I experimented around with turface for SWCs for a few years. Turface does wick water fairly high although slowly, so a mostly turface mix did not sustain a tomato plant in an 5 gallon SWC I had. For your setup, indoor hanging basket, your pot is/should be shallow and the plant won't need a lot of water. So you probably would get good results from using straight turface (or turface fines). For outdoor SWCs I only flushed out the salt buildup one a growing season. You'd probably need to flush yours out even less.

No need to freak out kim.....you can cut back just about anything.....it is a good practice once your plants have outgrown their planters and are drying out too fast.....my impatiens are becoming little trees and are drinking alot and may start to seperate in cooler months ahead...I will post a photo after I hack the hell out of them and the after they recover....I will be away for a week at the end of the month and everything would be dead when I come back if i didn't reduce them....regular petunias planted on the ground really benefit from heavy cutting back the last of july to avoid getting leggy......I think you should try the flowering kale at this late date for planting in your zone.......and a trailer like creeping jenny or vinca.....if you can find something small in flower like begonias or lobelia at this time of year and you can stuff it in there, do it...........this time of year you can get away with cramming in some plants because they will not have enough season left to be overplanted.......your kale and trailer planted so close to your house should get you to christmas.......another option would be geraniums or marigolds(or both) if you think you need a flowering plant......you could buy some kale put it in the ground, plant geraniums or marigolds for now with a trailer.....and swap them in november.....Kale will look nice to minus 20.......as long as snow does not lay on it you could have it well into january that close to the house, when choosing Kale, try to find some that the stems are not too tall, if they are a little leggy, plant them deep..........I don't believe you posted your supertunia photo kim......lets see what your other containers are doing

Macrame'! An age old craft that seemed to peak during the 60' and 70's, then die out... until the return of "surfer" jewelry made from hemp and other materials. Yes, I've done a lot in the macrame' department, including plant hangers, wall hangings, curtains, jewelry, double pot hangers, hanging tables, lamps, woven chairs, etc... hammocks and bed hangings are more expensive and complicated, but are gorgeous when finished. How complicated they are depends upon the knots used and the sequences of the various knots. Your basic square knot and half knot are the most common, I believe... and then there's learning how to incorporate the top loop, beads or decorations, and the chosen method of finishing off the bottom. The boring parts are cutting the various lengths of jute or hemp, or even nylon or synthetic cording, and the endless knot sequences. I've made quick, rudimentary hangers from baling twine, though it's a bit stiff to work with. Craft stores still carry the materials and inexpensive magazines and craft books with instructions. You might also find some patterns and instructions for free download via the internet. If Googled, probably a million results will be given, and you can search exactly what you're after. It's fairly easy to learn, a nice craft for gift giving, and very versatile... as you can make or cover all manner of items. The main key is learning to make your knots with an even tension. Good luck! I'm sure anything you do make will turn out nice!

Was at L's yesterday trying to buy wood-crafting tools they don't even sell (go figure!) and the few TC's left were on clearance. The $10 were $5 and the $3 plants were .50. Although there were several bigger ones with white, very white flowers, even I couldn't rationalize such a purchase with the present-budget. So I got 7 little .50 ones with the lightest colored buds. For $3.50, worth waiting for a year to see what they open to, assuming all of these buds will fall off as I'm expecting. I also picked up all of the broken pieces from the floor & stuck them in the tray. A few look promising, and total mysteries regarding flower color. Now, where in the world am I going to put these things? I'm pretty sure I'll be cutting more/bigger holes in the sides of hanging baskets & sticking them in those. Seriously no room for any more pots!