Yes, they spent the winter in my house, then went into my greenhouse, they outside...Yes, I put them in the sun :( ...Thanks so much for your help...I'll keep them in a shady part of the deck for a while :) Thanks again...knotz

Oh Dave you just made my day!!!!Her look says: I am ready for the easter bunny. She is just adorable. Glad the nights are almost yours again. Again Dave. As time goes on, the getting up real early will fall into place and be a normal part of your routine. I can not believe that my youngest grandson will be 4 already in June. Just scrolled back up to take one more look. Cause you can not help yourself but smile with Kathy Rose (I believe that is right or Kathie?)Forgive me. Sweet or not sweet. Names and me just do not go well together lol Thank you Dave. I really missed seeing your little angel :-) Lucy

In my experience, milkweed is difficult to transplant, even from a pot. They seem to be very temperamental about having their roots messed with, which is odd since it is sometimes considered a hard plant to get rid of. With the plants from the big box stores, I would just sink the pot into the ground and let the plant reseed itself. Growing from seed, I keep mine in a shaded location every time I pot them up and I try to get to them before they become any kind of root-bound so that I don't disturb their roots while repotting. Right now I have about a dozen each of prairie and whorled milkweeds that I recently potted up from cells to 4" pots. I lost one of those to transplant shock. The next pot-up will be straight into their places in the garden where I will be sure to water daily and also screen (but not block out completely) from much of the sunlight until I'm sure they've taken. A better way to go might be to get the 4" peat pots and sow the seeds directly into those and then drop the pot into place when it's of good size. Once you get a plant or two to go to seed, they will reseed themselves quite happily around your yard and seem to do a far better job than we do.

I wouldn't put too much reliance on the meter - they are notoriously inaccurate :-) FWIW, most commercial packaged potting soils will tend to be excessively moisture retentive due to a high percentage of peat. And with too small an overall particle size, which alters drainage almost immediately and limits aeration. (btw, most potting soils should test out with a nearly neutral pH) Repotting in a better soil - you can properly modify what you have by adding bark fines and perlite or pumice - should help. But only if the roots have remained firm, healthy and of good color. Anything else would indicate a root rot and that is nearly impossible to recover from.