Hi dubai-gardener, I am still what I would consider a rather newbie gardener and this will be my 4th season trying to grow vegetables. My first season I successfully grew tomatoes. They weren't tasty varieties unfortunately. The second season I planted well over 200 tomato seeds of many varieties (seed bought from the US) and they all kept dying. By the time I got only one to successfully grow, the temperatures were too high for the flowers to turn into fruit. Last year I finally successfully grew beautiful and tasty Brandywine Sudduth tomatoes. I only had 3 plants though, and one got some kind of disease. But they were the best tomatoes I have ever had. I was able to also get about 5 cucumbers out of 4 plants (huge aphid problem) and also grew a couple of spaghetti squash though I stored them too long thinking they can last like normal winter squash and they went bad before I tasted one :( the 2nd season I was late but got zucchini, eggplant, and buttercup squash to grow but the heat did not let them produce :( I wasn't going to garden this year but I am about to plant some pepper and eggplant varieties tonight :) I regret not planting tomato seeds earlier though... I will definitely try to grow them next year though! Oh, and I tried yellow, white, purple, and red carrots but 2 years in a row I got nice foliage but the largest carrot only grew to about 3" so I give up trying again for now. The beets I only got seedlings and nothing much more. Not sure what went wrong with those. Where do you buy your cow manure from? I would love to do bokashi once we move into a home where we have plenty of garden space to bury the food. I have been researching it and the next time I travel to the US I am going to buy a biiiig ol' bag of the bokashi ingredients to make my own bokashi granules. That stuff is expensive here! I will eventually buy the bokashi buckets from here though. But I think a house with a yard is still about a year away :( I have seen cute lil' bees all years I grew veggies but they never pollinated my squash plants for me. I had to do all that by hand. They loooooooved these one flowers we have... they swarmed the yellow colored ones (didn't touch the same variety in red) If you want a pic of the flowers I can take one for you so you can try to encourage bees into your garden :) I have had ladybugs visit my rooftop garden two years in a row but they arrived a bit late for my cucumber plants. They laid eggs and their larvae did eat up most of the aphids.... I just wish they showed up earlier :( That disappoints me that Shalimar is not really filling their bags to 50litres! Next time I have to buy soil I will measure it myself and if it is indeed less I will have to speak with the owner about this!

petzold6596, Sorry, but that's not correct. Google a bit around the web, and you'll see that my definitions are correct, or at least acceptable. I'm afraid you are mistaken. According to the United States Forest Service: "Micronutrients (trace elements)- Nutritional elements necessary in minute quantities for normal plant growth, such as boron and manganese." In this case, and in many other instances around the web on reputable sites, micronutrients=trace nutrients. They are synonymous. The terms "micro-" and "trace" refer to the fact that these molecules are required in relatively small amounts in the soil for adequate plant health. Furthermore, the term "secondary MACROnutrient" actually IS "part of the plant nutrient language." Again, Google the terms "plant secondary macronutrients" and you'll see that this is so. For example, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture refers to "secondary macronutriets" HERE. Still not convinced? The University of Idaho says, in "Fertilizing Basics": "The primary macronutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). . . The secondary macronutrients are calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S)." The term "MACRO" refers to the fact that these elements need to be present in soil in relatively large (macro) quantities in comparison to the MICRO/trace elements. According to the University of Wisconsin, in "Essential Elements for Plant Growth" "sufficient" soil should have a phosphorus concentration (you do agree that phosphorus is a MACROnutrient) of 2,000 mg/kg, the same concentration for that of magnesium, thereby also qualifying Mg as a MACRO.

Home test kits will ALWAYS show nitrogen as being deficient - it is extremely mobile in the soil and virtually impossible to test accurately. Even professional testing labs do not routinely test for it. If you want to boost up the fertility of your soil, add bagged or homemade compost, not potting or MG soil. You never space a groundcover by the size it is at planting but by how large it is inclined to grow. Planting vinca 4" apart is madness and a huge waste of plants and money. 12" is the minimum spacing for this GC - 16, 18 or even 24 inches will work equally as well but just take a little longer to provide full coverage. And plant in a zig-zag pattern, never straight rows. How much sun does this area receive? When I hear "rock garden", I think a very open area that receives plenty of sun. If so, vinca is NOT the best plant for you!! Vinca prefers partial to full shade and will bleach out in sun and not bloom as profusely as it will in a richer, more water retentive and shadier location. If/when you respond, tell us where you are located as well. It can make a difference on what would be an acceptable plant.

S̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶e̶n̶t̶u̶r̶y̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶a̶s̶k̶ ̶m̶o̶d̶e̶r̶a̶t̶o̶r̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶?̶ Edit to add; this was originally meant to be a sarcastic comment on the inability of hozz moderators to effect anything. Elsewhere I read that if one attempts a joke here one should always use little smiley things like ʘ‿ʘ