Hey Josh, I have been been using Pro-Tekt with my Foliage Pro all winter and i can say that my plants have definately been happier than in the past... When i take my rain water and place it in my watering cans, i add the Pro Tekt first to all of the water and then stir it in. (1/4 tsp per gallon) Then i go back and add my Foliage Pro to the water. I keep it upstairs and let it warm to room temperature and then water. The combination of the two will definately help your plants and im so happy to have found my Pro Tekt. My Hydroponics dealer had to order it for me. I still can't find or he wont (says he cant..) order it for me. He looked it up and says its not available. Hmm? I still order my Foliage Pro from Ebay. They have free shipping anyway. Have fun with your Pro Tekt!!! Hope you are feeling better!!! Happy Spring AL!!! Take Care, Laura

Okay, just looked up green panda, and it is a variety of FARGESIA RUFA.It is a clumping bamboo and will not take over your yard. I have one that was plaanted as a two gallon, two summers ago. This year it will be about five feet tall and three feet wide. BEAUTIFUL! I just use miracle gro or osmocote. Osmacote will feed for three months.

Hi Lou. Don't want to sound like I'm butting in, but here goes. I agree that maintenance is more important in lawn care than the type of grass. kimmsr has a longer history on the organic forum than in the lawn forum and has taught me some things. After years of reading subtle changes in the way he words his messages, together with some other things I've read, I believe kimmsr has a program that makes considerable sense. I butted heads with him on the over use of compost for years, but now I think he has (re)discovered some things that others have overlooked. Before kimmsr there was a writer on the organic forum who talked about composting his lawn every fall. That was about the only thing I disagreed with him about, too. Now I think I understand why it works. For those of you who don't care about why I think it works, you can stop reading now. The reason I think it works was revealed in a booklet by a Russian author from the 1800s. There is one reason why this works but it depends on two physical phenomena. The first is the idea that compost absorbs ammonia gas compounds which are either in the air or byproducts of the decomposition of nitrogen compounds in the soil. It is well known that covering a smelly compost pile with more compost will stop the smell. That's because compost absorbs the smells. The second phenomenon is the fact that compost absorbs humidity from both the soil and air. I guess a corollary phenomenon is that ammonia gas will dissolve into water very readily. When the dew point temperature is reached in the moist, ammonia filled compost, what happens is that the ammonia saturated moisture drips out of the compost and down into the soil. Thus I have tempered my negative opinion of the frequent use of compost pending any more information on the subject. It seems to work for a lot of people, so maybe that is why.

I'm with mustbnuts - I simply can't fertilize monthly or multiple times or I'd get nothing else done in the garden and no time to enjoy the roses. In a good year, I give the established roses one dose in spring of: .5-1 cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer and the same amount of Ironite (amount depends on size of rose), plus a generous handful or two of alfalfa hay. My new roses are always planted with manure and alfalfa hay, and they don't want anything granular or it can cause damage. Madakatude, I find that the hay is a safe and easy way to get the alfalfa to the roses. I'm with you that I can't handle the tea, and couldn't possibly make enough for all my roses. I tried the alfalfa pellets one year but they got wet and rolled next to the canes, making a toxic soup that ate away at the bark and killed about 30 roses before I caught it. The hay decomposes gradually and encourages basal breaks, so it is a good partner to the more rapid acting synthetic fertilizer. I buy alfalfa bales (the chopped is much better in small chunks) and either put it around the roses in handfuls, or gleefully toss it onto rose beds where the roses are planted thickly. Once this fertilizer is down, I reach down and "ruffle the hair" of the mulch under the roses so it's not too thick in any one place, and the alfalfa is disguised under my leaf mulch. I got about 500 roses fertilized last weekend and will finish the other half this weekend, presuming I can handle the uncharacteristic 90+ degree weather that just won't leave. I have liquid fertilizers that I always intend to use mid-season for all the roses, or more particularly for the wimpy growers, but I never seem to get around to it. So basically, one administration of one round of fertilizer is all any roses get. I have pretty good soil and I faithfully amend it with organics year round, and that also counts as long term "feeding" of the roses in the big picture. Cynthia