Thanks, Bill, for the link and the advice. The air filter on my mower is a cyclinder-type that clips on in the front and is connected by a hose. I don't think it's ever gotten any oil on it, but removing it is easy so I tried that w/o success. BTW, my old spark plug was a mess, so I replaced it. But I can see how the condenser and/or points could also be a mess. Ironically, I was in a mower store when a guy with an 18-year-old Craftsman came in to buy (I think) a condenser, probably not the same as mine, but it cost him $40. I'll have to decide if I can replace condenser and points and find out what the parts cost. Cleaning the carburetor sounds like a logical and cheap step, and something I should do anyway. Your manual shows lots of different carbs. I haven't pinned down which exactly I have (my parts list says it's "Carburetor No. 631619"). I don't see a brass nut, but in the exploded parts view in my parts list it looks like a very simple carb. So maybe I can do something with it. In the meantime I went ahead and bought a new mower, a Lawn Boy 10685. But I'm going to hold onto my 30-year-old Craftman, if for no other reason than nostalgia and its excellent lightweight magnesium alloy deck that looks as good as new. Replacing the engine altogether as someone else suggested is also an option, but now that I have a new mower I'm not in a hurry to try that. I've printed out the advice I've gotten here and downloaded that PDF manual. Thanks again!

Last year, my bulbs were in lawless conditions. I bought a children pool and put them in it in their pots. It was easier to water them this way. I just poured the water in and they all got some. But then some rains came and completely drenched the bulbs. They were neck up to the water and they stayed that way for a long time by the time I noticed it and let the water away. So I ended up with most of the bulbs shrunk to tiny bulblets that I didn't think would even survive. Then I had to move to the new house, so I unpotted them, cut the leaves and put them in the new wine cooler I bought for this purpose to make sure that the bulbs do not freeze down. A month later I noticed that the wine cooler froze down and even killed about 10 bulbs. I returned it to the store and just bought a huge standing fridge that had the freezer part separately. I kept my bulbs in that fridge. Then I planted them up from Summer, hoping that they would still come back to me. And to my amazement: More than 50 percent FLOWERED! They shrunk, they were sitting in water, they froze down, they were in dormancy for a half a year or LONGER, and they BLOOMED! I am still floored by some of them. Now, they are out in the flower bed, fattening up. I hope they enjoy the situation. So you see, once they want to bloom, they just bloom, even if they kill themselves.

sorry folks, this was my mistake - I was searching for Lantana advice and I did not realize that this post was from MAY "2005" and not MAY "2006", so when I did not notice the old date, I posed a question on it yesterday (May 16 "2006"). When I realized how old this thread was I opened a new thread and posed the question again as I didn't think this one would pop up in the newer/recent topics..and now I have two of the same thing..sorry!!

Very carefully clear away any mulch, leaves, grass, etc. from the base. Use a cultivating hand tool to work around the base of the plant like you were going to fertilize it. Measure the diameter of an imaginary circle around the base of the plant. Now take a single ply piece of black plastic 2 x 2 feet and cut a circle from the middle of the plastic so it will fit around the base of your hibiscus. Put bricks or rocks at the corner to hold it down. The plastic will help heat the soil and stimulate growth from the roots. Now mix your favorite powdered fertilizer like Schultz's, Peter's, MiracleGro, etc. with water and fertilize the plant. I'll bet within 2 weeks you will see growth.