Purpose/advantages/disadvantages of container ingredients

[tam91]

Ah, that explains why I haven't had a problem. I don't re-use the soil - I dump it out in the garden in the areas I'm doing beans or whatever the next year, sterilize my containers, and get new manure/soil/peat each year. So it only has to work nicely for one year. I do see that what's left over now is heavier.

OK, so the manure/peat would work well. But if I don't have enough calcium, I'd add more by....? Or was I getting enough from the topsoil presumably? I used miracle grow for tomatoes last year btw.

[dice]

I would add a couple of handfuls of gypsum per container.
That adds calcium and sulfur, without any significant change
in pH. A tablespoon of epsom salts per container would add
magnesium and a little more sulfur.

(I do not have any MG for tomatoes to check the trace
elements, but I would guess that it has some iron and
a few other things in small amounts. Tomatoes do not
really need a lot of those trace elements, but they cannot
get by with "zero", and I would have no way to guess how much
of each might be in the composted horse manure.)

[tam91]

Thank you.

I bought some tomato-tone also, and was going to use that this year.

I may get something instead of the miracle-grow, I've been looking at some others that have been recommended. If I don't get any ordered though, I do still have plenty of the miracle-grow.

Found this on the net, says it's what's in miracle grow (I have to hunt up my boxes):

Total Nitrogen: 18%
Available Phosphate: 18%
Soluble Potash: 21%
Magnesium: .50%
Copper: .05%
Iron: .10%
Manganese: .05%
Zinc: .05%

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by tam91

Waaah, no one agrees

Need topsoil for minerals / topsoil useless

I guess some folks have access to some really nice topsoil that actually resembles something you'd want to put plants in? My experience with topsoil is, it's a bag of sand and scrapings off a vacant lot before they sell the land.

I don't see what possibly nutrients topsoil would have which cannot be easily replaced with 1 tbsp of a good organic fertilizer with micronutrients such as TomatoTone, GardenTone, etc.


As you said, Miracle-Gro is 18-18-21 which is rather strong, and it does not feed the soil. I would use the TomatoTone which sounds like low numbers at 1-3-6 (or thereabouts) but it's what I prefer.

[dice]

With horse manure and peat, plus the gypsum and epsom salts
that I mentioned earlier, a handful of Tomato-tone per container
at transplant and probably another one when they start to set
fruit should work.

Some people have found that "new" Tomato-tone (3-4-6, no kelp
in it, but it has microbes from Bio-tone) does not perform as well
as "old" Tomato-tone (4-7-10, includes kelp meal, no microbes)
in the same quantity in their containers. They are using
container mixes where that is the only food source, though
(peat-bark-perlite, for example).

In your containers, the composted horse manure provides
N-P-K itself, which should easily make up the difference.
The Tomato-tone will provide a lot of those trace minerals
that may have been in the topsoil that you were using and
may be lacking in the composted manure and peat.

Garden-tone (3-4-4) would be a reasonable substitute for
Tomato-tone. Plant-tone (5-3-3) ends up being a bit high
nitrogen for this. Plants grow well with it, but when you
add another handful at fruitset, it stimulates vegetative
growth more than you need at that time of the season
(especially with composted horse manure in the container
mix).

[tam91]

Thanks - that explains a lot for me. I kept trying to figure out how all these bark fines gave the tomatoes enough nutrients to grow.

I do have a big bag of the tomato tone, was going to try it out this year anyway.

I have never heard of gypsum - where does one get that?

[dice]

Out here it is $5-6 for 25 lbs at Lowe's in granulated pellets.
Farm supply outlets would probably have it cheaper in larger
bags. Nurseries often have it, too.

[tam91]

Ah, ok, it's easy to find then (I've just never looked for any). Thanks.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by sprtsguy76

Bark fines in my experience will not use up alot of N, as long as they are aged just a bit. I only use three ingredients in my container soils, fir bark fines, peat and perlite (and some lime and a complete fert). In a ratio of 5-1-1 respectively. It Drains fast and holds just the right amount of water. I love this mix!

Damon

What kind of fertilizer are you using Damon? I'm currious.

[casserole]

Poor drainage causes root rot.drowns roots and the plant cant pick up OXygen and dies.
Container growing is NOT THE SAME as in-ground growing at all . Think of a gold fish bowl compared to a septic system