Rutgers and Jetstar are both large indeterminate plants (Rutgers has a determinate form but the indeterminate is more common) and easily reach 6' or more in height depending on growing conditions provided. They will both need at least 10 gallon pots as already mentioned or planted in the ground. It is possible to cut two plants apart with a sharp knife by just slicing straight down through the root mass. But depending on how much the roots are tangles together it will be better to just sacrifice one plant for the good of the other. You still have time to buy more plants if you want to grow more than one. For future reference the smallest size container recommended for growing tomatoes is a 5 gallon bucket and then only for dwarf or container varieties. Dave

Waterbug guy, First I will talk a little bit about concrete in water. You say it is a myth that concrete in water can kill fish and raise the PH. When concrete first sets up the surface PH is 12.0. Which is the same PH as a drain cleaner called "draino". As it is exposed to the CO2 in the air the PH goes down. But water is a very good leaching agent and so water will continue to try and get the chemicals out of the concrete. So will the PH in the water be raised? If the water has normal PH of 6.5 to 8.5 the answer is yes. The real question should be "how much will it raise it"? That question isn't easily answered as there are a lot of variables. Just to list some the age of the concrete, the condition of the concrete, is the water flowing over the concrete, the natural PH of the water, is the water being changed, and the volume of the water versus the contact area of the concrete. In some cases the rise might be so low as to make it very difficult to measure. But in other cases it can and does raise the PH to 9 to 9.5. At these levels it can and does kill fish. If I remember correctly you have stated that you are a pond contractor. If you are I hope you having started using roofing liner in the ponds that you build. Most of the time a person on this forum is never going to have a problem with roofing liner. Can there be a problem with roofing liner? This should be the question. The answer is yes. The chances that there could be a problem is very low. The largest pond product manufacturer in the US sent out a letter to all their customers a number of years ago. This letter said that all their liner in the future would be tested to be fish safe as they got a batch in that was not. In other words they were selling roofing liner as pond liner. This company had been selling a lot of liner for 10 years before this problem. If it had happen today with the wide use of the internet I would have think that some lawyer would have gotten this information and started a class action lawsuit against them and they would be out of business. The lawyer could easily have sued them not only for the cost of the liner that they had sold but for the cost to replace all those liners in the ponds built with them going back to the first time they sold this liner. The largest liner manufacturer in this country has told me that almost never would you ever have a problem with roofing liner but you might. I think that as a contractor you can't take that chance. If you were unlucky and did have a problem and were sued over that problem the lawyer handling the case would find out that they would sue for every customer that you have that has this liner. In other words you would be out of business. So is roofing liner toxic? No most of the time. But there is a small chance that there maybe a problem. I have only talked about 2 of the 8 things that you listed. I could easily talk about many of the other things listed but my point is this. You listed these things as black and white but they are not black and white. The only thing that is black and white about ponds is that all aquatic life will die. Mike

Zone 4 Tucson, AZ Sonoran Desert, 2500' elevation Corrie, I REALLY like your thinking. I REALLY want to do that, I'm somewhat afraid of it. I don't want to end up with a pond full of a bulging, heaving, mass of green monster, either. How often do you need to remove baskets full of it, and what do you do with it? And, where is the beauty of submerged, or even floating non blooming plants? I might as well fill it in with dirt. Help me out here. Okay, I've read about hornwort, I'll get some. That may be the first plant I put into the pool. No duckweed, though. My pool is too deep (3 to 8 feet) for even lilies, which, as I said, I thought were floaters, not rooted in dirt. What can I use instead of, that hang their roots just in the water? And why can't I do that with water lilys? These expensive floating gardens support land plants without dirt, in the ponds, and their bare roots are sucking up water... I DO know I can't do everything at once, or even much at once. If I start out with hornwort to keep it clean, how much work is there to controlling that stuff? I don't want to solvle one problem and make others. And doesn't that stuff get caught in the filter? Don't you have to keep the water moving, at least some movement? I don't want stagnant, stinky polluted nasty water. Mike, No, I do not PLAN to use it for swimming, but I might, so I will test it at times. And if it's clean enough, might have dogs in it on occassion. I may put some edible fish in it. Doesn't the water need movement for them? Do I need mosquito eaters? And then bigger fish to help control them? Or, are they edible? Deep fried and chocolate covered? Ella Thanks for your responses.

It's time to lay down the law and get him into either a nursing home, or if he's capable, assisted living. Sure, he has a right to stay in his own home, but what if he burns it down! Your home will be gone, too. And he may get confused and angry enough to throw you two out, he owns both sides, he can do it. This is a terribly dangerous situation, and if a social services agency, like Adult Protective Services gets involved because he wanders away or hurts himself or someone else, you and his daughter could be accused of neglect, or worse, abuse. As you know, no good deed goes unpunished. Tell him it's time to move, and he can help with the decision, or take what's available when he's hospitalized and has few choices. He'll probably fall or get quite ill soon enough, and once he's in the hospital it will become obvious that he can't care for himself, especially if his daughter details his behavior. The Social Worker will find what's available on short notice, and off he'll go. His daughter needs to start looking for places he might live, and then offer these to him, with no option to back out. There comes a time in many parents lives when the tables have to be turned, decisions have to be made for them that they may not like. Hey.......not too many of us are going to get up one morning and say it's time to move to Shady Acres Nursing Home! Good luck and be careful.