Rick--your high nitrogen addition to green leaves is interesting. So, the nitrogen never was consumed or lost in the process, only being used in the process of decomposition, and then slowly released again. as decomposition was completed. No wonder your Dots and Dashes grew so well. Innovative manipulation of nitrogen, Rick.
Mike--Container gardening is a little different ball game than open soil gardening, too. So what I use or others use who practice open soil gardening wouldn't necessarily apply in you case. As Rick says, nitrogen and (I'll add WATER to the list) would, I think, be the two most limiting factors limiting plant growth in containers. Those are the two things depleted most rapidly in any soil. With containers, you don't have the lateral depletion as you do with open soil gardening so a build up of slower, less mobile things like sodium, phosphorus and potassium, IF UNUSED, is much more likely. Plants will only use enough phosphorus and potassium to support their growth. And they get that growth from nitrogen and water. If you want to experiment a little, try adding a high nitrogen liquid fertilizer to a couple containers at about a safe, one third the recommended amount (you can always work up from there)and see what happens.
