When I first bought a house in FL 25 years ago the nurseryman I bought my first citrus trees from said "don't let them bear any fruit for the first 2 years," as they need that time to develop their root system. Younger trees do not have the energy to develop strong roots and produce a good crop of fruit. If this is only their second season in your yard, it is probably too soon to let it bear fruit. Your fertilizing schedule sounds ok, and it does sound like your tree is getting enough water. I suspect that as you begin to harvest the fruit, and as the tree puts out new growth it will perk up again. I'd also limit the number of fruits you let the trees carry this coming season to 12-18, depending on how much it grows this year.

I must admit that I am quite impressed as to how helpful everyone on this forum has been! Thanks again everyone! Suzi, thanks for the encouragement! I sure hope the condo is not for too much longer because I have a feeling by next summer my balcony will have a hard time accomodating all of my planned citri (citruses/citri?). I would love to have your local and actually the misses and I are currently considering making move out to California in the next year or so (we should both be done with school this semester, finally...). It's just an idea right now and we would not move out there without job security, but it sure sounds appealing! Brett, thanks for the tips! I'm glad you said that about the pot size, there's a good chance I would have bought ones too big. I had a question about that though. A lady with some citrus experiance at my local nursery told me just to use a premixed Miracle Gro soil for citrus/cactus which actually had alot of the stuff you need to use (perlite, organics, sand) but I do not see too many people on these forums doing anything aside from mixing their own. Anyone got any suggestions for good deals ordering coconut husk chips? I do want to check some local nurserys and see if they have any by chance, but I am not sure I will have much luck here outside Chicago. As for fertilizer Brett I was considering using Osomocote slow release for outdoor/indoor plants (19-6-12), unless anyone has any objections or suggestions. The pointers were quite helpful Brett, thanks! Toni, It would be awesome to live in a location that had citrus trees at all of the bix boxes (as painful as it generally tends to be entering any and every big box). If you are refering to Pesche's in Des Plaines, it is indeed open, but I honestly do not kow much about their buisness history. It was a pretty nice place, quite a bit of selection, very helpful staff but the prices were indeed a bit high. I still bought a few things there (general potting soil and a bottle of superthrive) and would probably go back. I have never been to any of the other places you speak of, but one of my customers at the coffee shop today mentioned Jamacia Gardens to me and said I should check it out. Is there anywhere local you suggest getting the components for a good growth medium or do you order your components online? I would like to use coconut husk chips as well as the rest of the usual suspects (perlite, organics, ect) and was wondering if you know if they are locally available. As for prices I know those are steep, but I have actually checked out Gardenwatchdog and it seems as though Four Winds is one of the best rated companies. Also, I emailed them the other day w/ a question about shipping prices (the previously posted dilema) as well as to see if there was any chance that they had any 2-3 yr old Taroccos since their site said they were out. I was blown away by the response I got from customer service. The CS rep told me he wasn't sure but thought there was an extra 2-3 yr old Tarocco he might be able to sell me and that he would let me know in the next couple of days. He then told me a good deal of info on all three variaties of blood orange they sell and his personal success with bringing any indoors during the winter. He then proceeded to tell me all about what he thought were good suggestions for a novice as well as explained to me the whole shipping situation (which actually made sense after explained, it has to do with older trees being able to be packaged togather into one box where mixed age trees generally can't). In all the response was over 5 paragraphs, and I must admitt I was impressed! I might still order a few trees from them unless I can find all four of the trees I want from one supplier that is reputable and cheaper. I am going to check out those local nurserys though. As for selection I am not 100% sure but leaning towards a bearss lime, varigated pink lemon, gold nugget mandarin and possibly an oro blanco grapefruit (if not, either a tarocco blood orange or cara cara navel). Also, the owner of citrus.forumup.org also ocassionally sells some plants and has a few Meyer lemons right now that I believe he said would be $28 including shipping and that they should fruit this year. I was not initially planning on having 5 citrus trees this year, but I am planning on making it work. Thanks for all the help again Toni! Mike, I really appreciate the call to Four Winds for me! I emailed them and got an impressive response explaining the whole shipping situation. Their customer service is amazing! I found a Meyer for cheap, so I think I am going to give it a shot and I will surely keep you updated on it's status! Thanks folks! Joe

I am not overfeeding yet, tclynx. I put a spoonful of left over garbage in the container, covered it with a little more paper and sprayed that down. I managed to forget about the worms for 4 whole days, it is my nature to jump from one NEW idea to another, but yesterday, I peeked in and found 3 0r 4 worms lurking upon the handles under the lid...all wrapped together. The worms on the bottom are moving up, nicely, and I can see more than 1 worm when I look into the container! I can actually see hundreds of them without having to dig down and disturb them. I am being careful with the food, though. I figure that with as many worm beds that I have tried to establish outside, what little food I have managed to scrape off a plate can go into more than one worm factory, right? =o) Everyone is making more of themselves. I am happy! =o)

I have the Maytag Epic w/d set, on their commercials, they claimed to wash up to 16 prs. of jeans... That's false! I like my FL, but it doesn't hold as much laundry (& get it clean) like the commercials state. Someone above mentioned the clothes need room to move, this is very true! You'll have to give yourself time to learn all of the tricks though, there are plenty! Same w/ detergent, don't use the recommended amount, use way less to begin with. Also, different loads call for different amounts. For instance, I've found that on Sanitary cycle w/ a full load of towels, I need to use less detergent, I suppose it's because of the longer wash cycle & the friction of the towels. However some here have mentioned that maybe it's b/c of left over soap residue from your body. Like I said, it's a trial & error thing. As for fab. soft. I buy a bottle then pour 1/2 into an empty bottle & fill the bottles w/ water the rest of the way. Since these washers use so much less water, it makes sense that you wouldn't need full strength. This helps save $ too! Some ppl here may try to steer you away from using FS b/c of mold/mildew issues, but as long as you dry your washer out & do regular cleanings, there shouldn't be a problem. I also use dryer sheets in some loads. The only thing to remember about DS's is that they make a film on your lint screen, although it takes a while. If you use DS's regularly, you should clean your lint screen every few months or so. To test your screen for build-up, just run some water onto it, if the water sits & doesn't run through, there's build-up, it should be cleaned. I don't use DS's on a regular basis, so I only clean my screen about every 4-6 months. Another tip that I've learned is if you have extremely dirty, greasy laundry as I do, you can safely use a dishwasher pac in a prewash cycle & this helps tremedously! (*Put the pac right in the tub w/ the clothes, not in the dispenser.) My DH works construction so his jeans always have grease/oil/dirt on them. I throw them in w/ a pac on prewash & do the main wash as usual & they come out sparkling! Some of these jeans have set for several days too as he works out of state for 2 wks. @ a time, so that shows how well these little pacs work. Good luck w/ your new machines! Shannon