I don't think it makes any difference what happened to them the past few days -- they either lived or died, and clearly you took care of them so they lived. True, the root systems probably got warmer than in-ground plants did, but I doubt it would do much to them. It might even speed up heat loving annuals, perhaps send some perennials that naturally go dormant in the late summer into dormancy earlier. I think what is far more important is how they are cared for AFTER they go in the ground. As long as you can keep them watered for the rest of the summer in-ground, I don't see any reason NOT to go ahead and plant. I have cleared out my collection of things waiting to be planted over the past 2 weeks, and now have to water in their new site, but I'm so glad they are all out of pots and in-ground now. It's always a big relief to me when the spring planting season is over Well, ok, except for the little pile I bought the last couple of days because they are having a tremendous clearance at Lowes and Home Depot on my route home from work. It's still close to 100 here today, so I am staying inside and getting caught up on housework and laundry, yes, shocking I know but we men can do housework and laundry too, and will attend to my latest purchases tomorrow when the high is going to be 82.

Hi! I was just looking at this post today lol, nice of you to respond. It's still there, hasn't really turned into anything too much yet (the papaya is growing a bit slow so I'm not worried) but it still definitely has that swollen base. I took of one of the non-hermie flowers and tried to pollinate it with the anthers from that and my finger so we'll see. I think the issue with using soft water is they use sodium or something similar to make the water soft (operates on an ion exchange basis, where they exchange carbonates (calcium and magnesium) for salts (sodium and potassium)) and the problem is I don't want salt (sodium) to build up in the containers. Adding the acid also works on the carbonates but changes them into salts (notably gypsum when using sulfuric acid) and takes it out of the pH interplay. I'm just using normal city water to irrigate, it's just that high because the city pumps it from the ground, and our ground is made up of limestone (like pouring dissolved lime on the plants when I water). As for lowering the pH in soil, irrigating with acidified water will do that over time, the same as watering with high pH/highly alkaline water with lots of bicarbonates will raise soil pH over time. The sulfuric acid performs the same job as adding sulfur to lower soil pH, just quicker ;D So to answer your question my papaya flower is still there, I just added 2 oz or so of slow-release fertilizer to the pot (for micros and such) this weekend, and will be irrigating it with ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) on a weekly basis. How're yours? :)

Air source heat pumps don't make sense in areas where winter temps frequently fall below 32 degrees. Once you get below freezing, you will be running the auxillary heat a lot. If you decide to go the air source route, you will want a second stage gas fired auxillary heat. I live in the mid-atlantic region in the mountains and selected GT. That choice was coupled with a blown cellulose insulation package. My other choice was a propane heat/electric AC with a foam insulation package. Both options were roughly the same install cost. Both would have provided similar energy efficiency. At the time we selected, propane was 3.75 a gallon and rising (with no end in sight) so we went with GT. The delta cost for the GT system (above the cost for a HE propane heat and electric AC system) was $15,000 for the heat pumps and loop plumbing (including pumps) plus $17,000 for digging the pit. The pit excavation should not have cost as much as it did but it is a 12 ton system and the hole was gigantic (120' x 48' x 6'). We live on a mountain and hit a bunch of boulders that required special equipment to get out. Rocky soil also required a 1' base of stone dust to cover the loop piping. The total cost for the GT HVAC system including all ducting was $50,000 plus the pit excavation cost of 17K. It is a large investment and I would only recommend it if you plan to live in the house a very long time. My heating bills are great - maybe 300 dollars maximum a month during peak winter for an 8500 square foot home (5900 living and the rest a condiitoned but unfinished basement). Make sure that whatever equipment you choose can be maintained by more than 1 very qualified HVAC company who has many years of GT experience. In my area there is only 1 GT company who has over 20 years of experience but I am stuck with them for maintenance. There have been times when I wanted to fire them but cannot. Local competition is a good thing. Also - if you build a tight home make sure that you consider ventilation and dehumidification in the HVAC design. I wound up adding both a whole house dehumidifier and energy recovery vent after we moved in becuase we had basement moisture issues as well as stale air in the winter. Tight homes are great for energy efficiency but can create health issues too. It is easy to deal with as long as you plan for it. Good luck with the build.

Off the top of my head: Sanguinelli Blood, Tarocco, Moro, Budd Blood, Smith Red, Vaniglia Sanguigno, Valentine(Pumello), Red Vaencia, and Cara Cara (lycopene). I mighthave a couple more that I am not remembering and I have multiples of some and a few Moro and Tarocco from seed. I think they all have gotten fruitlets and several have developed mature fruit but they are all still small trees so not a huge amount of fruit yet. I was hoping for a lot of fruit this year as the trees have been doing well even after the greenhouse overheat in April, but something keeps eating or stealing the fruit when they get about 2 inches in diameter. It is quite frustrating. I never had problems other years so it must be something new to my yard. I have chipmunks for the first time this year, but the fruit seem to large for them to take. I had a second Tarocco, but it died suddenly for no reason I could ever figure out. It's twin is still doing fine and they were next to each other in the greenhouse when the one started dying almost overnight. I had a cocktail grapefruit/pumelo die like that also. I am wondering if that is a rootstock compatibility issue when that happens or maybe the graft fails. The Cocktail made 5 ripe fruit last winter and suddenly died overnight. It had fruited at least twice before that and was a strong grower. It was one of my largest trees. Again, I don't know why it died. It did not seem to be prone to scale, spider mites, aphids or other bugs. The rootstock still looks alive, but it has not sprouted at all. I have been waiting all summer. The Tarocco rootstock sprouted some kind of trifoliate and I now have a fairly large tree to graft onto when I get brave enough and find the time to try grafting. Some trees are real scale magnets,but these were not. Cory