mother earth can take care of your babes.. just fine... once you start 'thinking' about your options ... you add layer upon layer of variables that you can NOT master .... conifers are NOT house plants .. ergo .. leave them in mother earth ... they don't care about cold... snow.. anything.. until you start messing with them ... the best would be if they are covered with snow for the entire winter ... after that... temperature fluctuations can kill them ... sunny and warm one day ... freezing winds the next ... so if you can mulch them.. to even it all out.. it would be better ... the only thing left would be vermin .... if you get to fancy you may call mice to the party ... i would repot them to native soil .... too many variables with potting mix and winter ... in mid September ... when we start getting cool nights ... recovery time for those roots ... and then in mid October .. pot an all into the ground ... maybe some chicken wire if rodents might attack .. and apply some good mulch .. but don't crush them over winter ... maybe a furrow .. with mounds of mulch on each side to reduce winter winds ... higher on the south side to shade from those bizarre hot thaws in the winter ... keep them out of direct sun .. i would put a stake or two .. so that you avoid stepping on them ... i have used old Styrofoam rose cones without tops in such situations to protect such stock .. but i have 100 of them hanging in the barn .... free!!! .. i don't know if i would bother if i had to pay for them .... the goal is to get them dormant.. and keep them dormant ... thaw in in mid winter is not good ... since you have more than one.. you might try different approaches to experiment .... good luck ken

Thanks Jan. I had them all on my metal mesh lawn furniture on a covered porch all winter. The mesh was good to keep air circulating. Then, since I wanted to start to use the lawn furniture, I bought some of those big mesh laundry bags and have them hanging in those. They seem like a good way to aerate them. Does that sound okay? If they aren't rattling too much, does that mean I should definitely wait to turn them into birdhouses, or is that just an internal seed wetness issue? Thanks!

and a glorious perfectly worded searchable title .. my.. you are a fast learner ... WELCOME to the world of participation ... WE WILL ENABLE YOU FURTHER .... when i moved.. up here in z5 ... i potted and moved 1500 hosta ... 65 miles SW .... half went into the polebarn ... and the rest stacked on their sides on the west side of the barn ... the ones inside the barn ... sprouted out 2 months early .... which is a gigantic problem up here where it can freeze thru april.. and frost through may ... never underestimate the effect of pots, per se ... next ... you claim they will come up no matter how deep you bury them ... first.. never compare what a species can do .. and what a foo foo plant can do ... but regardless of the type.. the deeper it is planted.. the longer it will take the soil to warm.. to the level needed ... to trigger active growth but the bottom line.. they are hosta.. GO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO WORRY ABOUT ... crimminy sakes ... they will come up.. when they come up.. and not a minute sooner ... no matter how much you worry about them and as you noted.. the longer it takes for them to come up.. the smaller your chance of getting them frosted is... so see.. there is an upside ... and.. as a further example... on the south side of my house... i can put a shovel all the way in .. on the north side ... its frozen solid ... good luck ken

Where to begin?? ? Well, there is a good chance the pepper plant died because it was already weakened from the aphids and couldn't take the shock of the transplant. How did you go about removing the roots from the soil? was there much root loss? As Hex mentioned, in Hydro you need very low urea or ammonia nitrogen sources for you plants. If you're going to keep using soluble soil fertilizers, I've used MG all purpose 15-30-15 to successfully grow parsley and basil. it has a combined U/A of 15%. Still high, but I got it to work. the system you linked to is very good indeed. However, you'll notice they are using it to root and grow stock from cuttings. If you want to grow plants from seedlings, you'll need to make sure your netpots have a medium in them to hold the plants and you'll need to have a timer on the sprayers to keep the medium from staying too wet. In that situation, you'd be better off starting the plants in a different setup then transplanting it the the aero system. Also, with peppers at least, make sure the crown of the plant is just at OR ABOVE the top of the medium otherwise you'll get some damping off if the medium stays too wet. If I had a known fungus death in my system, I would sterilize the whole thing before putting more plants in it and/or I would plant something which in naturally immune to the fungus (for at least one "season") I don't really understand anything you wrote about germinating in a paper towel. It sounds like you're just letting them start and continue to grow in one. When I use a paper towel, I just let the seed germinate them immediately I move to germinated seed to another vessel, whether it be one for hydro or one for the soil. Please elaborate further if possible. I personally don't encourage growing long term plants like fruit trees/shrubs/vines. They get big and heavy. Then they're difficult to move around. also, the roots will eventually fill up the reservoir container and you're having to constantly change / add nutrient. It's a long term commitment and I don't think it favors hydro. There will be a time when you get tired of dealing with it. But that's just me. you may have a different mentality. Don't let hydroponics scare you. As a long time dirt farmer you already know how to recognize nutrient deficiencies and pest damage. that goes a long way to tending to plants. a basic knowledge of nutrient tending and you'll be good to go. As you're new to this, you should probably start off with a commercial hydro fertilizer and follow their dosage recommendations. That way you're not over or under fertilizing your plants. some pH strips (from a pet store), recognizing nutrient deficiencies and This chart and you'll be growing plants a plenty. Then as time permits you can learn more about mixing your own nutrients (if you want) and expand from there.