I don't really get pest issues from taking plants outside (unless it's something that's REALLY pest prone. Hi, you stupid A. Squarrosa*. Fortunately, none of the aphids or whiteflies this thing got ever spread). The high humidity outside keeps mites in check. Scale and mealies... I don't see those much around here, and bringing those in on and infested plant from the store is far more likely. I DO tend to get a lot of spiders. I stopped caring about bringing those in with me, so a fringe benefit of growing plants has been that my arachnophobia has improved a lot. Anyway, I'm moving to an apartment next year for gradschool. No dorm means no going home for the summer means no putting plants outside. I think I'll be okay for the most part, except for a few things: * Delonix regia - This doesn't really make a good houseplant, and it's pretty much deciduous. It's actually stayed more-or-less in-leaf this year, but it needs to be outside to get properly leafy. * A. Squarrosa - This doesn't seem to make a good plant indoors or out, although outside it actually grows beyond just replacing old leaves. * Blechnum gibbum - Way too dry for these indoors. It seems perfectly capable of surviving half the year in a fairly brown-and-crispy state, but it *needs* summers outdoors. I might have to set up a humidity tent for it or something. * Pineapples - A little too dry indoors for them, and they need full sun to really grow. Also they're sort of huge. * Key lime - It doesn't grow well indoors. It does okay and won't die, but it just does better outside.

Hello Mohave Kid! Yup I went to the aquarium store and bought myself a bottle of Chiclid Lake salt and a bottle of Malawi Victoria buffer. It says on the bottle that the Malawi/Victoria Buffer is a blend of carbonate salts designed to enhance the natural environment of cichlids by increasing hardness, buffer capacity, and pH. It is formulated to maintain a pH of 7.8Â8.4. For optimum replication of the Malawi/Victoria environment, use with Cichlid Lake SaltÂ. I also got myself a KH/GH test kit to check the hardness of my water after adding these salts in and I got 179ppm.which I think will do for now.... I am just keeping my fingers crossed that my lavenders will start blooming for me and I will definitely keep you posted as to how my lavenders are doing. Thank you once again and have a great weekend!

Jeremy, Hopefully, the guys who installed the sprinkler system for you, put in a quick and easy to access, method to turn off the main to the system, and then to drain out the water that's stored between there and the sprinkler valves, and in the backflow device. Assuming that's true, then you should be good to turn it on FOR A FEW HOURS ONLY, any time now. BUT... You MUST drain the water back out of the backflow valve etc. immediately after you finish watering. If you don't do it right after the sprinklers finish, every time, then you will forget about it, and a couple days later you will wake up in the morning to the sound of running water. Like me, you will wonder who woke up early enough to already be in the shower. Then later when you wake again, you'll realize the water is still running. Then you'll lay there and wonder...just where is that water running? Sooner or later you'll discover you have a new 10 foot fountain in your front yard. And it has a great big pool underneath it. If you're particularly unlucky, the back flow device is right near the basement window well, and your basement is flooding. Then, once you get the water turned off, you'll find out those 2 or 3 cute little plastic parts in that backflow device cost about 100 bucks if you buy and install them yourself, or I imagine twice that if you have someone else install them. Actually, it was my buddy whose basement flooded, and had the fountain. My backflow is pretty far from the house, and both times I messed up and forgot to drain it, it didn't actually do a fountain it just leaked out enough water to make the yard really muddy for a few days. Depending on weather and snow fall, I usually turn mine on, and water, and then drain it again several times each spring. I never turn it on and leave it on until Mother's Day, and even then, I keep a sharp eye on the weather, and I go cover up the back flow device with some thick blankets if we get a frost warning. Denver last frost is about the same as Fort Collins, so Mothers Day is probably a sensible date for you to go by also. Bruce

you've done a good job. the only other thing you can do if you expect an extremely cold winter is connect an air compresser to the outside hosebib and manualy open the valves to clear all the water from the system.