"It looks like you switched to the Dyna grow 9-3-6 last year. Do you still use CRF in your soil mix if you are still using this fert?" Actually, I rarely use the CRFs at all. I like the near complete control the soluble fertilizers give me in containers. I'm pretty diligent about fertilizer applications, so I really don't need the CRFs to cover the 'in case I forget' base, or for any minor elements they might supply. I included them in the soil recipes to make it easier for others. As long as you're faithful to your nutrient supplementation program, you can easily do w.o them. If you think you'll be lax at times, I'd include them. 109 ppm alkalinity is nothing to be overly concerned about with fast container soils. It would be interesting to learn how the Ca and Mg levels are though. Alkalinity is related to pH because alkalinity (practically speaking and for our applications) determines your water's resistance to pH changes. If you have water 'A' at a pH of 9.0 with an alkalinity of 75 mg/L CaCO3, and water 'B', with a pH of 8.0 (a full point lower to begin with) and alkalinity of 300 mg/L CaCO3, it will take about 4 times as much 35% H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) to bring the water with the lower pH down to That aside - your water is better than mine, so I really doubt you'll have Fe/Mn issues if you're using either the 9-3-6 or MG. I will say though, that bark/peat soils have a potentially high Fe:Mn ratio, so applying Fe w/o Mn could easily create a deficiency of Mn. If I were in your shoes, I would do nothing until I actually saw evidence of an Fe deficiency. Then, I would acidify. Oh - the other likely cause of an Fe deficiency is too much P, which combines with the Fe to form an insoluble precipitate, so avoid the high P fertilizers - they are useless unless you are using them to supply the exact amount of P needed while intentionally (severely) limiting N. I used this strategy last year: I fertilized with regular dosages of 9-3-6 until the plants were well established. I then cut way back on the dosage and added ProTeKt to the solution. I rather like to envision that I used the added K (and got the benefit of the added silicon) to change the fertilizer ratio to 3:1:3 from a 3:1:2. This allowed me to reduce the dosage of N (reducing vegetative growth) while still having adequate P and K. Take care. Al

I'm prolly gonna get in trouble, but here goes. The Victoria County, Texas, MG has just gone through the most aggravatin' time over these background checks. It was presented to our board that it was mandated by the state, everyone had to do it, and that was that. One member was not happy, and is very knowledgdable about getting what info she needs, and talked to the guy who runs the program in Texas. He told her where to get a copy of the mandate, which she did. Since she was not allowed to share this material, I had to get one of my own, but it was easy enough to do. Long story short. The state does NOT mandate that all MG have a background check. It is voluntary, and you do not have to do it, unless you are going to work with children in certain settings. And this does not include a 2 hour tour through the Children's garden. Also, we were told the cost was $10.00. It is $6.00, and the remaining $4.00 was to be a "cushion" for the 4-H. This is not going to be all that confidential, files will be kept in the Extension office, and we just had an email come in wanting to know who had the file of the last years applications, as someone wanted to look at it, and the Secretary didn't know who she had loaned it to last. I thought that info was 'confidential'. I don't know about y'all, but donkeys will do the chicken dance before I will willingly give them my SS#, DL# etc. As it turned out, the motion was made by Pres. that all MG had to do the checks, and the assn. would pay for all of them. A secret ballot was asked for, and the motion was defeated by an astounding number! We are old, don't want to work with kids, or just resent having to share my personal info. I am not going to do that. WE did pass a motion that those who wished to do so could, and the assn. will pay for it. Did not make some people happy, but it is a lot better than watching membership drop to nothing because of it. Down here, we are just trying to get through this year, hoping that the next will be better. This year has been the pits. ItCollins, if you will email me, I will share where to get a copy of this mandate. You will be interested in it. Janie

i have a 36” bert cooktop that i like. i am about to renovate and am considering a oven mounted below or an fp or bert 36” range. but the bert ranges have reviews speaking of curling floor and temperature problems. hmmm... thoughts?

Thanks for posting this. I got my netbook at a discount through Verizon and realized that I could no longer connect to the internet using the USB dongle with my laptop, so I was limited to using the netbook when I was on the road (and sometimes it's underpowered). This is nice to know.