Well - for anyone still following along here is some information. No clue if it's accurate. There's a freeware application that allows you to build custom fertilizers with a list of ingredients. You can input the list of available ingredients and their cost. You can then input a commercial formula (I put in the values for Dyna-Gro FP WITHOUT the micro nutrients). With a bit of tinkering you can get the program to give you the forumla for the fertilizer AND get a price estimate per unit according to the prices of the raw materials that you input. I just found the program today and I am not an expert. In fact I know nothing of fertilizers or this software but I did get it to give me a consistent answer for how to build the NPK + Mg + Ca portion of FP. I didn't bother with the micros because I will just buy a commercial formula and add it in. You can get the software here: http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2011/01/the-first-free-hydroponic-nutrient-calculator-program-o.html - again, I have no idea if it's safe or accurate. I installed it seemingly without issue. Here is the Dyna-Gro information I used to calculate the forumla: The MSDS for their line of fertilizers has the ingredients used: http://www.dyna-gro.com/Website%20pdf%20Files/MSDS%20Grow-Bloom-Pro%20Series.pdf The product information has the % of nutrients in Foliage Pro: http://www.dyna-gro.com/936.htm WARNINGS/CAVEATS: *There is almost certainly a mistake somewhere. *I know nothing about mixing chemicals. Just because this list is here doesn't mean it's safe to make. I put some numbers into a program and this is what it gave back to me. I might give this a try if I can find Ammonium Nitrate locally (haven't so far - probably won't since it can be used as an explosive, sigh). *A liquid acid is one of the components. No idea how safe this is to use or in what way it must be added to the other ingredients to be safe. Don't ask me, I do not know. *The ingredients list for the Dyna-Gro fertilizer list Mono Potassium Phosphate as an ingredient which makes up "*I guessed a price for ammonium nitrate. I put in 2$ per kilogram. This seems somewhat in line with the cost of the other nitrates but I have no idea what it actually costs. *All the other prices I based on retail prices available to me locally. INPUTS: I want 1 gallon of liquid fertilizer with an NPK of 9-3-6 with 2% calcium and .5% magnesium. RESULTS: Mono Ammonium Phosphate - NH4H2PO4 - 10.75g - $2.70 Calcium Nitrate (Tetrahydrate) - Ca(NO3)2.4H2O - 22.606g - $.80 Ammonium Nitrate - NH4NO3 - 80.891g - $4.60 Magnesium Nitrate (Hexahydrate) - Mg(NO3)2.6H2O - 9.137g - $.40 Phosphoric Acid (52%) - H3PO4 - 24.323g - $5.50 Potassium Nitrate - KNO3 - 30.082g - $1.90 Total Cost per Gallon at retail: $15.90. Approximate initial cost to buy materials retail: Mono Ammonium Phosphate - 4lbs - $17.00 Phosphoric Acid 52% - 2 gallons - $50.00$ Calcium Nitrate - 50lb bag - $29.00 (you can find smaller bags online) Magnesium Nitrate - 50lb bag - $36.00 Potassium Nitrate - 50lb bag - $50.00 Ammonium Nitrate - 50lb bag - $45.00 (assumed price) Total Startup Cost: $217 + chelated micro nutrients (easier to buy imo). I remember a thread where Californian was mocking us all for buying Foliage Pro rather than making it ourselves. He seemed hostile and aggressive to me so I didn't pay much attention. Looks like he was mostly correct. The retail cost of the ingredients is somewhere around $20 a gallon. The wholesale cost I'm sure is far less. The cheapest I can find FP locally is for about 60$ a gallon. Assuming I haven't screwed anything up that means that I could make back the initial investment after about 8 months (I go through a gallon of FP in about 2 warm-season months). Tempting... If anyone else is interested it would be great if you could check my numbers. If anyone knows if mixing these chemicals is safe/effective please let me know. I'm particularly concerned about the safety of mixing the acid and the ammonium nitrate - does that need to be done in a certain way to avoid nastiness? Can all of these things be safely stored? Etc. ---- Some further information to check out: the software gives: N:P2O5:K2O = 1:1.36:1.19 N:K = 1:0.99 N (NO3-):N (NH4+) = 1:0.46 Ca:Mg = 1:0.25 Do these look right?

What I'm going to offer is the results of my experience & studies, and is only meant to be helpful, so if you THINK you see anything critical, please take it as constructive - I'd rather be your pal than alienate you, so please keep that in mind. ;o) I've tried many times(experiments) growing with coir and CHCs as replacements for peat and pine bark respectively with loose controls in place & have never had good results - even when coir was only about 15% of the mix, but YMMV. As far as the sustainability issue, I've done some researching on that, and here is a reply I often leave when that point is raised: Sorry, but I'm not buying the non-renewable lament. In Canada alone, there are more than 270 million acres of harvestable peat bogs. If we make the conservative guess that the harvestable portions of these bogs are 10 feet deep, that means there are probably more than 900 billion cu. ft. available for harvest, just in Canada! That doesn't even take into consideration what's available in Europe, Asia, or places like New Zealand where they also mine peat, or those bogs that are NOT considered harvestable. Canada currently has mining/harvesting operations underway on approximately 40 thousand acres or about .014% (that reads 14 one thousandths of 1 percent)." Check the math - it's accurate and conservative. It's more likely that the next ice age will be upon us and glaciers will have covered what's available before we even use a noticeable percentage. Renewable/non-renewable = moot. Water drains well but the area around the plant stem sinks in about 1". When I fill the hole back up and add a bit of water, the water just sits on top all mushy. I think I'm moving in the right direction, but not quite there yet. I'm guessing this is your container soil? From what you said, I'm getting that your soil was 100% saturated - that it was so water retentive that it supported a perched water table at least equal to the depth of the soil. This means that the entire soil mass was probably completely filled with water. To be very direct, I really think you need to take a good look at basing your soil on a very large fraction of larger particulates, instead of the ones that are causing all the water retention. Most soils based on peat/coir/compost will support 3-6" of perched water after you water them a few times, and more as the soil ages. Perched water kills roots, and the more of it you have in the container after watering, the worse it is. By mineral content in RBs, I meant something that remains stable - like topsoil, sand .... or it could be something like a Turface product - just so it doesn't break down and gas-out. I wouldn't be too concerned about a pH of 5.8-6.0 in raised beds at all. I think you'll be just fine with that. Be very careful with the blood meal at soil temperatures below 55* because of ammonium toxicity. I would withhold it until temps are comfortably above that benchmark. Take care, and good luck!!! There's a container gardening forum too (that's where the link I left took you), where you can join in if you need more help with your containers. I really think you could do yourself a LOT of good and skip a whole growth cycle of heartache if you turned your container soil into your raised beds & started afresh with pine bark as the basis for your container soil. Remember, container soils are almost entirely about structure - you can do without the fine black soil, coir, vermiculite (also water-retentive), ash and w-castings. Now that the talking is done, if you were here I'd offer you a blueberry or chocolate tea or a Cran-Grape juice (my fav), while I take in what you have to say. AL

Another Pic of Old Craftsman, Weed Eater Models I had success with âÂÂBUT WORKâÂÂ! 1. I must â SAY AGAINâÂÂ, they take Time and Interest. I would look for ring movement in the piston vs trying to rotate. 2. Try to feel for piston ringâÂÂs compression with your finger or dowl feeling for drag, rotating slow w/o oil before too much time is spent. 3. This old models which have only had bad fuel lines and carb problems are personally all I plan to touch (in my volunteering mode) vs compression teardown issues. They are normally plentiful at Estate/Garage Sales. My20 + yr old blower was 15.00 with a demo that it worked. 4. Replacing fuel line can almost become a teardown until you learn the tricks of fishing, feeding and pulling line. This was a 70âÂÂs Hobby before moving to Computer Applications/Cad and Comp Repairs as a Hobby to keep my job. Call them Hobbies vs Jobs and they become More Fun vs Nightmares. LOL

RC: The OP clearly advised that the unit is 2-stroke within the 1st sentence . I agree that an ounce of prevention is cheaper than a pound of cure lol . Unfortunately Ryobi Trimmers , Hedge Trimmers or Blowers are much the same as Weed-eater Brand . Basically a cheap Homeowner throw away unit. I have had 3 Weed=Eater units that have survived over 25 yrs . Why because I only use the best oils and religiously maintain them. In a less than Mechanically inclined owners hands and these cheap units would have been in the junk pile after 3-5 yrs . I recently gave all away to friends and family members and bought a new Commercial Grade Toro Trimmer . Further the OP has more than adequately rebuilt or replaced critical issues within this trimmer. However I stongly believe that with adequate spark and only marginal compression he is pissing into the wind on this one . The shear key should be validated , I have my doubts with a hedge trimmer , perhaps a lawnmower . Finally Why spend more money (rings) on this form of disposable unit. Even if only a blown head gasket , I believe he would have clearly seen evidence of blowby all over the cylinder and head assembly . I agree that fuel or quick start are less than ideal as compared to carb cleaner , but either should case a fart at the very least . There is simply not sufficient compression to fire the fuel charge . Loger take over Roflmbo !