Hey, Pam! Here's what I'm thinking. Your VP/drystall is going to be very water-retentive unless you make the Drystall a large fraction of the soil, but let's assume you're not going to use a lot of Drystall, because I know you're leaning toward the VP. First, perlite would probably be a better choice than the drystall because it will be more effective at reducing water retention. Perlite has no internal porosity, so would hold less water than the Drystall - and it's less expensive. If you have more questions in that area, just ask & I'll help; otherwise, I'll leave you to figure out how to deal with the 'making' part of your soil. How to rig your containers to take the most advantage of gravity to help you drain your containers: Hang them by a corner, or from wherever you need to to ensure the container hangs at as close to a 45* angle as you can make it hang. Drill your drain hole in the lowest spot, and insert a wick. This makes the soil that the perched water occupies cone-shaped or pyramidal, and a 6" pyramid or cone standing on its apex holds only about half the soil as a 6" cube. Since the PWT will occupy only (about) half the volume of soil it normally would if the container is level, you'll reduce the perched water volume by half PLUS whatever extra the wick will remove. You'll lose some soil volume because the container is tipped, but that you'll have a much higher % of soil with air i it instead of being saturated, you'll actually GAIN volume in the 'healthy' soil dept. You aren't the only one here trying to escape the mud-in-a-bag you referred to. Many have passed this way and embarked on a path different than that which they arrived on. I'm glad you see the folly in remaining chained to what you already know wasn't working. I applaud your initiative. ;o) Al

In response to the questions above, let me offer some more information. First, I did not mean to imply that I do not use any heat in the greenhouse. I do heat, but the thermostat is set to 40. The only extra effort I put into heating for the tomatoes is to have the seeds germinate on a heating system (Hydrofarm) so that they are not adversely impacted by the low nighttime temperatures. I had initially planned on an all passive solar greenhouse, but the aestetics of such a structure caused us to go to a greenhouse that receives quite a bit of its heating from passive solar, with a propane backup. (We have thermal mass in water containers, and large raised beds filled with compost.) The greenhouse only ever needs to receive heat in the night. During the day in the winter, the temperature is regularly in the 90's, and the vents are open some. We are located in a zone 5 area, and only have about a three month frost free season outside because we are in mountains. The greenhouse makes growing so much easier. Our relatively dry climate also means that it is almost always sunny during the day, so there is lots of solar gain. I grow in several media: a peat-lite mixture that I make (based on the Cornell mixes), or vermicompost that I produce in the greenhouse. (There is a large worm bin in the greenhouse that processes all the waste materials from the greenhouse, as well as our home.) I grow almost all inderterminate tomatoes, so that they fruit for an extended period of time. I find that it is generally too much work to be replacing the determinate varieties. Yes, the vines can get to be quite large; I allow space around each plant to let them spread out: plants are in a row, spaced about 16 inches apart, and with about 30 inches from one row to the other. I use 3 gallon pots filled with my potting mixtures. Watering and fertilizing is done through a cheap fertilizer injector from Dripworks, and a simple timer from Home Depot. I water with drippers, 4 times a day, for 10 minutes at a time. Each tomato gets a little over 3 liters of water and fertilizer solution each day. The fertilizer mix is very dilute, and the fertilizer injector is always in the watering line. I use several different fertilizers, but really like the Hydrogardens products. Hope this helps. Renais

I would take any zone ratings for clematis, especially if they come from observations made by the British, with a grain of salt since their winters can be quite different than ours here in most parts of the US. The exact hardiness ratings of most clematis are not known with any certainty and their hardiness ratings may vary within any given gardening zone based on the winter conditions (say a zone 6 where it stays cold most of the winter vs. a zone 6 where the temperatures vacillate over the course of the winter). COTW is performing a survey to get the hardiness ratings/survivability of clematis from gardening zones around the world to help put some more data together on this subject. Clematis florida 'Sieboldii' is grown by friends in Michigan with no problems and the Toomey and Leeds book says it can be hardy to zone 6. Here in my zone 7a garden I had it survive winters quite nicely but the main problem with it was that it wilted several years in a row right as it was starting to bloom so it was removed from its place in the garden. Clematis florida 'Plena' is a sport of C. florida 'Sieboldii' and the Toomey and Leeds book says it is hardy in zones 7-9. Whether is would survive in your Michigan garden is uncertain but the only sure way to know for certain is to try it and see how it goes. There does seem to be confusion out there about the pruning types that C. florida the species and any of its cultivars fall into since Toomey and Leeds Encyclopedia lists the species as a type 2 and COTW lists it as a type 3, the Toomey and Leeds book says that Sieboldii can be treated as a type 2 or 3 and COTW lists it as a type 3, and the Toomey and Leeds book lists florida Plena as a type 2 and COTW has it is a type 3. Bottom line is that regardless of the pruning group a clematis may fall into, the hardiness ratings are not know with certainty, the only way to know if it will survive in your garden is to try it, and the fun in gardening is finding out what works and doesn't in your own individual microclimate. I know that I have listed this before but the owner of Seneca Hills Perennials, Ellen Hornig, sums it up best about using the gardening zones ratings as an indication of whether a plant will survive and flourish in your garden or not. See the link below and the section entitled Plant Hardiness concerning this. Here is a link that might be useful: Take on Plant Hardiness Ratings

If you have access to an existing plant (like your nursery supplier) cut a few of the fleshy stems off, remove the flowers, and put them in a jar of water. Change the water twice per week and in 7-10 days roots will form at the base of the stem. When the roots are about 2" long, repot in a well draining soil mixture (e.g. into a flower pot) and enclose the pot in a plastic bag for increased humidity for a few days until the cutting recovers. Then remove the plastic bag and the cutting should grow and flower in 4-6 weeks later. You can then cut more stems of your newly rooted cutting and root these, and the cut more cuttings and root more plants... how many do you need ??? Impatiens root very easily in water, if you keep the temperature around 70-75 deg F (indoors) in subdued light (no direct sunlight) and change water frequently. Once roots form, pot into a pot with well draining soil, but then enclose the pot in a plastic bag for a few days because the cutting is likely to be stressed by the repotting. You can also start impatiens from seed (very easy).