anney - I'm trying to come up with a good way to feed my tomatoes this year, so I have questions similar to yours. But most of what I think is just speculation right now. Keeping that in mind... I think I understand what you're saying. And I don't know if plants can self-regulate. But if they can, those self-regulating mechanisms may break down under extreme conditions. So I think you'd want to at least maintain a "reasonable" balance. And giving them a "balanced diet" sounds reasonable to me. My thoughts on soil testing are, maybe they can tell you if you have a glaring deficiency in something. But you could probably get the same soil sample tested by 3 different labs, and get 3 different answers. At least that's what Eliot Coleman seems to be saying in his book "The New Organic Grower". I think it was published in 1995, so maybe things have changed since then? But you'd hope they'd at least all agree on whether or not a serious problem existed. So even if you knew what "optimal" was, you may not know if you have it with any certainty. Soil testing is good for the people who do soil testing for a living. And for companies that sell the soil test kits. So regardless of whether or not it's helpful for a gardener, you'll probably always hear someone recommending it. I've read that one of the most common mistakes gardeners make with tomatoes is overfertilizing. But I've never overfertilized, so I can't say from experience. I'm probably going to use a "balanced diet" approach this year, and see how that works. But that still leaves questions about what to use to provide that balanced diet. It can be mind boggling:) I'm trying to keep things as close to "natural" as possible. I don't think I could successfully micromanage individual nutrients, without causing some other problem that I'd also have to micromanage.

Fertilizer in this sort of potting mix (as opposed to mixes containing time-released fert.) is considered a starter fertilizer at plant out and is not considered a long-term source of fertility. It is quickly leached out after just of few waterings. Pro-mix recommends starting a fertilizing program within 7 days whether you use BX (peat, perlite, vermiculite) or HP (peat, perlite). Fafard makes a similar recommendation --to start fertilizing with both macros and micros farily soon after planting. In short, don't rely on starter fert. in the mix for very long. I am confused when you say Pro mix told you not to worry about micros--yes, I wouldn't worry about the mix itself but you probably would want to include them in your overall regime. Does your good fertilizing liquid contain micros? If not you could always experiment. Use Microblast in addition to your liquid fert. in some containers and keep one Microblast- free and compare the results. How much to use? I always read the label instructions. Here is a link that might be useful: Pro mix H

"Well, I know this is gonna sound lazy, but I HATE having to go around the room and individually turn on 3 or 4 lamps in the room just to get sufficient lighting. I feel like I should be able to just flip a switch to get the right lighting." You can, although it might cost you a bit (depending on the physical structure of the house, easiest if you have access to the walls in question from basement or attic). Have an electrician install some new outlets, switch-operated and connected so that flipping the switch sends power to all those particular outlets. Usually it's just one plug-in to the pair. This is actually the norm where I live until you get into the high-end and custom houses, switched outlets instead of overhead lighting. In our living room, for example, on every outlet one plug is controlled by the switch, so we have several lamps (but a decorative overhead is still going in when we take down the LR ceiling). Or, if you are willing to learn something new about technology, you can check out the wireless lighting control setups like KeypadLinc Insteon or LampLinc. You plug the wireless receiver units into the wall outlets, plug your lamps into the wireless receivers, and your central controller (which often looks just like a regular light switch and can be installed in the wall just like a regular switch) switches on/off all the lamps plugged into receiver units with the touch of a button. Some of these setups can even be controlled when away from home with a smartphone, so you can come home to an already-lit-up house. Check out the site smarthome.com - they have good tech support folks who will tell you exactly what you need to get the result you want. You can get an expandable kit that will control "3 or 4 lamps" for under quite a bit under $200. You can even change the frequency of the controller/receiver if you want to use these setups in multiple rooms, so that turning on the lights in one room doesn't affect the lights in other rooms. I have no shame in admitting that I loathe recessed lighting ("ceiling acne") - PO put a gazillion can lights in my kitchen and you could light that place up like an operating room (which DH always does, gives me a headache) and still have shadows and if you're doing something that blocks that overhead light you can't see a darn thing. I strongly agree with amysrq there is no ONE optimal type of lighting fixture - IMO every room should have a mix. If I want perimeter ambient lighting, I'd rather have decorative wall sconces, combined with a lovely central fixture (and all on dimmers!). Task lighting is a MUST. Frankly, I prefer having somewhat uneven lighting between ambient (not so bright), task (bright), and decorative lighting (in-between); having the same light level throughout an entire room looks a bit institutional to me.

Lay a board on the ground. Pick up a trowel Kneel just behind the board and reach forward and dig a hole with the trowel. That's 1/2 the width of the bed you need, if you have access from both sides and want to keep foot traffic off the beds. Make sure the paths are wide enough to work comfortably so you don't end up digging up plants with your toes in the bed behind you. Consider a "keyhole" design for maximum growing area ... https://www.pinterest.com/pin/210754457537648142/ https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/a3/34/aaa334cac47c11905bc5882f83b142fe.jpg