Ok, so I just dove blindly into this new 'gardening thing'..

[bobbyraysgal]

Hello y'all from the Virginia side of the Chesapeake Bay! I live in a duplex with a BIG eastern facing front porch, about a mile from the bay, but a block from one of it's many inlets. This is where my girls and I decided to satisfy our urge to get our hands dirty, since actually planting in the ground is not a possibility, right now. They asked me if we could plant some things, so we went off to Lowe's and bought some Petunias, Geraniums, a really pretty Dianthus, and Marigolds. (I admit it - we novices bought because of the pretty colors! Getting really excited, I ordered the baby dwarf Lemon tree and baby dwarf Orange tree advertised with all of the coupons in the Sunday paper! I bought a big bag of the MG potting soil, and we got to planting! We planted the Petunias and Marigolds in 24" wire baskets lined with coconut that hang from your porch railing. We planted the two baby trees in thier own 14" terra cotta (sp?) pots (the are only a foot tall as of yet, with a 2 or 3 inch root ball - I wanted to give them plenty of room), and the rest in decorative planters we were given by encouraging grand-parents and fellow-Freecyclers (an obsession of mine!) THEN, I found this forum, and after a lot of reading on here... feel like I thought this was all waaaay too easy! What, with all the talk of mushroooms and fertilizer and manure and calcium and... I thought we could just buy some really good potting soil, plug 'em in and watch 'em grow! Sheesh! So, now what? The plants are in the 'ground' (pots), and we're (I'm) feeling a little clueless. Should I add anything? I water each a.m., at 6:30, before I leave for work. Since I used the MG potting soil, do I need to fertilize already (we only planted 4 or 5 days ago.) What about my baby trees? Is there anything special they need? Given this city girl's obvious TOTAL ignorance in these things, dare I try growing tomatoes and bell peppers in containers?! Help!

[SP8]

Given this city girl's obvious TOTAL ignorance in these things, dare I try growing tomatoes and bell peppers in containers?! Help!

YES, yes you should!

[applestar]

I love you enthusiasm!

For now, I think everything sounds fine. Just rather than watering every morning, water WELL once -- that means pour water in the container so the top of the soil is under water for an instant (well a few seconds) -- the water *should* drain that well, then see if any water comes out of the bottom. In my experience, it usually takes 3 pours. If you have a saucer to catch the draining water, don't let the excess water sit in the saucer -- drives out air in the soil, drowns roots, causes root rot, and invites mosquitoes.

Now wait until the top inch or so of the soil feels dry -- yes stick your finger in it -- to water again. In the heat of the summer, you may need to water every day or even twice a day, when it's cooler or humid, you may not have to water for a couple of days. Don't go by schedule, go by what they need. Larger containers retain moisture longer than smaller containers. Containers filled with roots will dry faster than containers with mostly soil and small plants.

After a month or two, you can think about fertilizing (I think MG advertises that their soil contains enough ferts for 3 months). At that point, consider switching to completely organic fertilizer and care for your Lemon and Orange trees. Once the chemicals are mostly leached out, put some earthworms in the pots and mulch the top of the soil with crumbled dry leaves. Lemon and Orange will appreciate used coffee grounds. Scratch into the soil with a fork until your earthworms can take over (they LOVE UCG) so the coffee grounds don't get moldy.

If you can, get or make a rain barrel and water with rainwater.

[bobbyraysgal]

[quote="applestar Lemon and Orange will appreciate used coffee grounds. Scratch into the soil with a fork until your earthworms can take over (they LOVE UCG) so the coffee grounds don't get moldy.

If you can, get or make a rain barrel and water with rainwater. [/quote]

Thank you for the encouragement! I can get my hands on LOTS of coffee grounds (busy office, lots of tired bodymen! ) Should I do those now? And should I just sprinkle them on top of the soil? How thick? I read that I should use Miracid (?) with these two little trees - do you agree?