Exactly, the paper i pasted from describes the same phenom you have been describing for over 10 years. I have always raged that the big greenhouse media suppliers claim that 30% perlite into a peat is a high porosity mix. And so many growers prefer short squatty containers [helpful for blow over prevention but nothing else] Container Geometry is almost as important as the mix. i remember in 1984 I took a 400 level greenhouse management course at University of Delaware. The prof soaked a rectangular sponge and held it by the edges parrallel to the sink flatwise and let water drain, then he rotated the sponge on the shorter vertical axis and more water drained, when that free drainage ended he then rotated the sponge vertically in it tallest plane and more water drained. When I read your suggestion about using a draping shoelace as draining wick to lower the PWT the distance of the wick, I shouted YES at the elegant simple brilliance. In 1977 I grew a marijuana plant in a milk crate full of gravel, the stalk was over 2 inches in diameter [no different than growing in glass.] BTW, in your gritty mix what are the ratios and actual particle size for each component? I would think to use slightly larger particle sizes than i think you were using and i would probably consider using zeolite or a calcined DE or calcined clay. BTW, Ep minerals makes several absorbents both DE and Clay, Calcined or regular as various spill absorbers available in any auto parts store. 5o pounds for about 10 dollars. Don''t know the particle sizes but likely need to be screened to eliminate the fines. The clays are generally calcium bentonite and not sodium bentonite so less sodium and less swelling. I beileve Arcillite and Tuface are calcium bentonites. I was just thinking that decomoposed granite and even bark add no water holding capacity but with DE and Proper sized ceramics you could add more waterholding capacity but still maintain the airspace. The airspace in the ep mineral clay was pretty low when I measured it last, but I did not screen it. Somewhere I have a spreadsheet with AFP, WHC, TP, TPv, etc for over a dozen components and mixes. I have run quite a few in both 16 oz and taller 32 oz cups, [1 liter exactly when filled to rim overflow which makes that size intuitively easy for all the math. I think i found your posts about 3 years ago and then lost them. Am I correct in thinking you have some water release curve data around somewhere. Someone posted some WRC showing that Axis DE or perhaps the Axis clay media held huge amounts of water but easily released over 75% to the plant. TI can not find that post. I was actually searching for Vertical hydraulic conductivity, Capillary Rise and Capillary rate and wicking when your links showed up. The axis DE is like $90 a bag for 50 pounds so i think I could more cheaply reproduce from other products but have to screen. where I live in idaho, there is a Celatom DE plant less than 60 miles away, 2 zeolite mines, a sodium bentonite mine, WHC and Airspace mid 20s in the 2 larger particle sizess. Also the best white pumice [Hess] source mine a few hours away. I had hoped better water holding capacity. I plan on rerunning all the mixes again in a few months now that i have more standardized my process using multiple cup sizes, some of them tamped or shaken to settle, some top watered, some bottom water, measure distance of subsidence if any. I also have a vegetronix tensionometer now and will take additional measures at various depths to measure the exact tension and also verify depth of pWT which i can usually see through the transparent cups if I use a marking dye and saturate from below. Anyway I will share those spreadsheets in the near future If i were to guess, you have some sort of plant and soil science background or some civil engineering background and a love for plants. At any rate, your explanations and examples are some of the best I have ever come across, and your shoelace suggestion is brilliant, truly. i read so much WRONG advice or the wrong analysis for reason why something works or does not work. it is refreshing to come across accurate information Garret Goyette

If I watered 1-4 hours per zone on my system (I have 6 active zones) I'd have water puddled and streaming into the street and neighbors like crazy. My lawn just doesn't soak up water like yours does apparently. How many inches of water do you put down every week? My combination of water pressure, hose, and sprinkler put down 1/8 inch per hour over an area of around 900 square feet. Everyone's situation will be different. Furthermore everyone's soil, humidity, and grass will be different. The idea is to put all your water down at one time and not spread it over 7 days. If you water every day you are asking, no BEGGING for weeds. You can wean your lawn off of frequent watering. You can also spray it with soap to help the water soak in much deeper and remain in the soil longer. Another method to stop runoff is to water for 15 minutes and wait for 30. Then water again until you see runoff. As soon as you see runoff, stop and let it soak in for 30 minutes. Letting it soak in is important. It is exactly like wringing out a sponge. The water will eventually drain much deeper in the soil and retain that moisture much longer. Also, I see you discourage Scotts Weed and Feed type products. Why? Weed and feed products sound very good and they are easy to market. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Here is the problem. Weeds die best when they are well fed. The take up the poison more completely and die. When they are not well fed, their uptake is weak and they might live through the poisoning. When you apply weed and feed, the weeds get fed from the fertilizer right away and the weed killer starts to deteriorate right away. By the time the weeds are healthy enough to be affected by the poison, the poison is gone. A better idea is to fertilize and then wait 2 weeks. After 2 weeks sometimes the weeds will be gone simply because the healthy grass pushed them out. For those remaining weeds, use a spray product like Weed B Gone to spot-spray each weed. This method is much more effective and helps keep the use of poisons to a minimum.

Lakeside Full Tide....leaf in July Lakeside Full Tide....same day in July Lakeside Kaleidoscope....got it in Sept 2011, so one of my older hosta Lakeside Paisley Print Lakeside Pebbles....tough little guy which I kept with King of Spades and Rhino Hide for awhile--the "three amigos".... Lakeside Small Fry....it was doing fine and then fire ants invaded the trough it was in. Set it back late in the season. Shown here to the right of Itty Bitty, a wee mousey And for the heck of it, here is LS Pebbles again, with all his buddies, hanging out in the courtyard

Dear Lynn and Dianne, I had just written you a long post in answer to yours and at the last few words my system crashed. More briefly now I have cancelled Darcey Bussell and ordered Love Song since the lady at Chamblee's confirmed that for her, in Texas, DB was always more reddish and LS always stayed purplish, although I suppose it's really more in the mauve range. She also thought that LS was prettier than Blue For You when I asked her opinion. Thanks to your last two posts I now feel quite sure that I've made the right decision. I had already ordered DB before I began this thread about purple roses and was just going to add a purple, but if DB is reddish I know I wouldn't have been happy and it would have been a waste of money. Diane, I'm really amazed at your Love Song's resistance to the heat, and that makes me even more excited about getting one, since heat I've got. Twilight Zone is beautiful and I would have considered it but Chamblee's doesn't offer it. Maybe one to consider further down the road. Thanks again for taking so much time to assist me.