Bud drop can caused by a few different reasons. Water your cactus thoroughly, then let it get pretty darn close to dry before watering it again. Turning the cactus when buds are still under an inch long, as well as over or under-watered. Also, a newly bought plant can lose buds just because it's been moved to a different environment. Jungle cactus like it cool (50-65 degrees) to set bud and when in flower, plus, the flowers will last so much longer in a cooler room than in a heated one, so you could try moving it to a cooler place and put it where it will receive bright indirect light. Sun is not needed for budding or flowering.It just might be it's too hot where it is now. Even set in a north window in a cool room will suffice. Billy Rae

"Right" pH is a bit of a misnomer -- most plants will tolerate, even thrive, in a relatively wide range of pH and peppers are no exception. A quick Google search turned up the following ranges: 5.5-7.0, 6.0-6.5, 6.5-7.5. Unless you were growing a specifically acid-loving plant (blueberries, potatoes, etc.), a slightly acidic soil (6.3-6.8) is the preferred range for the largest number of plants. I wouldn't bother to do any adjusting to a potting soil. The need for frequent supplemental fertilization for any containerized plant will override any need for fine tuning the pH any further.

You'll be relieved to know that I've figured it out!!! Turns out I'll need just under 2 cubic yards-whew! I'll buy bags and try to find something similar to the potting soil I've used in the past plus a mixture of composted manures and mushroom compost. Thanks, guys, for letting me 'talk' this through.

I like your 50/50 mix idea of Old+New TT, so I think I will do that too for the benefits of both and spread it out. I have 'too much water' problem on some of my 'tainers (according to what others have said in my thread about that). The plant in the ET with the carved lid is doing the best.. I guess because the unusual rains we have had in our area cannot penetrate en-masse into the ET to screw up the moisture balance. I may go ahead and do carved lids for all my ET's next year in case we have an unusual volume of rain again. You just have to take extra special care when you plant your Tomatoes into the small holes of the lid. It'll be a challenge for the 30-ga ETs with two plants per 'tainer. The mulch on top of the lid has not moved at all, so my earlier worries of that blowing off were unwarranted. It 'sticks' to the lid just fine and is keeping the ETs cool. If the fertilizer is 'spent' then as you say I shouldn't have any problem re-using the 'tainer medium next year. Do you think the purists will say much about that? I might need to build two more ETs just for an example and make up fresh mix anyway next year because I want to try alot of different varieties. I'm looking to try Goosecreek and stupice, but have yet to find anyone with seeds of those 2. All in all these ETs are fun and can't thank you enough for the guide\videos you put out there for everyone.