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Message: [QUOTE="Meadowlark, post: 237111, member: 7117"] The article was interesting even though the author admitted zero experience with Hügelkultur and did not address Hügelkultur in containers anywhere that I saw. Some other thoughts I had reading it, in no particular order: 1) very little attention is given to the soil in the top layer, unfortunately. It has far more impact on success or failure in using HK containers than the other layers. Far more important. 2) the degree to which the wood used in the first(bottom) layer is already decayed makes a big difference in nitrogen immobilization. Same for the second layer. However, I didn't see that accounted for. Wouldn't it make far more sense to select wood/materials for your HK container bottom layers that is already releasing nitrogen? Couple that with nutrient dense soil in the top layer and you have a recipe for success. 3) there was no waiting time in our experiment between planting and container construction....at least for me. I planted immediately both spring and fall. after building each tub. I knew my top layer garden soil was/is first class. See # 1 above. I also knew my wood layers were made with decomposed materials and nitrogen immobilization was very unlikely. 4) The article asked, "[B]Are Plants Grown in Hugelkultur Nutrient Deficient? " again[/B] without regard to the critical top layer of soil. My soil test lab assigns a nutrient density score to the submitted sample indicating the likelihood of producing nutrient dense foods from it. My score for the soil in my HK containers is 94%. Cutting the bottoms out of the containers does not make sense to me. Completely defeats the purpose, IMO. In my original post on using HK in containers I illustrated the drainage used. It has been very successful. [/QUOTE]

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