remember, your fish are cold blooded and their bodies are the same temp as the water (the water temp is the only temp that matters). their metabolism slows down considerably and they do not need as many calories. as a general rule don't feed at all below 50 and low to no protein below 60. when their bodies are cold, the bacteria in their gut cools as well and stops funtioning making them unable to digest the protein properly. in japan they sometimes feed their fish boiled rice, or soft vegetables like peeled and cooked peas when the water is cold. even so they do it sparingly as the fish do not need much food and any unused fool will foul the water. personally i do not feed at all from about the beginning of november to the begining of april. i don't take a temperature reading, but watch the fish. when they quit rising to the surface to eat, i quit feeding them. i have some low protein food that i feed them when they are feeding, but the water is colder than water i would consider swimming in. there is plenty of algae and vegetable muck in there for them to snack on if they need a mid-winter snack. in fact, i only feed them a 4-5 times a week in the summer. and don't worry about them if i leave town. they are perfectly capable of finding enough with out me, anything i give them is dessert. i do step up the feeding in september and october to give them a few months to put on some reserves before the long fast. i only have 3 large ranchu (7") in 500 gallons of heavily planted chemical free waterÂthere is plenty of food for them in the form of worms, insects and algae. if i had more fish i would probably need to feed more in the summer than i do now. watch your fish, they will let you know when it is time to eat. if they are gulping and begging at the surface it is ok, just start and end the season with low protein foodsÂthey are labeled as such and available at any pond or pet store.

Sherry, one thing I've noticed about your garden is how fast your roses grow, and I've read about your soil prep so I know how much you rely on organics, manure, etc. Just the difference in the Natch N pictures makes me wonder if the bloom problems in the second pic were because of fertilizer needs. Your good soil prep and and climate seem to be so conducive to growth, that coupled with your sandy soil and constant rain lately, that I wonder if the N is being depleted really quickly, so something like a fast acting nitrogen is a good fix for right now. Makes me think that your feeding program next year needs more N overall...? I have been using Milorganite; some people don't like it because of suspicions about heavy metals, etc., but my roses sure like it. Anyway, just a thought. just one more anecdote, Hermosa for me started getting those washed out blooms like your NN. I got so disgusted that I cut it down to 6 inches and started feeding it Miracle Grow frequently. It snapped out of it, regained its lost growth and the bloom color went back to normal. That is purely anecdotal, but it makes me wonder if that's what caused the NN problems too. I don't know, just thinking aloud, so you know what that's worth! Love ya, Gean

Well I would have planted it already in its permanent spot, if you know it already, but since you have confirmed it's a good a root then I think you can move it now while it is still fairly infant. I would not take a cutting of this shoot specifically. Wait until it has grown a bit, then take a cutting off its stems or even the top of the growth if you want to promote side branches. By letting it grow and produce food for the plant, you will get many more branches and possibly even additional shoots without stressing out the one tuber that is trying to regrow based on its own stored energy.

Weed and feed is regular fertilizer plus herbicide. You should get the same fertilizer effect from the product. The issue that most of us have with the combo product is that it is fairly rare to need to fertilize and use a blanket application of a weed killer at the same time. We prefer to get the appropriate product and use as needed, when needed. Fertilizer will promote weed growth just like it does with grass. If there are weeds germinating and not killed with the herbicide in the weed and feed, those weed will grow. Ideally you want to fertilize then hit the weeds later if/when they growth.