TIN CANS, GUYS, TIN CANS. I have one of those can openers that leave a smooth edge. Around the OUTSIDE at the bottom (so the water can get in when I bottom water), I put 3 or 4 holes with a big nail (balance the can on a cushion and bang away)... they are GREAT... Then, when you're done transplanting outside, recycle the cans. They're sturdy and grrrreat! Best, Homegrown

I looked over stuff today, and to my pleasant surprise, things are looking both worse, and better, but totaling "better" :) There's still foliage drop and yellow plants, but I also noticed the first growth sprint since I planted out. Many plants have taken up a lot, and I saw lots of small pods - one of my thai plants currently has more than 20 pods on it, even if it's a small plant. Current theory: "sunburn, transplant shock (exacerbated by the condition some were in when transplanted)" as pinned by Josh. This theory has been strengthened by the fact that some of the most severely root bound plants are still the ones doing the worse, while plants that were not root bound are doing pretty great. I sprinkled blood meal on all plants today and watered in, just in case nitrogen deficiency is actually a problem. I also learned that in Norway, we use almost all fish byproducts in feed for farmed fish, and to some extent chicken... One thing's for sure, I keep learning. Thanks so much for your input. I'll leave you with a photo of the new detachable green house my father and I built today.

Just because the dirt is moist doesn't mean the rose has enough water! Looking at the soil near the yellow rose, it definitely looks dry. Water given to the rose alone will be wicked away into the dry soil nearby, leaving the rose very thirsty. As Seil said, roses are watered well beforehand & several times as you're planting, to saturate the soil & settle the soil firmly around the roots without any gaps. Did the "organic soil" you added contain peat moss? Peat moss is notoriously difficult to get to hold water if it starts out dry. Even with clay soil, unless it's rained relentlessly during the heat, those wilting leaves & flowers are telling you the plant needs water - lots of water. Soil a "little moist" just won't do the job. What you have with the second rose (Double Delight) is transplant shock, caused by the stress of not watering during planting steps, heat & underwatering. Rig up a shade cloth, like a pale sheet attached to the fence behind & poles (rakes, shovels, what-have-you) in front to clear the top of the rose - a make-shift ten to keep the sun off. (I keep one of those pop-up tents on hand for planting during heat.) A hose laying out in the sun can heat the water within to near boiling. Let that water out into a watering can or onto pavement until it runs cool before watering the plants. Use a watering attachment - trigger or wand - on the end of your hose that allows you to select what type of water pattern & has a shut-off valve so you can control the rate of water flow. Water the plants gently - usually a "shower" setting, with the shut-off valve half open so it's a gentle flow. Likely take 5 minutes at that setting to water an area two feet around the trunk on all sides, directing the water in lines or circles again & again. Do the same to the next rose & the third, and then go back to the first & repeat down the line a second time. Use the "mist" setting on your watering wand, still at half open at the valve so it's gentle, to thoroughly mist the branches & leaves. The leaves lose water through transpiration, similar to how we sweat, & like us more so in heat, and when the roots can't supply enough, they wilt. This is especially a problem with tree roses, which have a long trunk & multiple grafts to move water through, and they will typically need more water routinely than low-growing roses. It will take twice as much water now to rehydrate those limp leaves as it would have to keep them from wilting in the first place. Think of it like a baby overheated at the beach - get them in the shade, cool them down with mist & keep them drinking to replace lost fluids. It would be really hard to drown the roses at this point - a thunderstorm is the equivalent of the amount of water they need immediately to snap out of it! I've gardened in clay soil for many years. It can hold a lot of moisture once it is thoroughly & completely wetted deep down 2-3 feet. But if it dries out completely, it can crack at the surface & actually repel water at first, as will peat moss if dried out, and it takes a lot of water to wet it deeply. The Summer we had daily storms pass through, the roses bloomed as never before. Believe your caution is unfounded.

I want to say that Alan Kapuler of Oregon and Peace Seeds was one of the first people to do such a thing. I haven't had a project where i deliberately aimed to hybridize a particular hybrid variety. I think in most cases i would just save the seed. Sure a little bit of segregation and or changes could occur over time, but in most cases i really doubt its a big deal. Seed companies try to make you think what they offer is one of a kind and that it you save seed that it will never grow the same again. In some cases that might be true for one or two generations after, but after that they start to stabilize again. I bought some seeds for Polar Bear hybrid white pumpkin. I have no problems saving seed from it were i to grow it. Joseph Lofthouse has several landrace projects he is working on which are amazing. His attempts have inspired me to work on my own and even a few collaboration projects like our watermelon landraces that grow and thrive in Colorado and Utah where traditional watermelon genetics fail miserably. (it is starting to show some good success). Joseph however knows a great deal about hybrid crops like sunflowers and carrots where ALL commercial hybrids of these crops contain male-sterile genes!!! What that means that it is very difficult to dehybridize carrots and sunflowers without male sterility to show up again each generation. But he knows how to do it and has done it. Amazing stuff. The only major projects i'm working with and making my own hybrids right now are with peas. Peas are great because they are naturally inbreeding. Which means that once you make a cross all you need to do is grow them out several generations and the genes separate back. The hard part is making the cross in the first place. One pea i'd like to cross is the marrofat type pea named Biskopens that has red seeds. It has excellent heat tolerance and grows into late july. But it takes a very long time to flower and grow. Therefore i am hoping to cross it to any dwarf or faster growing variety of pea.