James: I agree about the grafting comparison one to another as things in so many cases are influenced greatly by the same rootstock. Look what happened when they vegetable grafted long and round peppers. Not only an immediate change of shape occurred but it was inherited! :) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423812002798 To me your Tropic Gold patent example and the pepper grafting also reminds me of something similar in a Rainier cherry that turned into a "Redlac sweet cherry", as per that patent being desribed as a hybrid. But one must question with our lack of understanding inheritance just where to draw the line of a new cultivar name. We at HOS test orchard such as myself there, alias name=Rooney (home orchard society . org), can be also somewhat "goaled" to proving anything with apricot works here. One old apricot tree around that has been circulated with the longest repoir (name forgotten) is one that is recently tested at HOS of which is the last tried replacing a Wenatchee Moorpark. What ever the name of it is an old friend from Alaska I had when we lived there has made collecting apricot clones a business and hobby which of all things had this one in more eastern Washington as a "shy bearer" according to Bob Purvis. I think it unconventionable that there it is not producing whilst here it is at least better than all the rest and a mystery... of possible apomixis. To further try and solve this I would be pleased to locate something out of your source from Tropic Gold only if by chance you know of any virus free praternal material. My speculation is that the resultant offspring would could inherit 100% (or apomictic) or more favorably a sexual blend from both sides, in order to find some combined good traits from each side praternal/maternal sides. Such as production and quality from the female and from the male's possible contribution to whatever is making a sure crop west of the mountains. Sorry if this logic sounds hard to follow but to me this makes sense as there is a certain mystery remaining unsolved to this point with apricots where the early pollination and fruit set goes wrong during cool and wet early spring exposures. Elsewhere like further north on Edmonton Canada (far_north forum, apricot thread) little apricots can take 25 degrees to a greater below freezing even than we in our coastal positions. I have had pollen from California mailed up by researchers to me several years ago from late blooming hunza apricots. Which turned out very viable for quite some time even going through the mail. Anyways, I had to ask??

I use plain old lumber and it rots after about three years- termites, but also fungus. I do not believe the wood attracts termites; I think they are already there, at least in our neighborhood. We get swarms all over the street at the first warm rain. You can use redwood if you want it to last longer, and redwood is more termite resistant. Concrete blocks are not very pretty, but you don't have to cement them together, so you can move the beds. I wouldn't worry about contamination from concrete blocks. You can plant strawberries inside each cell, too. A few tips- mine are 4 feet wide and I wish they were only 3 feet wide so that the plants in the middle were easier to reach. What Al said about hardware cloth. It's expensive, but so worth it! Your main problem will be keeping root knot nematodes at bay. Some soil already has them. You can also import them from nursery stock. The main plants they infect are strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers, eggplants, and squash, and they kill the plants just when the first fruits are setting. I have nematodes and my beds are now useless. I have tried digging all of the soil out and replacing it, planting marigolds, solarizing, letting it go fallow, you name it. Do not import the nematodes in the first place! Grow your plants from seed. Build more beds so that you can rotate the crops that are susceptible to nematodes. Grow nematode-resistant tomatoes. Grow your strawberries in pots so that you can throw the soil away if necessary. And it sounds really, really yummy.

Grief Ellie, you are asking for a lot. Most people here have no idea the climate in San Diego or of the viable crops. Not to mention that there are about 5 different microclimates. Here are a few for you to carefully consider. tomato: Bloody Butcher - good flavored early red golf ball size. Eva Purple Ball - Not so good flavor sliced but makes good juice and is very productive. Big Beef - Arguably the best overall hybrid indeterminate tomato available today. Onion - SuperStar carrot - bolero DarJones

For you to continue this discussion is pointless. With every additional comment you make you are just digging yourself a deeper and deeper hole of misinformation. You simply have no idea what you are talking about and are now repeating things you have Googled out of context. I am a consulting horticulturist and hold a commercial pesticide applicator's license. I know how to do research and all the research out there on this specific topic contradicts everything you have stated. If you have anything to support these ridiculous claims, then provide a link to a reputable source to substantiate. Right now all you are doing is blowing a lot of hot air. And just because Amazon or other vendors may not ship this product into CA does not negate the fact that it is widely available in that state to any consumer who wants to use it. And not just whatever stock is remaining in store shelves. Armstrong's Garden Centers are the largest independent retail nursery chain in CA and they are currently selling it: https://shop.armstronggarden.com/garden-supply/pest-weed-fungus-control/?SubCategory=Insect__Control(scroll down to Monterey Bt RTU). And so does Home Depot and anywhere else you care to shop. btw, Kimmsr's link is over a decade old because it was posted 15 years ago to this thread that was initiated at that time. And other than a bunch of blatant misstatements, you have not added anything of value to it since then. " You’ve been harassing me all over Houzz for various reasons. " You have no idea what harassment is!! Try snooping again in my private material and you'll find out. I do not suffer fools lightly nor know-it-alls that don't and all that I have been doing is correcting your misstatements and inaccuracies. And there's been a LOT!! Most GW members will not tolerate this type of behavior. Your comments have already been removed from several threads. Keep it up and you will find yourself removed from the entire website.