Nice match! If I'd have known about it earlier, I'd have put down money on the cat! In most cat/dog matches, the cat is a shoe-in to win! LOL! Great photos! Even in the aggressive world of bulldogs, there are exceptions to the rule... many years ago, we sent a pair of brothers to live with a dear friend... the two were inseparable, sharing all aspects of life... the feed dish, the bed, the owner! I don't have pictures... we lost a lot in the fire... but at one time, she sent us several shots of the two curled up together in their crate, eating dinner together from the same dish, playing and wrestling in the back yard. And then there are those that fare better alone... Bones, an Olde Bulldogge female, cannot be trusted with other pets... she likes to have her kennel to herself, and God help the poor animal that enters her space! She will only put up with company when in season, and even then, there's the initial beat-down of the male to put him in his place! Once he cowers before her, belly up, she will allow him to share her kennel... but only until she is properly bred! She does make excellent babies, though, and is super-sweet with people. My own two personal dogs, Maia and Huck, share everything except meals... they are constantly supervised, and when I must leave, they are crated. It's not that they can't get along without supervision... it's that I never take a chance... an argument over a toy can quickly escalate when the participants are as powerful as bulldogs, and so, responsibility is always number one. It's funny how different breeds and different animals care for each other, and it's very interesting to watch the interaction and the hierarchy within a group. I don't know how I'd fare without at least one dog, preferably more!

Greatplainsturf, OK, I now understand what you are saying. Before you posted the pictures, I had a fairly different scenario in mind, and when you posted the pictures, I still wasn't clear, from your description, what you wanted. Now I think it's clear. As Dan has said, I don't think you need to remove the developing second leader. And in fact, the tree would have a more natural form if you left it. If you are dead-set against the tree branching at that level, it won't hurt to remove the branch. I also agree with Dan that removal now is not ideal. It could absolutely be done now, but waiting would maximize the tree's ability to become established. If it was my tree and I felt it had to be done, I'd probably do it in late winter next year. Before I did it though, I'd take a long look at the tree and decide if it really needed to be done AND consider how the tree will look (at least in the short-term) with the limb gone. In the mean time, you could make the branch more subordinate by pruning and by reducing it's vertical direction (by increasing the crotch angle and/or weighting down the branch). Again, you are fighting nature with these techniques, but if it makes the tree more pleasing to your tastes, it is an option. To summarize what I'm trying to say...I agree with Dan's advice, but don't think it's your only option.

Hi MorugaMan, Is that the only pod that looks like that? If so, it could be a weird one off pod variation. If other pods look similar, it could be a young Bhut pod. That pepper in a can vendor was hawking Ghost Peppers in a can a while back. It doesn't look like the standard Moruga growth progression based on my experience growing them. Here's a shot of unripe pods on one I grew a few years ago. Older pod in foreground and younger one in the background. Here's a crop of the, somewhat out of focus, younger pod. If your plant is a Moruga it should be putting out new pods similar to this: Bill

Secret is delightful! Beautiful bird, too. A cardinal was killed in our backyard in early June, probably by the barn owl that frequents the area. Just made us sick. Wish he'd get the rabbits. We have had some kites in the neighborhood the past few weeks, and other birds have been careful around our feeders. Even the squirrels have laid low. Mockingbirds nest in our photinias every year. The jays and mockingbirds warn the neighborhood when hawks are circling. Gary