No, I don't mind your asking me questions, but I have to warn you that I'm not your best source here, so when you see the more experienced correcting me listen to them. We'll both learn something. "Pencil" describes the size of the wood, with wood at pencil-sized the most useful to us in terms of spur production. But even scaffold branches and tree trunks were pencils once. We train and encourage the first pencil to grow into a trunk, and when it produces a few pencils we train a few of those to be scaffolds, and when those produce pencils we start to manage them for fruit production. You might want to train a watersprout to become a scaffold branch. To do that you bend it over to the near-horizontal and remove its competition- that means cutting off the branch it is replacing. Watersprouts can become productive wood, but vertical growth is slow to form spurs and will point into the heart of the tree where it can't get light and air. Generally better to remove watersprouts- let the energy go where it can be better used. It may feel like you're removing all the growth, but you're not. The tree will respond by putting its energies into the only places left, and that's important to understand. If you allow the tree to dissipate its energy on wayward grow then the important stuff won't get what it needs. In fact, as a general rule you can clip off anything that points straight up, straight down, or into rather than away from the tree. I like the road analogy too; I'm glad to have stolen it from Harvestman :-). Good luck, Mark

Gardenrod, All of us are still learning. I say often that I learn something new here every single day and it is so very true. As Diane said, we have an amazing group of people here. My attitiude is that we are much stronger/better prepared for anything as a group than any one of us ever could be alone. Besides that, who else understands our gardening obsession better than other folks similarly afflicted? Diane, I've always done the cold treatment too, but not really as part of a deliberate plan. Rather, my tiny tomato seedlings get the cold treatment when they are kicked off the lighted seedstarting shelf and moved out to the back porch to make room for other seeds I need to start. Before I started moving the plants out to the porch while they were very small, they got big and lush indoors but didn't adapt as easily once they were moved outdoors to harden off. Clearly, they'd had it easy for too long. Now that they are exposed to cooler temps earlier, they seem tougher and hardier even though not as tall and lush. Maybe this year I'll proceed with a plan and move them out when they "should be" put out for cold treatment instead of just haphazardly doing it when the plant shelf is too full and I have the urge to grow more seeds. Chandra, As others so aptly pointed out, a certain amount of exposure at a young age benefits tomatoes in ways that we may not fully understand. Plants exposed to cold treatment at a certain stage seem to produce more heavily and to perform better later on. By contrast, peppers (and I think from my observations this applies a bit more to hot peppers than to sweet peppers) that are exposed to cooler temps earlier in the year can remain stunted for a long time and unproductive for the entire season. I used to transplant peppers out into the ground at about the same time I transplanted tomatoes. I struggled for years to make sense of why my pepper plants looked fine and grew well but didn't produce heavily until fall. The tomatoes were producing just fine, so I knew there was something I didn't know and didn't understand about the conditions pepper plants needed for optimal performance. After learning about the pepper plant/temperature connection, I started holding my pepper plants inside longer and waiting to transplant them out a couple of weeks later than the tomato plants. The difference in yield was impressive. Now it is just a part of my routine. I haven't done objective testing with a control group, but I'd say that by holding the pepper plants inside longer and planting them only after the weather/soil are at the temps they like, I am harvesting twice as much as before, and I am harvesting 4 to 6 weeks earlier than before. Last year, the pepper harvest began in earnest so early that it surprised even me. My plants went into the ground in early May, and I was harvesting sweet peppers and jalapenos in mid-June. It probably did help the hot peppers somewhat that we were hot earlier in the season than usual since they thrive on heat. I just pulled out my harvest record book from last year and I harvested 10 lbs. 2 oz. of jalapeno peppers on June 15th. That is the largest early harvest of hot peppers that I've ever had. If I was not already convinced that planting peppers late was a useful technique, last year's June harvest convinced me. I use two fans for circulation in the guest room where I keep my seed starting shelf. The ceiling fan stays on 24/7 and then I have an oscillating fan I use to toughen up plants. The light movement of the circulating air helps the plants develop stronger, stockier stems. You know, the same thing is true of trees. Young trees that are tightly staked so they cannot bend much in the wind are weaker over their lifetime than trees that were not tightly staked or that were not staked at all. With the trees, the early exposure to real wind helps build stronger wood. By exposing our tomato plants to circulating air while they are inside, we are preparing them better for the stronger winds they'll be exposed to outdoors. As for the effect of soil temperatures on germination of seeds, the most reliable data I've ever seen is that on Tom Clothier's website. I'll find it and link it. Using his chart, you can see exactly which temperatures give the best germination rates. However, most of us have to start seeds of some types a bit earlier than the optimum temperature on his charts because we're in a constant race to "make" our garden grow and produce before the high summer heat shuts it down. Carrots, for example, sprout quickly in very warm to hot soil, but grow poorly in it. So, we have to settle for lower germination rates and slower germination times so that our carrots can grow during the time when soil and air temperatures are optimal for them. Finally, much of what I know/understand about soil and air temperatures and their effect on vegetable plant growth and production I learned from Dr. Cotner's book. Before his book came out, I understood that some crops go into the ground earlier and some later but didn't truly understand exactly how temperatures affect growth and performance. I still have to refer to his book to doublecheck the temperatures various veggies need, but at least now I know enough to check the book for his recommendations instead of blindly following the calendar, or just "guessing" that a particular vegetable can go into the ground at a certain time. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Effect of Temperature on Seed Germination

Chapter 1--'We loved your display garden. We want something similar in our back yard.' Make appointment. Chapter 2--Spend 1 hour w/client and 20' x 30' backyard with mature Acer palmatum and other issues--such as maxed out lot coverage and nasty neighbors. Chapter 2 1/2--Client has very tight budget. Chapter 3--Get deposit and gather site data. Draw plan that will address dreams and dollars. Chapter 4--Present plan--they love it. Get paid for plan. Chapter 5--Have phone call asking for changes by the time I get home. I explain economic impact. Chapter 6--Have email and phone changes that will increase cost and completely change the design which will cost the even client more money. Chapter 7--to be continued....Is she a psycho or just indecisive?

Jim - Dcarch : I probably worded my last Post , leaving you to think I don't use my Computer for info. I have used the PC the same as you. I was refering to my Building, Remodeling, Artwork,Hunting,Fishing, Shooting, Marksmanship, etc. All this came about before Computers. It mostly was hands on info, that you picked up here and there, by watching and storing it in your brains PC. I stored the good and the bad, so I would know what to do and not to do. Also learned about the Poison Pen and Loud Mouths what they can do to hurt you. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I told this before. When I graduated HS, I started working for my Uncle, who was a Masonary Contractor. He watched me working and the others who were boisterous. I remembered his words. " whatever line you follow in life, do the best you can " " whoever is over you, will know your work, by what you produce, not by what your mouth produces." Lindac: " I am always learning,unlike Lou " Please don't refer to me in your Posts. Haven't you done enough in the past 2 1/2 years, to help me. If you want to try something new, Give my Fluffy Cheese Cake a try. You know, the one I use Vanilla Ice Cream as an Ingredient. FOAS: If you freeze the CheeseCake it cuts easily. Then place pieces of Parchment in between each slice. Dcarch: If I said something wrong, tell me about it. Lou