Okay, here's the response I got back from the seller after I wrote about the broken seal, and that I was aware of the exact same thing happening to another buyer so it seemed a little suspicious: First Off I Am Really Sorry For Any Inconvenience To You And That You Think Our Business Is Suspicious. We Are A Local Florida Business That Has Been In Business Over 50 Years. We Have An Outstanding Record With Ebay And With All Our Customers On Ebay. If There Is Ever Any Problem With Any Product We Sell, We Fix The Problem And Do Whats Right By The Customer. We Do Not Sell Used Items. We Are A Direct Distributer For Dyna-Grow And Are Able To Offer Great Prices On Our Dyna-Grow Items. I Said That Customers Tend To Open Things. Not That It Was A 100% Sure Thing That A Customer Did. And As You Read In The Email I Wrote To The Other Customer, We Will Replace The Product If There Was Any Problem. For You To Insinuate That We Are Tampering With Our Product Is Wrong On Your Part. I Will Be Shipping Out A Replacement On Your One Gallon Dyna-Grow Foliage Pro 9-3-6 Today And Will Email You Your New USPS Tracking Number. If You Feel You Would Rather Get A Refund, Please Let Me Know And I Will Issue The Refund. I Assure You Once Again That We Are Not Tampering With Our Product And Do Not Sell Used Items. If There Is Anything Else We Can Do For You Please Let Us Know Either By Email Or Calling Our Store At 305-245-7246. I Hope You Have A Great Weekend! Stephanie Boggess Redland Supply So they are stepping up with a replacement even though I didn't ask for one. In the end it was probably just one of those things and no tampering was involved. Better safe than sorry though I guess.

Lol - up in the middle of the night fretting over fertilizers? Please tell me something else had you up at that hour. ;-) Here's how I fertilize in the winter: I water/fertilize (fertigate) every time I water with a low dose of fertilizer. Not everyone CAN fertigate that way - it depends on your soil choice and watering habits, so don't emulate unless you understand the ramifications. After I'm done fertigating, I fill 5 - 1 gallon milk jugs with tap water and add just under 1/4 tsp of 9-3-6 to each, and let them rest for the 4 day interval between fertigating, so they come to room temperature. I've asked a LOT of degreed hort people if plants suffer adversity from being watered with cold water, and not one has ever offered anything conclusive that says it's either good or bad, other than potential damage to foliage on some plants, like AVs. Most bonsai books suggest that a cool drink during the midday time period is very helpful because it quickly cools roots down, so apparently the 'shock' thing is a perpetuated myth. Still, it's no extra effort to allow the water to come to room temp, so that's what I do. When I fertigate, I use a watering can with a long spout that allows me to reach plants in the center of my 4x8 growing areas. The spout has a fine nozzle that sends out a 1/8" stream of water, so it take on average about 20-30 seconds to water a plant. This allows me to wet the entire surface of the plant, so gravity moves the solution down through the entire soil mass. When I see water flowing into the collection saucer, I water for a few more seconds, then stop. My plants are set on pieces of plastic u-channel above the effluent, so I don't need to empty the saucers. The evaporating water means my humidifiers run less. When it's time to water, I pour 2 qts of fertigation solution from the gallon jug into the watering can. I then add 3 drops of ProTeKt while the water is still turbulent, so it mixes well. I don't mix it in until the last minute because mixing the fertilizer and ProTeKt ahead of time causes some of the elements to precipitate from (fall out of) the solution. You asked if the ProTeKt is necessary. I think it's good to remember that in many cases, we approach growing with only our own perspective in mind. Much disagreement arises between someone who thinks their way is good enough for everyone because they are happy with it, and the grower who has found a way superior to that particular way and wants to share it. People very often get defensive when someone suggests that what someone says or does isn't the best way. "Well, it works for me!" really isn't very conclusive when it comes to deciding what might or might not be best for the plant. In addition to that, some growers place a high premium on 'less maintenance is better (for me)', while the next grower is trying to make the point that MORE maintenance is better (for the plant). I tend to always speak from the perspective of how to get to what's best for the plant, and then let the grower decide if they want to go to any extra effort or expense that might be entailed in getting there. So, the ProTeKt isn't necessary if your goal is to raise a healthy plant. I had healthy plants for many years before I started using it, but after I started using it, I noticed a lower incidence of insect and disease issues, and I noticed that my plants seemed more resistant to temperature extremes. I noticed these things even before I read a few of the many studies that quantify the effects of aqueous Si on plants, so if I was dreaming, I was at least dreaming in accord with the conclusions of others who made the actual effort to nail down the Si's effects on plants. I can't really tell you it's necessary, but I can say with a fair degree of certainty that if you do use it regularly, it's going to be helpful. Al

Calcium phosphate Precipitation. I'm assuming you have hard water. I add about a teaspoon per gallon of MY water to reduce the pH from about 8.2 down to 6-6.3 before adding the Pro-teKt. Stir well before adding the DGFP. Also, It would be advantagous to go to the pet store (or online) and get a water hardness test kit, or preferably a pH pen (online or hydroponic store) to check how much vinegar (acid) to lower the pH to the 5.8 to 6.3 range. You don't want to go too low on the pH water or you might have issues with nutrient uptake

Denise, why are you so afraid of vinegar? I have been using it for years and never had an issue. In fact it has saved all of my trees, Hoya, tropical plants, and anything in between...When diluted at such a weak rate, it causes harm to none of my plants, even if were water was already acidic...It does not last long enough to stay in the soil, but just long enough to make the nutrients in your fertilizer solution readily available..Thank God for it, or my plants would all look like crap. It's as natural as you can get. Let me just say, if anyone here has ever seen how green the good looking the trees Four Winds grows, just know that it was the grower of those trees that saved my tree and turned them a rich green which I could of never attained without vinegar, as he put it for us hobbyist, "the key to success". Elliot has got it.)