The pellets will swell and fall apart as soon as water is applied and offer a quick fix of readily available nitrogen to offset those pesky sap woods in your pine bark nuggets. For my OCD tenancies, I don't care for any of the bagged bark products available from your local Home Improvement Palaces, because in my estimation, none qualify as true Pine Bark Fines. What I consider pine bark fines is always PARTIALLY COMPOSTED PINE BARK, which by it's very nature, you can crumble into bits through a diamond mesh screen. Almost without exception today's "Forest Products" are the byproduct of lumber harvesting, which is ground up and dispensed into bags. Nothing even approaching composting of pine bark is occurring with these products because it takes too long. I haven't found a reliable source of "fines" other than harvesting my own from around the bases of harvested Ponerosa pines cut over a decade ago.Old timber operations often left the bark and branches piled at the harvesting site, which is another good source, as are old dead snags, which will have the bark slip from them and land about their bases. All of this requires a bit of labor on your part, but then again, it's a lovely way to spend the weekend, right? National Forests in California are quite accommodating and will issue a permit if required, or happily point you in the direction of a likely spot to forage. I can usually fill my pickup truck bed in about 4 hours and all it costs me is my time and gas for the truck. I attribute my OCD behavior on the subject to an ancient Bonsai Master I had the privilege to study under back in the late '60's, who was very exacting in his tutelage. "Fines" were exclusively "Partially Composted Pine Bark", period.

I've got to tell you, Drew, I don't mind if we disagree, but I don't care for the 'dude' thing. Still, I'll offer a polite and thorough response. I'd say that Miracle Grow is peat, bark, perlite, in order of volume respectively, which is important when we're talking about amending X with Y and Z. That's also common practice when listing ingredients by volume, from potting mixes to shampoos. Drew, perhaps you aren't aware how many times the mix is made improperly, and then wrongly blamed. That's something I try to suss out when people have questions: are we actually talking about 5-1-1 mix...or are we talking about a hodge-podge that kinda looks like 5-1-1 if you squint and shake your head real fast. If someone makes a batch of 5-1-1, but decides at the last minute to add some extra peat because the mix just seemed to drain so quickly, well it's important to know that to offer advice. It's important to know if Lime was added...and very often it's not. Folks say, Oh I'll add it if there's a problem - then magically they don't see the results that others are seeing. Same with fertilization and watering...coming from a pre-fertilized peaty mix, watering and fertilizing practices need to change to get the full potential of the 5-1-1. 5-1-1 won't work for everything, of course not. It happens to be perfect for my Dragon Fruit cactus and my Christmas Cacti, which absolutely thrive in bark-based mixes. Folks who've switched their holiday cacti into bark-based mixes have come back to spread the word. But dry Cacti would not do as well in a 5-1-1 - I would recommend no more than 25% screened bark in a dry cacti mix. I only grow a couple orchids, but both are in a variant of 5-1-1 (scoria, instead of peat). If the bark is screened properly, *most* orchids will thrive in bark-based mixes. I also grow all of my Hoyas in bark-based mixes. Josh

'Organic' means carbon-based...so, yes, pine bark is organic. I use powdered Dolomitic Lime. You sprinkle it in with the ingredients, then mix it together. The lime phase reaction takes anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to complete, which is why it is often recommended to make your mix ahead of time. However, there is no danger in mixing and potting the same day. I've done it many, many times. In a large volume of 5-1-1, where moisture and temperature is moderated, I imagine that some innoculants might work....but I do not use any, and I only know one guy who does - and his results are far too variable to draw meaningful conclusions. Instead of a moisture meter, just stick a kabob skewer or other stick into the container to check for moisture. It's the easiest way. I germinate seeds directly in the 5-1-1, but I start most seeds in a Gritty Mix. Josh