sallyg said: Whatever you do, don't start eggplant and ornamental Datura and forget to label. Those seedlings were identical!

How would you know that, Sally .

sallyg said: Whatever you do, don't start eggplant and ornamental Datura and forget to label. Those seedlings were identical!

Just as well I don't grow Datura anymore. I always intended to label plants; have attempted to do so many times, but they get mixed up when I pot them on. I've given it up. If I don't recognize a seedling, it's probably a weed.

I'm quite obsessive about labeling my seedlings - except when I'm not . (Or when I can't read my own writing.)

It isn't the seedlings so much that I worry about labeling, its the plant variety differences that have been there 3 or 4 years...

Weedwhacker said: I'm quite obsessive about labeling my seedlings - except when I'm not . (Or when I can't read my own writing.)

Been there done that with garden diagrams , roses, that become meaningless when x number of roses die and the Drunkin Irishman Chart looks like a Chinese Frie Drill., or corn plots, that nowaday do not have an extra wide gap between plots, and two-three corn types, planted side by side are the same height and pretty much the same color, so if some one asks what type of corn is that, I say, take your pick.

Oh for he days when each plot was the same number of rows, and each plot had a set extra inches of space, so I knew where each plot started and stopped.
Never plant red field corn with red stalks, next to red sweet corn with red stalks.
You will eventually be seeing Red.

Not that you can't eat fresh field corn, but you have to get the water boiling before you go to the field to pick it!

I've mostly written on black nursery pots and sheet pots (the 6-pack inserts) with metallic (silver) sharpie. This year, I'm trying something different -- a white china marker -- so far so good. It needs a clean surface for writing on, but if the tip gets dirty it doesn't get clogged, just needs to be rubbed or scraped a bit.

I have those white plastic labels that stick in the soil. I write on them with a Sharpie marker and keep the label with the plant until the writing fades or the label gets buried in the soil and dug up later...

Our Master Gardener plant sale coordinator likes the paint markers on the 5 gallon pots. I use labels (some the cut up old thin blinds kind) with Sharpie on one side and pencil on the other. For Winter Sowing I just mark the jugs with Sharpie on 2 sides - it lasts here for the season till planting. I don't bother labeling flowers in the garden, just when starting in trays or if they're bulbs in pots. Come fall when they go in the ground I like to know which bulbs were in which pots (if they get sun and fertilizer they will bloom again). For seed starting in trays everything is labeled.

I do keep simple charts for the beds - just takes a moment to fill them in for the new season. Labels in the beds just get covered over. Last year I'd harvested a Neck Pumpkin green as I'd gotten turned around on which bed had the Tromboncino and which the neck. After that, I'd check my chart before heading out.

Because of the intense summer sun, I plant things close together. Not as close as square foot gardening but much closer than recommended. The leaf cover really helps.

Would either of these help produce large tomatoes or larger onions?

Only if those specifically are lacking.

sallyg said: Only if those specifically are lacking.

Probably are. Most of my raised bes soil is 'wild' sand dug up from down the road. So I highly doubt there's any nutritional value to it.

N P K, N grows green tops, P is to help blooms, K is a salt, potassium specifically. Your numbers are too strong Anne, P and K can help roots survive excess water, but vegetables don't need those high yield numbers. Growing healthy, maximum sized tomatoes means using the plant specific NPK for that plant. More is NOT good, does not make the fruit grow like it has elephantism. Yes, the formula can change depending on the soil if in ground, in containers, if really wet conditions, but you fertilize after checking ph.
Its like, tomatoes need a 3-4-6 in rich composted soil, or in poor soil like sandy iron rich scrub soils, maybe 6-8-8, LESS is better.
Onions are like a grass, 21-10-10 we use, and lots of consistent water, asparagus might use a 21-10-10, Do not quote me on these numbers...I am not home for references, but using a plant specific fertilizer helps the plant perform its best and those 3 numbers are key.

Right. Better off buying a balanced food. Something like a 3 1 2 ratio or any labeled for vegetables or tomatoes.

So...do I need to return my 20-20-20 Schultz food if it's basically not good for anything?

There is a formula for what NPK you actually get when you mix fertilizers, it is done by weight and comes out roughly 1/2 the numbers you started with. When you use triple numbers, they are balanced and you will not see what they cause. The commercial fertilizers are worth the headache you can cause yourself and your plants.

I've used the Dr. Earth product previously for roses and it worked so well that this year I am going to use the Dr. Earth Home Grown Tomato, Vegetable & Herb Fertilizer. I do not know anywhere near as much as Miss @kittriana knows, but the package lists 4-6-3 for its NPK. Also, it contains Calcium (Ca) 7.5%, Sulfur (S) .1%, Magnesium (Mg) 0.3%, Iron (Fe) 0.04% and Manganese (Mn) 0.002%, so, we'll see!

In my limited opinion, the 20 20 20 is OK, I could use it but in future look for another product.
Google up some advice from a university.

Went to Tractor Supply this morning and exchanged 1 puppy and 2 boxes of the Schultz for this 18-18-21 bag instead.

let us know how well it does, Dr Earth is a good fertilizer.

TomatoNut95 said: Went to Tractor Supply this morning and exchanged 1 puppy and 2 boxes of the Schultz for this 18-18-21 bag instead.

I'd like to hear about the puppy.