In article says...
Too much of anything can be bad but the quoted paragraphs
make compost sound like arsenic!

I'm just quoting what I read on that Gardenweb site. I have always used
compost in my mix and have read that veggies, especially tomatoes,
require a layer of compost in the container to grow right. I guess the
non-compost people suggest that all the nutrients in a container garden
should come from fertilization. I also need to become more familiar
with fertilization since I don't think I do that correctly either. I
usually buy those Miracle Grow packets you mix with water and every
plant but the tomatoes get the same feeding. The tomatoes get the
special Miracle Grow tomato mix.

Mark Anderson wrote [in part]:
I'm also on the North side of Chicago. Where do you get this coarse
sand everyone mentions? Last summer I used sandbox sand which I now
find out was not the right ingredient.

I use washed plaster sand. This is a coarse sand you should be able to
get at any building materials yard (not Home Depot or a lumber yard, but
a place where you would buy rebar, bricks, concrete blocks, gravel, etc).

You don't wash it yourself. "Washed" means that the sand was processed
(often near the quarry) to remove silt, mud, and debris. This is a
clean sand, suitable for making a good quality of stucco.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my http://www.rossde.com/PGP/

what if one lives in an area where there are no deciduous trees = only
junipers and spruce trees....what would you recommend then?
--
With Malus toward none, and Cherry-Trees toward all.


From: "Tex John"
Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 16:11:20 GMT
Subject: Building Container Soil

Collect up bags and bags of leaves from peoples trash and compost them in
place. Taks a few months but the price is right!

John

frogfog wrote:
what if one lives in an area where there are no deciduous trees = only
junipers and spruce trees....what would you recommend then?

The tiny, scale-like needles from junipers make an acceptable soil
amendment without even composting; the same is true of cypress needles.
Spruce needles can be composted (as can juniper and cypress needles),
but they require frequent turning in order to bring necessary air into
the center of the mass. That's because they tend to pack down when
piled up.

With my recipe for potting mix (see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html, you really need
actual compost. This supplies the beneficial soil bacteria that convert
nutrients (e.g., blood meal, bone meal) into forms that plant roots can
use. The recipe only requires a small amount of compost, perhaps just
one handful in 5 gallons of mix (assuming that everything is thoroughly
blended together). Once the mix is blended and watered, the soil
bacteria will propagate throughout the mix.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/