I don't think you understand how a soap-and-oil spray works. It only kills the insects that have actually been coated with it. If you don't spray it on, say, a ladybug, that bug will not be harmed. I don't know how much a deterrent it is once it's on the plant if it's just plain soap and oil with no garlic (see below.) It's true that while I'm spraying for spider mites, I can get some lacewings, but quite frankly, if the lacewings had been doing their jobs, I wouldn't have spider mites! The garlic is supposed to repel spider mites and aphids. I don't know if it does, but it definitely doesn't repel ladybugs, mantises and bees. It definitely DOES repel mosquitoes. There is an organic anti-mosquito spray on the market made only from super-concentrated garlic that is very effective for mosquitoes but has been proven to be harmless to all beneficial bugs, bees and birds.

You are generally better off watering longer but less often. When you water small amounts very frequently, the lawn and garden stay wet on the surface nearly all the time, making an ideal environment for fungus problems. Plants also don't put down deep roots since they don't need to, so are more susceptible to drought stress if there is a gap in the watering, and if your sprinklers aren't completely uniform, you get patches that never get enough water. By watering less frequently, but with more water so it soaks down in, the surface will dry out and reduce fungus problems and the roots will go down deeper to follow the water. I water usually once a week, sometimes every 5 days during the hottest part of the summer when days are consistently in the 90's--it depends on when the grass starts to show water stress, but the water will reach a depth of 24 inches or more from each watering. My climate gets virtually no rainfall, so irrigation is all it gets. When we do get measurable rain in late spring, then I will space the watering out further, based on when the grass just starts to show some drouth stress. What I'm getting at is let the ground dry out to a depth as long as your middle finger or a little more, then give it a good watering, then let it dry to that depth before the next watering and set your timer to follow that schedule.

Thanks gary. It's a tropical purple pygmy from Trickers. I decided to just lower it. The actual top of the container is now still just about 10" under the surface, so I think it will be okay. I had another small hardy lily that was probably still too close to the surface and had lots of floating leaves. I sank it yesterday and now the leaves are floating on the surface........which was really fast.........so I think they will all be okay. These are just 100 and 300 gallon stocktanks, so when they're even on the bottom, they are still relatively close to the surface.......as compared to a deeper pond. I've just been amazed in the past, with regular sized waterlilies in these ponds, how many more blossoms they had when they are on the bottoms and not just below the surface. Thanks again Gary.

i would not mess around with warm water ... its a plant.. not a baby ... you should provide enough water... to moisten at least a one square foot area .. you need enough water around... to encourage the roots to extend out and away from the plant ... and once you get a large area moistened ... i would mulch to keep it that way ... a location might help .... i am baffled... up here in MI .. by the couple recent posts about peeps planting annuals in late fall.. almost winter ... so i am interested to learn how this all works ... but usually... it is said.. every plant has its season.. planting season ... and with annuals.. that is usually spring.. when the soil warms to germination temps ... so.. if you end up having problems ... DONT GIVE UP ... just resow in spring ... when the sun is in its ascendancy ... rather than in decline ... ken