[CH] So many questions so little time :)

Nikos Kalofolias (nkal@hol.gr)
Thu, 21 May 1998 11:29:20 -0700 

Hello chile addicts,

today it's Thursday and on Wednesday I 'm joining the Greek Army.
No it's not an option :)

So I have to have some questions answered pretty fast. 

1) I have bought 18" pots in which I plan to transplant my seedlings
   to grow to maturity (fingers crossed)
   Every pot will contain 2 plants (scotch bonnets) following the 
   advice from Pepper Garden about planting close for better plants.
   Does this sound ok?

2) I have read about garden soil containing pathogens , which makes
   it a bad choice for starting seeds. I suppose they mean, that by
   transplanting time the seedlings are "strong" enough to manage
   through a non sterile mix , correct?

3) Should I fill the pots with sterile potting soil (for containers),
   or should I go for #4 below ? Remember this is the soil that will
   be the permanent growing environment.

4) A friend of mine is building a house with a garden and I had a talk
   the other day with the person who is the garden "specialist".
   He told me I could use the following mix. Humus soil (sterilized in
   nylon bags - brand Klinsmann or something similar - ph 5.5) and
   soil taken from the woods. I saw it and it contained a *lot* of 
   organic material leaves etc and I even saw some 2" black worms
   crawling in there. He said that's very good (for aeration I guess).
   Is this what you call loam? ( I hear that's good)
   He also recommended to mix the above with garden soil, the redish
   dirt I mean to help it retain water etc. 
   What do you think?
   One thing that bothers me is a note on the Klinsmann bag about
   it being inappropriate for solanaceous plants or at least I think
   that's what it said. Being stupid as I am, I didn't figure at that
   time what this word meant and tried to remember it to look it up
   in the dictionary. Well the dictionary had no mention of it and 
   only by pure luck I remembered that this refers to the nightshade
   family. If this is the case and indeed the word on the note said
   solanaceous does this make it a no-go? The mix was around 50-50 
   of this no-go humus with loam.   

Sorry if I was a bit unclear but I am in a hurry (also have to go
get some gravel for the pots , 4" in each one)

Thanks 

Nikos