Sorry if this sounds like a teacher giving a lecture... cause I was a teacher and it is kind of a lecture... but you asked... and I know sometimes when I'm questioning a problem in my garden, it helps if somebody takes me back and talks me through the basics. I know you are already a successful gardener, so take this as a friend helping you walk through the question... As has been previously noted, it is hard to respond to your question because the plants you listed are mostly not "Small Leafed" Lakeside Dragonfly registered with a 7x4 leaf and a 30" diameter plant. Most of us would call that a medium. This one was actually registered as a fast grower, but I started them from tc and have found them slow - but not difficult in any way compared with others. Lakeside Elfin Fire This is actually a mini... leaf 3x1... and with all the white, it can be touchy. Minis do require special care in tough climates... small root systems mean they can heave out of the soil during the winter... they can be covered by larger plants or suffer in competition for food and water. I grow mine in raised beds where I can better control growing conditions. i've kept one LEF alive... had to pull off a bunch of green last year, and the remaining looks pretty good-but-tiny this year... I probably wouldn't plant another... Stiletto glad I grew a bunch of these from tc before I heard they were problems for people... I have 3 or 4 around the place... easy to grow mounds about 2 feet across... nothing special required to grow them, but I have found them difficult to divide... tend to disintegrate into lots of plant fragrments and lose the nice mound shape. That might be the issue with people getting them going... a transplant is often just a bunch of rhizomes and eyes with little "root" structure. Hanky Panky for me it is staying much smaller than most of the other Striptease plants,,, mine have not done well in deep shade, and have not done particularly well in a lot of sun... I think it needs lots of light but not midday sun. With all its color changes, one might guess it is not a particularly strong photosynthesis plant. Also watch for sporting... I've got one that is almost overwhelmed by a sport that looks like Moonlight. Fire & Ice Notoriously difficult... too much white, not enough chlorophyll... Warwick Comet I don't have it Lakeside Paisley Print got a small one last year... no issues so far... good first year growth. I did put it in a bright-light holding bed where I can monitor soil and moisture. Allegan Fog - grows like a weed for me... or should I say, like an Undulata ;-) I keep chopping mine back to keep it in a 30" diameter space... mine is on the north side of a garage, so relatively low light... still grows surprisingly well considering how much white it has... (note: London Fog, the sport with little chlorophyll, is growing for me... but not nearly as fast and staying much smaller...) Wolverine - considered a pretty easy plant for most... and not small leafed... actually, with a registered mound size of 38" and leaves 10x6... I don't know if that is a medium or a large. Mine always stays around 24" So... the real question... why does an experienced grower like yourself have success with larger plants and less with these medium to small plants? Part of the answer you are getting here is - except for a couple on your list, it is not the plants. A Wolverine or Lakeside Dragonfly should not take any substantially different care than your successful medium - xlarge hostas. So there are only a few things to look at. Light... are they getting bright shade and not too much direct sun? Many hostas in too much light will have smaller leaves - the plant doesn't need as large a leaf to make food because of the brighter sunlight and it also protects itself against water loss from the hot sun by keeping leaf surface area down. If the conditions are too harsh, the plant will hang on but dwindle... until it passes on to that big garden in the sky. Soil - well drained soil? Young or struggling plants have trouble in heavy soil... hard to expand the root system into heavy soil, plus a tendency for moisture to hang on too long and rot the roots when it is wet and cold. They also have trouble in too light/sandy soil as the moisture doesn't hang around long enough for their small root system to keep them hydrated. Water... with well-drained soil, it is pretty much impossible to overwater hostas. Younger plants and smaller plants, with less-established root systems, are particularly susceptible to set-backs from insufficient water. root competition - young and small plants, with less-established root systems, will have a hard time getting the water and nutrients they need if they are competing with roots from established trees and shrubs. Larger hostas that are already established can (sometimes) hold their own. Your term dwindling may give the hint. They live, but don't thrive. One or two of the above conditions are not being met, resulting in struggle and/or death. Lots of good gardeners have designated special areas... a "holding bed" or nursery bed... melissa even has a NICU bed for those that are really struggling. You might want to consider creating a mounded area or raised bed with excellent soil and light conditions - I've even seen these in full sun, with a sun cloth canopy - where you can put the little ones in and monitor them... keep the moisture right... get them established... and then move them into more challenging garden conditions later.

I use rose food on many of my veggies, I also use veggie food on many of my ornamentals. I also use them on the intended plants. My garden looks great. The NPK values do vary among them and I see a greater importance for this during seedling and transplant stage because intially root development is extremely important but after establishment the plants seem to grow and flower/fruit well regardless of what food they get. What''s really important will always be good soil preparation--the addtion of organic matter that helps hold moisture in the soil. and later on some mulch to deter germination of weeds that will take water and nutrients from the plants you want and keeping the soil a relatively consistant temperature to preven stress to the plants. Compost added to the soil to hold moisture. The right foods at the beginning to stimulate root growth and overall health. Mulch to deter weed germination and to keep the soil a relatively consistant temperature.

If tomato varieties are planted in close proximity, pollen from one variety can land on the female part of a blossom, the stigma, of a different variety and lead to some or all hybrid seeds being formed in that fruit. This is commonly referred to as a "cross-pollination" or simply as a "cross." When cross-pollination occurs, the fruit will look perfectly normal in the current season; however, the resulting seeds carry genes from each parent and will produce varying progeny in subsequent generations. The word pollinator is usually used to describe the ways that pollen can be transferred from the blossom of one variety to the blossom of another variety. Pollinators can include wind, insects, mechanical vibration of the blossom, etc. Thus pollination describes the transfer of pollen between varieties, commonly known as cross-pollination. The word "pollenize" is usually used to describe pollen from a single blossom that fertilizes that blossom, thus this process is often called pollenization, to distinguish it from pollination, the transfer of pollen between the blossoms of two different tomato varieties. If you are not interested in saving seeds, then you can safely ignore cross-pollination issues. Tomato varieties will produce fruit consistent with the varieties planted. Again, any crossing in the current season affects the seeds within the fruit, not the fruit flavor or structure. If you are attempting to save seeds and maintain a pure tomato variety, some efforts must be taken to avoid cross-pollination. The extent and seriousness of your efforts will depend on the importance of the variety and its intended usage. If the variety is typical, widely available, or intended for home use, then you may welcome a cross as an interesting diversion. However, if the variety is a rare family heirloom, or intended for distribution as a specific named variety, then crosses must be actively avoided. Keep in mind that if a rare or one-of-a-kind variety is crossed, it will be lost forever. There is no way to fully reverse a cross. Tomato Reproduction Details Tomato blossoms are perfect, meaning they have both male and female reproductive structures. They are capable of pollenization without the aid of pollinating insects and without pollen from other blossoms. Tomatoes are an inbreeding plant but they do not suffer from inbreeding depression (loss of vigor in subsequent generations). Although not generally recommended, a tomato variety can be maintained by saving seed from a single plant. Some tomato varieties have exerted stigmas which means that the stigma is positioned outside of the anther cone and it is more susceptible to foreign pollen. Modern varieties generally have shorter styles so they are much more likely to pollenize. Style length is genetically determined but it can vary based on environmental conditions. Often, tomato blossoms pollenize prior to being visited by insects. This means that it is "possible" to get pure seed even when another tomato is directly alongside. Under normal conditions, most tomatoes have a natural cross-pollination rate of about 2 to 5%. Under some conditions though, this can be much higher - maybe as high as 50%. The incidence depends on the types of insects active in the area, the existence and types of inter-planted crops, the wind, the blossom structure, and the blossom timing of the varieties involved. The tomato ovary at the base of a blossom contains many ovules. The ovules can be fertilized by either pollen from that blossom or with pollen from the blossom of a different variety if there are unfertilized ovules available. Fertilized ovules become the seeds inside of fruits, so a single fruit could have both pure (pollenized seed) and also impure (cross-pollinated seed) within the same fruit. To maintain a "pure" variety, the grower must prevent the introduction of pollen from unrelated varieties. There are three basic techniques to prevent cross-pollination (1) protect the blossoms with a physical barrier, (2) grow plants at a time when other tomatoes are not blooming or insects are not present, and (3) maintain isolation distance between the varieties. Using Physical Barriers to Prevent Cross-pollination If you want to be absolutely sure that your tomato seed line remains pure, then you will want to provide a physical barrier to prevent foreign pollen from being introduced. The technique most often used by home growers is called "bagging." It is quite simple but it also is limited with regard to seed production. To "bag" a tomato means to cover the blossoms before they open. Various materials can be used. Some use floating row cover, others use tulle (bridal veil fabric), pieces of nylon stockings, sheer tricot or other lightweight fabric, or bridal favor bags. Depending on the size of the bags used, the bags must be monitored and removed after pollenization so that the tomato can grow to full size without restriction. After removing the bag, mark the fruit with yarn or a string to identify it when it has reached proper maturity for saving seeds. It is difficult to collect large quantities of seed using bagging. Fruits do not always form inside the bag. High temperatures and the lack of mechanical movement can hamper pollenization. Lack of mechanical movement is easily corrected by shaking the bagged trusses. If you are really serious, and you want a large amount of seed that is 100% pure, you could build isolation/screening cages as large as required to house the number of plants you desire. Using Timing to Prevent Cross-pollination If you can grow plants very early or late in the season so that tomatoes flowers are not available for cross-pollination, pure seed can be saved without any special efforts. This requires careful timing and growing only one variety to ensure pollenization (self-pollination). Aside from blossom timing. You can also gain a benefit from saving fruit based on the population of your particular pollinating insects. This requires a good knowledge of the insects in your locality. Using Isolation Distance to Prevent Cross-pollination A general rule is that the further apart varieties are grown, the lower the probability of cross-pollinating events. Experts disagree on the distances required. For most gardeners with limited area to grow plants, distance is NOT an effective means of obtaining 100% purity. Inadequate isolation, season after season, will result in some natural cross-pollination and may eventually produce undesired changes in the characteristics of a variety. There are no hard and fast rules to follow with regard to isolation. If you are knowledgeable about the pollinating insects in your locality, you may be able to design a system that reduces natural cross-pollination to a very low level with a small amount of isolation. If you lack specific knowledge about your locality, the following guidelines may be useful. Generally, tomato varieties should be isolated 20 to 25 feet, and they should have a pollen-producing crop planted between. The objective of the inter planted crop is to divert insects away from the tomatoes. The amount of natural cross-pollination will depend on the factors previously discussed. Generally, organic gardening methods result in many more pollinating insects than would be present in a area where pesticides and tilling have been extensively used. To obtain 100% seed purity by isolation distance, very large separations are required, possibly a 1/4 mile or more. Obviously, these resources and geography are difficult to achieve. Also, tomato volunteers from previous seasons could remain undetected within the isolation perimeter. Again, if you desire 100% seed purity, look to the physical isolation as provided by bagging or caging. If you rely on isolation distances, it's best to grow several plants of the same variety and if in a row, harvest fruits from the inner plants and if in a square area, from the interior plants. If only a few plants, it's best to harvest several fruits from each of the two or three plants for seed saving so as to minimize the chance of getting nothing but crossed seed if you chose only one or two fruits. Many varieties that are potato leaved and have large pink fruits often show very large double and triple blossoms early in the season which are quite attractive to insect pollinators, and some other varieties do the same. And sometimes the result is fused fruits. So it's best to not use fused fruits for seed saving since one or the other of the fused fruits could be cross-pollinated. Special Concerns regarding the Currant Tomato Home growers are growing more and more of what are called currant tomatoes, which are in a different species from our garden tomato. All currant tomatoes (L. pimpinellifolium) have exerted stigmas. Some folks highly recommend that you don't plant currant tomatoes near garden tomatoes ( L.lycopersicon) since they might serve as a source of foreign pollen in terms of cross-pollination. Others say that they'd worry more about regular garden tomatoes cross-pollinating currant tomatoes, and a third group might say that not all currant tomato varieties are of concern as regards cross-pollination. Recognizing a "crossed" tomato Depending on the varieties involved, it may be quite difficult to realize when one variety has crossed with another. Sometimes its easy to tell that something went wrong because the tomatoes are far from your expectations. Other times, you may not notice any problems until you begin seeing off-types in the F2 generation. Just remember, growing your seed out the first year is not always a 100% verification that your seeds are pure. Credits: This FAQ is a collaborative effort of Gardenweb members. Specifically, Bets, canadiantomato, Carolyn137, Earl, Fusion_Power, gardengalrn, Gardenmama1, JHCaden, Korney19, Paul2101, vaped Illustration by : Paul2101 Bagging Photo by : Bruce_B References : (1) Isolation distances for Tomatoes, Jeff McCormack; Ph.D (2) Breed Your Own Vegetables, Carol Deppe (3) Seed to Seed, Suzanne Ashworth

Well if the concentration isn't listed you will need to calculate it. To do that you need to know what the weight of a teaspoon is grams. I'm going to guestimate the weight of a teaspoon as 6g (table salt is about 5.6g). If a teapoon weighs 6g then that is equal to 6000mg. Since N is 21% by weight that would be 1260mg N. Since ppm equals mg/L, 1260mg/L = 1260ppm. Typically fertilizer recommendations have people dilute a tsp in a gallon (3.78L) which would be about 333ppm which is a pretty standard 'full strength' concentration. Hydroponic tomato nutrient solution recommendations are for about a 4-1-4 ratio fertilizer with a N concentration of around 200ppm. Just diluting to 2L is going to be really hot and risks burning roots. 630ppm N.