Welcome back, Al!

And thank you, Tamara, for your help. It proves someone does listen when they get the message.

Welcome Back! It seems I've broken a few of the same rules you mention. I hope they don't go digging to find where, but I'll be more careful in the future.

Hoo-ray, Al! So glad you're back! I probably lurk more than post but you've helped me out several times... and it just wasn't the same in the container without you! ;-D

Claudia

Great to have you back Al!!! And I've sent thanks to Tamara for listening. Now we can back to our gardens!

It's good to see you back!
Kristi

I'm glad to see you back too.

Its great to see you back Al!
Kandhi

All I know is that I'd prolly have to consider this my 'home' forum .... and it feels pretty darned good to be back. Thanks, guys!. ... and thanks for all the support I got in my email, too! ;o)

Welcome home Al!

...feeling like I might have helped some of you squeeze a little extra enjoyment out of your growing experience.

Boy, is that the understatement of the day....

Tom

It is soooo good to see you back and posting again!! We missed you and your great advise and help. I know I speak for so many here. Welcome back Al!!

You guys are soo, soo kind - THE BEST! ;o)

Al

welcome back al,
if you would so kind as to answer a couple of questions
for me, will orchid bark work in your 5-1-1 mix ?, also
what would be the best way to water ?, it should be
very hard to overwater jn your mix wright ? how and when
to fertilize and at what p.p.m.?

thanks al les matzek

Les. Find your answer at the link I left below. It's at the end of the thread.

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: Container soils

~~ for all you do ~~ please accept my appreciation and thanks ~~ welcome back! ~~ phyl

Hi Tapla,
Are you giving us the well worn uni-typer finger again, or did you build a compressed gas pneumatic keyboard during hiatus?
Ah, we beggars aren't choosy so just stick around.

It's great to see you posting again, Al.
Thankfully the messages worked with GardenWeb!
You've been missed,

Josh

YAAAYYY!!! So glad to have you back!! :)

hi al,
this is les matzek again, i have found a place to get fir
bark they have 5 or 6 different sizes the smallest is 3/8"
or smaller, you can get either fresh or aged. what size of
cotten rope should i use ?, how much wick should be in the
container and how much sticking out ?, have you tried the
felt like containers that are called smart pots (breathable) thanke les matzek

Dear AL, Glad to see you back. I truly appreciate your work. You have saved my gardening season this year with all of your knowledge. Whoo Hooo!

Les Matzek - I have used felt pots with success. The only part of my gardening that was working prior to Al's mix. I am working on a design to make my felt pots self watering. I will post in a couple of weeks if successful.

I am off to make a PVS trellis for my cukes and beans. WOW a little Al's mix and my plants are charging foward in growth. Laurie

Very glad your back Al! I want to also thank justa for letting us know what was going on. filix.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok - I need to say thank you again to the latest posters. You guys are way cool! I'm getting dizzy from trying to catch up on this forum. I did manage a few hours in the gardens today, and I got to watch the Redwings give Chicago a sound spanking, too. ;o) JaG prolly got the weather we're getting tonight, last night, but I had to bring in I don't know HOW MANY flats of plants & soo many bonsai because it's going down to 28* tonight! That stinks! Our last frost date is May 15 - FWIW. Hopefully this is spring's last hurrah before we transition to something closer to summer weather. :o(

Take care. ;o)

Al

Yeah, the overnight lows have been sucking recently. One night I had to get up at 3am as the thunder woke me up. Lows dropped to danger levels and my flats were outside getting flooded. Darn near everything was flattened, but after I drained the trays and put on the fan and lights indoors they perked back up.

It was a close call.

I am keeping my eye on the 10 day forecast which looks good as of Wednesday, but am hesitant to trust it.

I hope this isn't like last year where summer took forever in coming and the nights stayed cool in our area all season. I want more tomatos to actually ripen this year ;)

HORRAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I can get a good rest tonight, and my plants can breathe a sigh of releif!!
Welcome home Al!!! And justaguy..:-)!!!!!!!!!!!

YAYYYY! Welcome back, Al!

Welcome back! Been waiting to tell you my tomatoes are doing great in 511! Glad your back, it was a bit quiet.

Al,

Welcome back. We are all very lucky and thankful.

I used one of your tips recently. You said you check out the garden supply department, no matter where you are. I was in a big box store to get a piece to fix a toilet, and I checked their garden supply even though I was in a hurry. They had a pallet of pretty good pine bark mulch for cheap and with no extra travel--a good day for me.

red_chucks

Sounds like Mea's story, RC. Good score!

Thanks, Guys. ;o) It's nice to be back.

Al

Hurray!!!

And many thanks to JaG for spurring on the GW crowds to action and keeping us all informed :)

Huzzah! Glad you're back.

Welcome Back! From an admiring fan who has quietly benefited from your generosity of spirit, not only in gardening, but more importantly as a living example of extending oneself to celebrate the joy of others.

And Tammera, thank you! GW is better prepared to face the future with community builders like Al in its support.

Welcome back 'Kata'... You are very much appreciated here, just wish there was more we could do.

Nice to have you back Al! I'm a full-fledged lurker, as evidenced by the turkey grit in my trunk!

Welcome back from another lurker. Don't need to post much because I have learned so much from your detailed but easy to follow information.

I have to say it is soo cool to be surprised to learn that I might have touched someone I didn't even know about. Thanks for making yourselves known. ;o) This is a really fun forum, so I hope you'll join us & grab a share of the fun. All of you guys are soo nice. Thank you again.

Al

I know I'm late on this but I'd like to also welcome Al back to the group!

Al, your vast knowledge and willingness to share that knowledge with the rest of the GW community is very much appreciated. I've learned much from your posts, and generally anything I need to know about soil building, fertilizer, watering schedules, etc. comes from your posts. Before reading the original "Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention" thread I had no idea about the importance or oxygen in the soil, or what Turface was, or why anyone would use pine or fir bark in their soil. Now, thanks to you, I can tell the difference between a good, long-term planting mix and a poorly drained, poorly oxygenated soil mix.

Until reading your threads on here a couple of years ago I was the guy who would use peat-based MG potting soil and thinking I was using the ultimate soil mix!

Thanks again Al. Great to have you back on here!

Regards,

Dave

Thanks, Dave - we DO go back a while, don't we? ;o)

Al

In case no one else mentioned it- we are glad to have you back.
I hope you got enough rest to jump back into the excessive, redundant questions.
Our gratitude is matched only by your patience.

Kyle

You're home again, Al. That's good :-).

Xuan (grandma)