Thank Jo,
The MG says feeds plants up to 6 months! with Miracle-Groî Continuous Release plant food. Enriched with MicroMaxî nutrients for more blooms and more color!Fertilizer Analysis

0.21 - 0.07 - 0.14

So 2 cups of lime?

This city picker holds 1.5 L of mix-is that the size you have. What did you grow in it? Don't want to put to much in there. DH is planning on putting a tomato plant and some pepper plants and he thought of herbs-that's way to much right?

Thanks for your help.

Beth: The city picker holds 1.5 cubic feet of mix, not liters. That's about 11.25 gallons. That's actually pretty small for more than one tomato or maybe two or three peppers.

SWCs require about twice as much lime as something like 5:1:1 because of the way they work. The lime is there primarily to provide calcium and magnesium and secondarily to make up for the peat which is the main ingredient in the mix they recommend. and although there is fertilizer in the MG, it is definitely not enough to feed a tomato or a couple of peppers for a whole season, let alone six months. That mix is meant for little house plants not vegetables. If you are going to use a SWC, I suggest you follow the directions pretty closely the first time. It's unlikely that you would come up with a better method than the folks who designed in the first place.

Do I need to use Dolomite?

Also, I am using the Miracle Gro organic mix potting mix. Should I use more fertilizer?

Also, should I be using dolomite with every potted plant? Herbs, veggies, flowers, tomatoes..etc.

This is an old discussion. It's about a self watering container (SWC or SIP). You need to tell us what kind of container you're using and what you want to grow. If you are just using straight MG potting mix in a regular container, you probably don't need to add lime but you will need to fertilize regularly if you're growing outdoors in the summer. Maybe you should start a new thread with your own specific topic.

The Directions for my City Picker are quite specific about the kind of potting mix to use, and I haven't found one that matches the requirements ( no forest product, topsoil or compost). Is there a brand that will work? I have one box of herbs and plan to put two tomatoes in the other (patio).

Most quality potting mixes do not contain those ingredients. Those ingredients are typically included in potting SOILS that are meant for the garden, not a container. Plain old Miraclegro potting mix without moisture control will do. A garden center is likely to have better brands like Promix, Metromix, Fafards or Sungro.

writing again, to ask how long you can reuse the soil from year to year? Can I reuse it?

see other post. you can, but you will be forced to amend big time … i'd go with new and compost the old ...

I answered on your other post. I have mix in some of my Earthboxes that has been there 7 or 8 years. Always break it up, fluff it up, add some fresh mix and/or pine bark or perlite. Reapply the lime and granular fertilizer. Peat based mixes are best. I have grown in straight sphagnum peat before. MG Moisture Control used to be great. I like it less now that they have added coir to the mix but it still meets the requirements for high peat, no sand or manures, etc. EBs are 2 cubic feet and call for 2 cups of dolomite lime, available at Home Depot near me in SoCal. When I planted my sisters City Picker I used 1.5 cups since it was smaller.

How do you maintain your box on vacation?

We’ve used these boxes with great success, but for some reason this year I can’t find a fertilizer that meets their specs (all 3 numbers between 5 and 15.) I cannot remember what we used last year. Any suggestions?

7pedals-

I have several Earthboxes and two City Picker boxes. Every year I use Espoma Garden Food 10-10-10 or 5-10-5 with good results. It's sold locally at a few places where I live or you can order from Amazon but I believe it's more expensive on Amazon.

I have a citypicker and set up according to instructions. I am trying to grow green vegetables like Collards, kale, spinach etc. I think I need more fertilizer as my leaves are pale green. Can you tell me the best way to add fertilizer into my citypicker? For example do I trench it again or pour liquid fertilizer?

This is an old thread and I am late to the party but there are a LOT of misconceptions outlined here that need some clarification.

First, SWC's, Earthboxes or the City Picker boxes do not require any kind of exotic or customized soil mix. They are nothing more than containers and any decently draining container potting mix will work just as well as the so-called specialized mixes the manufacturers recommend. So will the 5-1-1 mix

Second, if you are using a commercial peat based potting mix (like MIracle Gro) for all or part of the soil mix, then you DO NOT need to add the lime. The lime is there only to buffer the very low pH of the peat - nothing more - and commercial peat based potting mixes have already had lime applied to effect this buffering. Adding more - especially in the quantity suggested - could be detrimental.

Thirdly, if using a fertilizer enriched potting soil (like the MG), you should not need to fertilize for at least 6 weeks. And you can use whatever kind of non-organic fertilizer you like as long as it contains all necessary plant nutrients. For container grown plants of any kind, all required nutrients are supplied by fertilization, not by the virtually nutrient void potting media. I prefer a full range liquid fert like Dyna Gro Foliage Pro. I never suggest using a dry organic fertilizer - like the Espoma products - in a container, as they require breakdown and digestion by soil organisms before any nutrients are released and potting soils just do not contain these absolutely necessary populations. Dry organic ferts are pretty much wasted under these conditions.