1) Every ingredient that you listed for the Fox Farm soil is extremely fine. Since water retention is dependant primarily on particle size, you should expect a medium made of all fine particulates to be extremely water retentive, something I try very hard to avoid in containers. 2) You can read about soils and how durable soils that remain well-aerated long after peat/compost-based soils have collapsed can offer a greater margin for grower error and make things much simpler for the grower if you follow this link. 3) Not necessarily, but if you think about it, what will you do if your pH falls outside the favorable range? Start adding acids and bases to change it? In commercial situations, pH is usually tested frequently and adjusted by injecting a wide variety of chemicals that have elements plants need into the irrigation water. Since pH is affected by temperature, fertility, plant material, moisture level, even time of day (Plants help to control the pH in the rhizosphere to make it easier for them to uptake nutrients. This effect is reduced when plants are undergoing periods of reduced transpiration, which in turn has an effect on pH.) I'm not saying that because I ignore trying to control pH that you should, but I've never found it necessary to fret about it in any container planting. I might consider the plant prefers acidic conditions and forgo the use of lime and maybe use a urea-based fertilizer to take advantage of the acid reaction, but other than that, I don't worry. Remember that Media pH is far less important in container media than in mineral soils, and if you're supplying nutrients in soluble form, unless the pH is WAY outside favorable limits, your plant will be able to assimilate the nutrients. You can find considerable discussion about this in Dr C Whitcomb's work, "Plant Production in Containers II". 4) On average, plants use about 6-10x more N than P. Since the P in NPK is not a true measure of P supplied (P is reportted as the % of P2O5 [phosphorous pentaoxide]) you need to use a multiplier of .43 to tell the actual amount of P. In 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers, there is 7x as much N as P, so you actually have a considerable cush in 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers. Plants use roughly the same amount of nutrients throughout the growth cycle in relation to N, so I'm not sure where the idea they need larger doses of P during flowering/fruiting comes from. Tissue analysis of fruits and blooms show roughly the same levels of P as other plant organs, which meshes nicely with the idea that consistent P levels at approximately 1/6 that of N are entirely adequate throughout the growth cycle. I actually don't boost K by adding the ProTeKt, I reduce the amount of N, which also must reduce the levels of P and K. Since I can see by my plants that what I said above about P is true (also confirmed in the text cited above, which is essentially the Bible on container production) and P levels remain adequate at reduced application rates of 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers, I only need to be sure plants are getting adequate K. I can do this by incorporating some potash in the soil when I make it in anticipation of the reduced N applications for tomatoes, or simply forgo the increase in TDC by supplying it later as needed by using the ProTeKt. Al

Positive, 21 for pomes (I assume they're all considered pomes) and corn. 14 days for stone fruits and nuts. Lower for some vegetables (down to 1 day for some). Is the "older version" the Proaxis type? If so probably the difference between pro and homeowner. I've had it last pretty long. I think it could last 4 weeks for homeowner standards in the right conditions, especially if using a sticker. But I would say 14 days is more realistic. Something odd I've noticed, before spraying my McIntosh and Cortland would be nearly wiped out by PC. The Arkansas Black would get a few that would go nowhere. Since spraying Triazicide my McIntosh and Cortland are nearly untouched, the Arkansas Black gets a lot more hits and a lot more of them are successful. I have 2 kinds of snout beetle, small and large, it seems to be the large one going after the ArB. The way they went after my cherries last year because they were unsprayed I would think they'd all go after my neighbor's unsprayed garbage trees and leave me alone.

Re. Pic: i have rotated once to right and once to left. This time I'll try a 360. Thanks! Re. N. for fert., I thought that would encourage the green, leaving blooms needing more. Hmmm. Do they not need the Phosphor for bloom? Glad you like! I love our new privacy trellis. Had to pull off a bower vine to build it, and decided I want that side to be tall, green and neat. Sooo, two or three big pots with **ficus trees or tall shrubs will go there. Behind the pots , on the stucco wall, I plan to train a small, short vine that will be manageable, or perhaps an espalier of star? ( the evergreen one) jasmine. What we want to avoid is a vine that will entwine and engulf the trellis. Otherwise, I'd have a climber there..... Of course. :>) The next pic..oh please be right side up....shows other side of yard and where we put the trellis the bower vine was on. So close to privets, unsure what we'll grow on it. I really appreciate everyone's input and interest.!!! ** suggestions gratefully encouraged!

Ilene, For what it is worth, if I lived in your climate with your humidity and your rainfall, I'd probably spray every year with Volck or one of the similar petroleum-based oils, or with a similar organic oil (cottonseed oil, neem oil, soybean oil, etc.). I think it would be hard to have fruit without them. And, if worms in the fruit were an issue, I'd spray at the appropriate time with a Bt product too. It is too hard to get good fruit otherwise. Of all the "chemicals" that you can apply to plants, I consider the petroleum oils to be very safe when used correctly (as you point out) and they have very low toxicity as far as humans/domestic animals are concerned. I know that many people, like you and I, who try to avoid the use of chemicals if at all possible do use dormant oils that are petroleum-based. Some people also use copper-based sprays at the same time they use dormant oil (some mix the two together in the sprayer) and some use lime-sulfur spray. Of all the things you can spray in your yard or garden, dormant oil is one of the most effective and least hazardous. : ) I'd love to be 100% organic, but that is VERY hard and I am not even sure it is realistic in our climate, so I am happy to "settle" for being mostly organic. And, to repeat a point I've made before, there are many "organic" products that are just as dangerous, or even more so, than the "chemical" products they are intended to replace. Sometimes I see people go wild spraying all kinds of "organic" stuff that I wouldn't use in a million years and I think they are lulled into thinking that "organic" automatically means safer or less toxic, and that's not always true. I hope we all get a good fruit crop this year because last year wasn't so great. Dawn