Howdy Alan. "Spiders eat live prey." Like me? LOL Alan, do you handle insects without wearing gloves? Oohhh. I had some doubts about baiting spiders..You're right, they're not like roaches..set food inside a trap, and like motels, they won't check out. Fears are inherited from our parents/guardians. My mother would scream when a spider, well, almost any insect got in the house. She wasn't afraid of lighting bugs, butterfly's, etc, neither am I..she detested moths..bird seed (we have plenty,) attracts moths. Thank goodness, moths don't worry me. Alan, how many different types of house spiders are there? Did you know IL had Black Widows? I had NO idea..In 1994, I worked in a retail plant store. One day, my manager (she knew my love of spiders,) walked in and said, Hey Toni, do you want to see a BW? I thought she was joking..Sure enough, on the side of the building, a BW resided..A co-worker said they lived in his yard..He lives in Chicago!!! I couldn't believe it..So, out of curiosity, I phoned the Chicago Public Library for verification, asked if they'd check, and sure enough, I was informed BW's were documented living in the midwest. And other cold climate states. I'll never forget this. My grandmother bought a bunch of bananas. As she pulled one off, stuck to the peel was a dead Banana Spider. This happened years ago. Why did you wife's doctor think the spider was a Recluse? Does he have a phobia? LOL. Alan, how on earth do you remember each spider/insect known to man, latin names? If this is too personal, you dont have to answer, but I was wondering if you've travelled to places like the Amazon searching for insects. I have to scroll up to see what your occupation is. I'd have to ask my friend, Cindy, how she or whomever concluded she was bitten by a Recluse. Both people who were bitten happened to be in a country-like atmosphere. She has a summer house about 70 miles southwest of Chicago. The second person who was bitten is a friend/co-worker of my husband. I hope your wife is okay, Alan..did you charge your wife's doctor a co-pay for analyzing his spider? LOL Spiders eat Praying Mantis? You're kidding? I'd imagine a large spider would be capable, but what about small to mid sized? I don't want to harm a Mantis. Alan, nope, EW's don't amount to much, especially since you mentioned they eat new foliage. No wonder my Croton has newly bitten leaves. The Croton is on a table..one of the spots I mentioned when you lift a pot numerous EW's take off. Do you know if they're nocturnal? Thanks for the info..You are a true-blue, knowledgeable insect-person. LOL. Sarah, if I hadn't scrolled up to search for something Alan wrote, I wouldn't have seen your post.. Well, next time/if, ants find a way in, I know what to do. Thanks so much. What happens to the ants when you set out the cotton? Does it kill them or keep them out? I dont know what essential oil is..What is it? You fear crickets? Really? I love when they sing at night, while lying in bed, but if one hopped on me, I'd probably fall on my, behind..LOL..Between spiders and crickets, I'd rather deal with crickets. Are crickets the only insect you fear? What about grasshoppers? Is it their appearance that troubles you, or the fact they hop/jump? If it's the hopping, what would you if you saw a Jumping Spider? Sorry, I don't know the Latin names. Oh Sarah, your cats are sooo pretty..Beautiful in fact. The Calaco, Ugs, (LOL, that name) colors are so pronounced. Luna's a nice name..Did you adopt during a full moon? (S) I'm happy you found and adopted Ug. What color are her eyes. Nerd's huge, green eyes are inviting. Are they lap cats? Purr loud? We had a Catalina Macaw (21 yrs.) His name was Zelda, (talk about names,) he was a surgically sexed male. We got Zelda when he was 6 months old, if that. After his 15th year with us, he changed, grew violent. Not a little violent, a lot. He turned against me. Every morning, while I was sleeping, he'd walk in the bedroom and bite. Everyday I'd wake dripping w/blood. One day while walking in the LR, he charged, bit the skin between my toes. To this day, my toes are split. Meaning when I stand, my toes are shaped like a 'V.' The conclusion, he 'flew' on my face, held onto my skin..he wouldn't let go. I was spinning around, and still he wouldn't loosen his grip. Their powerful beak ranges 4-5," maybe more.. That was it. I know a few women in charge of Illinois bird shows/fairs. They adopt unwanted/abused birds. Zelda wasn't abused at all, though when he woke me, I was afraid when half asleep, I'd strike out and hurt him. We took him to the vet for a physical before thinking about putting him up for adoption..the vet said he was going through sexual frustration. He was seeking a mate. Since he didn't want me touching anyone, including our son, he attacked me. We ended up putting him up for adoption..I was so darn depressed, but there wasn't any other choice. A single, lonely man adopted him; the two get along great. I keep tabs on Zelda but not allowed to visit. After 21 years, he might remember who we are, which might cause problems..I understand their rules. If anyone asks about adopting a bird larger than a love bird, (unless they live in a warm climate and/or have more than one bird) my advice is to look for a smaller parrot or move to a sub-tropical area. Birds need company, attention, and healthy foods..Bird seed isn't adequate. No siree-bob. They need fruit and veggies on a daily basis..they can't be locked in a cage 24/7. Around 5 years of age, birds go through sexual maturity. At that time, they need a lot of attention, bond, or else they'll eat your walls, furniture, and rip anything they feel will make appropriate nesting.. Budgies and Cockatiels are good size. They're smart, learn to whistle an entire song, and even talk. Males are vocal, females affectionate. Speaking of phobias, there are a good number of people who fear birds..Maybe they'd seen Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds movie..LOl.. Sarah, do your cats eat/bother your plants? Do they have a favorite? Toni

I own a lot of different pruners but Felco's are the best. I save all my other pruners for dirty or "unauthorized" pruning work. Since I have a lot of arthritis in my hands, I have the Felco model with the rotating handle that really does make frequent or routine pruning a much easier chore. I've owned my Felco's for over 20 years and so far they have only gone through a routine annual breakdown cleaning, sharpening as necessary and one blade change. Pretty good for two decades of heavy duty work, including some professional pruning. I think pricing of Felco's - like most other commodities - is dictated a lot by location. Local GC's and other outlets that sell these and other upperend pruners typically have them listed for about $55 and up, depending on model. I'm sure other areas sell for less and ordering online may be the best pricing if you don't factor in shipping costs. I think the price is worth it as these come with a lifetime warranty and all parts are replaceable. When Coronas or Fiskars go defunct, you just have to toss them

Hello fegray, I am new to the forum but have been growing citrus in Connecticut (except for a decade spent in Florida) for about 35 years. My oldest tree is a sour orange I planted about 35 years ago when a young boy of 7 or so, and I have a large 4 by 4 foot Calamondin, a two by two Meyer Lemon (that had 25 lemons on it this fall, and still has 16 to go--2 lemons required per pie!), a two by-two Key lime, a 3 by 3 Buddha's Hand citron, a 2.5 foot tall and rather spindly Ponderosa lemon (on dwarfing rootstock), and a couple other smaller citrus, so I have plenty of experience with pruning, repotting, and dealing with insect infestations. I have had scale before, though not for many years. My citrus trees usually end up with spider mites during the winter: all it takes is a mite or two making it in during the move from outside to inside in October, and by Xmas I often have an infestation. The signs are similar to what you describe (sugary "sap", small spider webs, and sticky leaves). If you have mature scale insects of the kind I've encountered here in the northeast, they would likely be quite obvious and will often be clustered on the newer (say last summer's) shoots and should stand out from the green bark as they are typically brown or yellow or reddish brown. The nymphs or little scale crawlers move about, but the adults stay in one place. I am skeptical that Safer will do the trick for you if you have scale or spider mites, but it won't hurt to try, as long as you don't let them go on too long. In a couple weeks, in zone 7, you may even be able to move the plant outside where the rain and humidity will work against the insects. Note: If you have spider mites and your closeup eyesight is not the best, you may not be able to see the actual insects. The particular mites I get are so small that I can only see them when I have full sunlight falling on the leaves and can spot the mites moving around on them or their webs. They are smaller than periods in newsprint, and light reddish brown to yellow in color. The test is to take a white sheet of paper, hold it under the suspected site of infestation, and gently tap and shake the leaves and smaller branches. If you have mites, you'll have a few specs that slowly move on the paper after this. I have never had luck controlling mites with the friendly sprays many posters advocate, but as long as the infestation is not severe they will fade away in numbers once the afflicted plant goes outside. If the infestation is severe, they can weaken the tree to the point of no return, though with a large tree I think this is somewhat unlikely. There are other possible causes for sudden leaf drop as I'm sure you know: a cold draft, the natural dropping of old leaves, and uneven watering; this last is not necessary obvious. With your large tree, you may not be able to get it enough water if it is rootbound: you can water a citrus two or three times a week and still won't keep it happy if it is growing. Thus, if the tree gets too dry during the winter you can quickly kill it or cause a large section to die back. I make an effort to water my trees thoroughly up to twice a week in the winter if they are growing, flowering, and fruiting (and they often do all of this for months on end). By thorough, I mean until water comes out of the bottom of the drain holes. Having repotted and root trimmed a few times over the years, I can tell you that if a citrus plant is badly potbound and it goes into a growth phase you may need to water it every other day. I had to do this a few years ago. In other words, you may think you are watering enough, and you may even have water coming out the drain holes, but there may be too little soil to hold the water inside the pot long enough for the plant to drink it in. Of course, too much water can also cause leaf drop, so please check to see if your citrus is potbound. The quick test is to try to lift the rootball out of the pot. You may need help to do this! If it comes out and all you can really see is roots . . . well, that is a pretty good sign it needs to be root-trimmed and backfilled with new soil, or repotted, or both. Regarding your long-standing lack of flowers and fruit: I would say that this is odd. My 35 year old sour orange flowers and fruits profusely, and has done so since it was about 15 years old, and before then it did so to a lesser extent. I have kept it in a 22 inch plastic pot for the last 5 or 6 years and take it out and root prune it ever three or four. I think it is due for another pruning this spring. Including the container, it is about 6 1/2 feet tall: I prune it back a foot or two over the course of the summer (if it sends out suckers I tend to cut them before they get too unruly), and then I inevitably end up pruning it once more in October before it comes in. I regularly leave my citrus outside until the night temperatures drop into the low forties or upper thirties (I live in central Connecticut, and last fall I think the last citrus came inside on the 14th of October). In my experience, the only think healthy citrus trees need to induce flowering in the winter is a good sunny window: I've had them flower with west light, south light, and even west light in an attached garage that got down to 50 degrees at night where the light came in through the little garage windows. My advice is that as long as the tree is healthy you should try giving it a good pruning a week or ten days after you move it outside. Say a good 6 inches to a foot all the way around. Good luck! Don

>>In each case, I would have been much better off to invest when everyone was pulling out. Much better off. Absolutely. It's the "sheep", or if you prefer, the "lemmings" mentality that affects way too many people. One good way to counteract that: realize that anytime the media is screaming Financial Disaster, that the old saw will apply yet again - "This too, shall pass." OJ's suggestion is actually quite a good one. It uses dollar-cost averaging which is to your benefit, especially if you have a 10-20 yr timeline before pulling those funds out. One note, BTW - ANY bank can set up electronic funds transfers to your stockbroker, insofar as I know. It's called an ACH form and the only requirement is that it must be done in the same amount, each transaction. The transactions can be weekly, monthly, quarterly or even annually - just as long as they can be set up once and not changed. To change an ACH, one has to resubmit new forms each time, so this is why the transactions need to be "automatic." However, since you are leaning towards the idea of investing in RE, I would strongly urge you to at least maximize your retirement contributions. Yes, you may miss the absolute bottom of the RE market by a few months (since maximizing your retirement contributions may slow down your cash savings plan), but you NEED that diversification. You will be tying up a considerable chunk of net worth in very illiquid RE, which is rather like owning a huge bond allocation. As you have seen, the return on money market funds and even TIPS has dropped considerably. At this point they are hardly keeping their eyebrows above the inflation rate. Use your own psychology against yourself - since you recognize that you are a bigger risk-taker in your retirement accounts, diversify that portfolio with at least an 80% equity spread, across at least five sectors of the market. Maximizing your contributions will allow you a diversified base for your total net worth, which is in the end even more important than just paying off one mortgage (or even two!).