Lots of people think coffee and tea are "tonics", but they would be wrong. Forum discussions frequently center on the question of adding dilute coffee/tea or grounds to plants as a 'tonic', but Arabica (coffee) and Camellia (tea) are known for their toxic alkaloid (caffeine) content and their allelopathic affect on plants as well as autotoxic (poison to their own seedlings) effects on future generations. Caffeine interferes with root development by impairing protein metabolism. This affects activity of an important bio-compound (PPO) and lignification (the process of becoming woody), crucial steps for root formation. We also know that the tannins in both coffee and tea are known allelopaths (growth inhibitors). There are ongoing experiments to develop herbicides using extracts from both coffee and tea that cause me to want to say they might serve better as a nonselective herbicide than as a tonic. I would not use either (stale coffee or tea) by applying directly to my plants - especially containerized plants; nor would I add tea bags/coffee grounds to my container soils. When you ask a plant to live under saturated soil conditions, it complies by forming an airy light root tissue called aerenchyma instead of the parenchyma we usually find when roots are grown in a healthy, well-aerated medium. Problems arise when the plant is put in a position where it's required to go back and forth from 'soggy when the soil is full of water' to well-aerated conditions as the soil is allowed to dry down to the point it again becomes well-aerated. 1 tissue type will serve you well under 1 set of conditions, but poorly when asked to play a dual role. That fact is where growers who expect the plant to do well when transitioning back and forth because, "..... after all, the plant DOES grow well in the riparian settings where it naturally occurs." Overlooked is the fact that Mother Nature doesn't ask in situ plants to adjust to soggy conditions one day and dry the next. A heavy soil in a pan of water that keeps the bottom several inches of soil continually saturated will work, as will a well aerated soil you can keep damp but not soggy - one that can be used to provide a continually damp but well-aerated home for a happy root system, but a heavy soil that goes from soggy for days to almost dry and then back again, will work poorly; this, because the plant isn't programmed with the ability to transition back and forth between both sets of conditions. Al

Saturated, anaerobic as jean said. The herbs won't be ingesting anything that will be harmful. Not sure why you would want to water saturated soil. In addition to jean's suggestion, if you have a slope you may want to help yourself by putting in a French drain. Lots of transferable skills learned in this simple activity. Dan

Hi Gena I have a friend (not me of course) with a similar addiction. My friend, (I'll call him h for husband) started out on the light stuff first, gardening then composting. Soon that was'nt enough. H works in construction, like myself, and things are slow so he and his wife (w for the rest of this tale) decided to start renovating their small house during his off days. Then w ordered him some worms for x-mas. H was careful not to schedule any work so he'd be home when they arrived (careless mailman could leave them in the sun). First sign of trouble: h calls w at work (which he never does) to state they arrived. He then calls again to say he called the company that sent the worms with a problem (they had sent more worms than were ordered and he thought the bin they sent was too small) oh and he had talked to the worm guy himself!! the same famous guy from the web site!! w was happy her gift was appreciated. W began to notice behavioral changes in my friend, small at first, a little dirt by the worm box, box moved to different parts of the house ect. Then the changes became more pronounced, work around the house had slowed, but h had finally taken his starter plants out of her empty aquarium so she was excited to get some fish and so she let it slide. Then the weather turned cold, (my friends h and w have an agreement that h has custody of the thermostat during the cold months and w during the hot, saves on electric and arguments as h likes it colder than his wife). Imagine her horror as she sat under her electric blanket and saw the worm bin in the fish tank with the heating pad at a comfortable 75 degrees. More trouble: work at my friends house has slowed to a crawl. W, while using the computer found the browser history had many worm related sites on it. Turns out when not messing with his worms h was reading about them. Like a true addict h explained this by saying he was just a concerned newbie. Begging forgiveness he moved the bin to the garage. h had a few busy weeks at work so all was good, then he had an entire week off and much to do at home, small house, 1 room at a time, lots of stuff to move to tile, paint ect. W notices this is taking a long time! H, who like me has 20+ years of construction experience has several thousand plausible excuses for this. It's a necessary skill to explain delays. Still there is more web proof that he's reading about worms, turns out he's not smart enough to erase his web history. w mentions the web use but rather than repent h considers using the library computers. Other personality changes: h agrees to accompany his wife to petsmart (which he never does) w finds him asking about redwigglers, turns out he read they sold them as exotic pet food. W is now concerned this is spiraling out of control, he has too many for his bin yet wants more. W takes hubbies atm rendering him helpless to buy worm related products without leaving a traceable paper trail. One day while shopping wife notices husband in fishing (bait) department at wal-mart(like me he does'nt fish) h now must show receipt if he shops alone. h is left with homedepot, lowes, and gas card only, none sell worms. Another cold wave in florida: H is worried about his worms so he closes the garage door all the way, usually he locks it slightly ajar so any of w's cats who did'nt come in at bedtime can sleep in relative warmth. w is awakened by screaming cat at bedroom window. worms in back yard now. h blames heating pad autoshutoff not himself and considers rewiring it. h repents and starts to get some stuff done; he totally reorganizes all of their large storage bins in the garage, he does such a good job one is totally empty! He also finds the paper shredder that was stored during the office renovation (w had been asking for a month) lets hope his motives are pure. unfortunately like all addicts h was thinking only of himself soon the storage box was drilled, and that sunday while looking for the sunday paper w found him shredding it. H explained that he needed to move his worms (the box was full, not his fault they sent so many and things would get better when they were moved. w then returned home on monday to find h filling the storage box with water. I need to make sure there is nothing to harm the worms he explained. w mentioned he uses the same paper for the rabbit and never worried but he did'nt hear her. after a week of filling and letting box drain w came home and found the box in driveway drying in the florida sun. H is in the house, he has gotten the juicer out and is juicing some apples (w's favorite) Alas the juice is to hydrate the worms bedding so they'll eat more. h apoligizes and starts sorting his worms to their new bin. things will be better he tells her and himself when they're moved. several hours later he is done and ready to start his new worm ignoring life. all he needs to do is put his harvested castings in his pots outside in the morning. Trouble: H starts to put his castings on top of his veggies, oh oh found an egg. well h thinks that's only about 4 worms but i should really sort this better. three hours later w comes out and asks whats going on. I found 20 or so eggs and some babies he replies and then explains how this represents a gazillion worms over time, w doubts his math and his sanity so h does his normal chores instead. He is still trying. H sleeps poorly worried about the neglected worms. The next day he begs off going to a superbowl party. Too much to do around here he says. wife attends party but leaves early to surprise h with some company and some takeout (she knows he loves football and is proud he missed the party to get things done). She arrives home, no tv on in living room, truck is in driveway, no sign of h. w goes outback and follows extention cord to shed where h is sorting castings and listening to the game on radio. As h stands in his now dark shed he hopes this is what they mean by rockbottom. Sorry this post was so long but i want my friends story to warn others of the dangers of this hobby.

You might do a quick check: Stand in the middle of the room and say "What do you want from us?". If something answers back, "GET OUT, GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!" you will have your answer to your plumbing problem. If nothing answers back, and you are sure the place wasn't built on top of an ancient burial ground, then I would guess that something is reacting with the water heater anode - possibly bacteria as a result of the heater being off. A solution is to shut off the power to the water heater, shut off the water to it and drain it. Be sure to mark the breaker so that nobody turns it on without water in the tank (or, better yet, cap off the wires in the heater).