Myke is a mycorrhrizae supplment. mycorrhizae is a beneficial fungus that occurs in nature. it grows on the root system of all plants (except blueberries and rhododendrons. it helps the plant take in nutrients that may not as readily available in the soil as they are when we fertilize (root stimulator)helps them utilize it much quicker and easier. what happens is the plants you buy in nurseries are grown in containers and don't have time to collect this beneficial fungus. what Myke has done is figure out a way to mass produce this fungus and allow us to basically inoculate the plant when we plant. this quickens the natural process of nature and helps give us better chances for success. and in response to Dave, nurseries are not "off the hook" with the guarantee. Myke will warrant the plant after the first year, until year five. there is nothing to be leary about. it's going to help the young plant utilize root stimulator fertilizers in ways that it won't without. a personal testimonial: a friend of mine used it on his tomato garden to test it. now obviously there would be no warranty on tomatoes. he had 2 rows..... one with Myke and one without. the row with Myke was 5 feet tall and full of fruit. the row without was knee high. this garden got very little rain or watering and no fertilzer. now you might not see the visual results in a hemlock since it won't grow as fast as a tomato plant, but you can be certain that your root system is bigger, stronger and healthier than it would be without Myke. I'm know this is late, but I hope that it helped.

whaas.. she just built the berm.. that she planted in.. i was worried about it being stable... anyway.. i am of three minds in this ... first.. if given a warranty ... you do as told ... 99% of my failures died within the first year ... dont sweat this ... second ... these are large transplants... though i have done what dave suggests.. beating root balls... it was on one gallons pots that had 5 gallons of roots... and nearly no potting media ... though i rarely buy large .. i would NEVER break up a root mass on this size tree.. others do.. all the power to them.. do NOT sweat this ... lets be very clear ... it would never have grow to this size.. if there were significant root problems deep in there ... where you cant see ... third.. at best.. on a large plant like this.. i would have simply loosened any roots on the surface.. and tried to guide them straight in the loose soil .. in my barren sand.. i would have not even bothered with compost ... but i am glad that is all you used.. to worry about that . finally.. as noted.. if they die.. it will be w/in a year.. return that voodoo stuff.. and send me the money.. and i will pray .... it will be as useful as anything else.. i think i am on my 5th or 6th mind ... lol ... go back to that link.. i will yell PERFECT PROPER WATERING... no matter what else is done.. how you water this plant for the next two years.. is what is going to make or break you .... conifers.. trees... want a good drink ... then fast full drainage [which is why there is a whole section on clay] ... and not another deep drink until NEARLY dry ... and you need to water the entire root mass you planted ... in my sand.. that might mean putting the hose on a trickle.. and letting it run for an hour to wet it all ... and then not watering again until my finger insert 2 or 3 inches.. indicated the soil is hot or drying.. this time of year.. for me in MI.. and you in WI ... that might mean they will need water late next may ... that is why its planting time .... but ONLY YOUR FINGER will tell you how it all works in your soil.. your micro climate.. and your garden ... in the alternative.. in my sand.. it might mean once a week in july/august and sept .... only my finger knows .... [yeah, yeah.. thats what the proctologist said.. ok.. i just disgusted myself.. but i bet you wont forget to check.. lol] all that said.. if you are a worrier.. dig one back up.. snap some pix.. and lets us decide where to go from here .... whaas.. just planted.. from scratch a very large collection.. and he sounds local ..... MAYBE.... if you offer him an industrial sized box of diapers.. for the babies... he will give you a tour.. and some in personal advice .. there is nothing like a live person when teaching.. of my 600 odd conifers... 80% came in the mail.. and 90% were less than a foot tall ... if you think you want to start collecting.. there are all kinds of resources for building a collection ... you thoroughly confuse me.. with buying 3 of anything... lol ,.. and do understand.. you probably could have 3 or 4 conifers for what you paid for one of these .... i wish you luck.. and hope to see you back here.. ===>>> that is called enabling.. snap us a pic of one of them.. so you can relax??? .. if its worth your piece of mind.. this wouldnt be done in summer.. but this time of year.. in our zone.. the plant wont care .... ken

I don't know if Dale's theory is correct--that it is the transplanting that speeds up the growing. But, it does show that tiny gesneriad seedlings can be transplanted without losing them. In some plant groups, premature transplanting will kill seedlings, so it is nice to know that even the tiniest gesneriad seedling can be transplanted. I wouldn't dispute Dale's theory either. It could very well be that something happens when the seedling is transplanted that gets it going. I have observed many times, though, that gentle feeding of tiny seedlings will really speed them up. So, if you are transplanting into a mix that contains some fertilizer it may speed things up. Also, seedlings that are crowded will stretch to compete for light. They also tend to kill off their neighbors somehow--probably by growing over them and blocking light. I have left sinningias in their original seed pots only to find after several years that there were only two or three tubers where there had once been dozens of seedlings. By the way, growing hybrid streps from seed is a great way to get new varieties. Seedlings can be sown and brought to bloom faster than from leaf cuttings. A friend who had a commercial nursery would raise streps from seed for this reason. He could get them to flower in six months versus about nine months for leaf wedges. I've got some seeds I need to sow, sigh! Jon

I have CFL growing experience - lots of it. Even tried an experiment trying to grow a Delicious tomato (indeterminate). Great until it reached about 15" in height. Perhaps if you had been mo-re specific in exactly what you are doing it would have generated mo-re responses? What type of plant-s? Indy, Determinate, Dwarf? How much area are you hoping to cover? Will they be in an area where the walls are covered are covered with Mylar or painted white? Will you trim the bottom leaves or let them grow? I'll presume you are growing four plant-s in 1' wide containers, two rows of two. They are determinates that will not get much over four foot tall, and the bottom leaves will be cut off once they start to turn the least bit yellow. Going out on a very weak limb, my guess is a minimum of 50 watts per side, 200 watts total. There is an iron-clad law about growing that one cannot get around - plant-s need X-number of mols per day to produce fruit. (A mol is a measurement of the total light intensity a plant gets, sort of like a rain gauge measures rainfall over a total day, not drops per minute.) You can Google to determine how to calculate mols/day needed or search this forum - I have posted the info. Leaves contributing to photosyntheses need the minimum of mols per day if you want great production. HTH, Mike