Why/how are the repots of plants grown in gritty mix easier if it's likely you have to repot even more frequently than you would with a standard potting mix? Hi, M - The roots don't get intertwined with the peat fibers & the larger pieces of grit and bark fall easily off of the roots. You usually need to comb the soil out a little, or use a root pick, which is nothing more than a tool shaped like a pencil. Chopsticks work very well. I can repot most plants under 5 gallons in the gritty mix in 30-45 minutes. That includes cleaning the soil from the roots, selectively pruning the roots, preparing the pot/container, adding all new soil, securing the plant in the pot, and getting it soaking in a root stimulant. I usually use the saw (on left) to cut off the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the root mass; then use the root rake, which is next to the saw, to remove most of the soil. You can use a coarse comb or just the root pick, which is what I use to tease old soil particles out of any stubborn pockets formed by the roots. Would using an organic liquid fertilizer (versus soil amendments) eliminate the possible negative effect on 'high air porosity? It would help. You wouldn't be dealing with the soil amendments (like various meals and such) clogging up the soil's macro-pores (which was what I focused on when deciding on how to build the soil) but you still have the organic component of what you're applying for nutrients feeding and increasing populations of the soil organisms that break down the 1/3 organic component of the soil. This is not near as large a consideration, though, as it would be in a peat-based soil, or even the 5:1:1 mix. The reason is that there is still a 2/3 mineral component in the soil that remains unaffected by biotic activity and is enough to sustain porosity, even in the face of a collapsing organic component. The gritty mix is durable enough that it almost never 'wears out'. Plants generally become severely rootbound and in dire need of a full repot long before the gritty mix has seen the end of a useful life. I'm not attempting to change your ideology when I suggest you try the mix in a side-by-side comparison of non-food plantings, using a chemical soluble fertilizer like Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 on half of the plantings, with the other half supplemented with your program of choice. If your set against the idea - that's fine, but I think it would be enlightening.

Succession planting in the same bed mainly involves being practical about how much soil nutrition and fertility you are losing with each planting, then replacing it. I remove all the roots and organic debris, then add lots of finished compost and compost tea before germinating a new crop. I use seaweed emulsion for micronutrients and then read my plants' growth to see any signs that I've miscalculated. If you suspect you are carrying generations of diseases from crop to crop, that's a bigger discussion.

I have seen several successful refacing projects posted here. I will have to look them up for you. One was by someone who had a water leak or fire (can't remember) - and she ordered all new white oak doors for her kitchen + some white doors from Scherr's. Her kitchen is stunning!! I will look for photos because I'm sure that I saved them! Another successful project was completed by a pro on here who posts incredible tile advice (and other design advice - but she is a TILE GURU!) The pro is Beth H. - I know I have her kitchen saved. She kept all of her cabinet boxes but changed doors/drawer fronts to painted white shaker + made them full overlay instead of partial overlaly. She also did a little rearranging re: her kitchen island. It turned out beautiful. I'm not sure where Beth sourced her new doors/drawer fronts. Before: After: There has been one that was done in the past 2-3 months - and it turned out very nice also. I don't think I saved it - but I will look. FYI - Minardi tends to have a negative outlook on many things that people post. Just an observation. The opinions re: that the cabinet boxes need to be in good condition + the layout needs to work is accurate. However, many people have had their doors/drawer fronts finished by the company who made them and just did their cabinet boxes themselves. There is specific prep work that must be done + the right paint used in order for it to look nice. If you are going to change from painted to stained wood OR from one species of wood to another, you will need to use veneer on your cabinet face frames. I know someone who did that - never had used veneer before - but purchased the kind that had adhesive on it already + a thin backing - and followed the steps provided by the place where she purchased the veneer - and it looks great! She also changed many of her lower cabinets that had doors on them to drawers instead. She recently sold her house - I'm not sure if she has before/after photos, but I will check. I will look for the photos from the person who used Scherr's - and will be back later (you could also try a Google search for "Scherr's + fire + white oak + kitchen + refacing + Houzz" (or maybe gardenweb now?) Don't use the search bar in that's part of Houzz - I've had much better luck doing a Google search.

Thank you everyone! My "rhododendron/azalea" experiment over the winter was fairly successful, I have to say! Of the 2 Nova Zembla's that I planted, both survived with burlap protection and are now doing well. They did not bloom bu t I hope that they will do so next year :-) Then for the PJM, it also survived well and has been blooming too! As for the 2 Double Pink Azalea's from the Electric Lights series that I planted last year, both appeared dead earlier this spring. Then one started to show some life and is now leafing out nicely, but the other one is mostly dead.... All of the got the same burlap protection. So now I am keen to try more PJMs this year! Thank you again for your information and help. I hope that these guys will continue to do well over the many years to come!