Seedsilly: It's funny how a seemingly dreadful accident turns into a happy learning experience! I never grew strawberries before and was terribly concerned that they would just all die. Like you, I believe that sheltering them made all the difference. Isoh: My SWC's were homemade with two 3-gal buckets and a 6 oz. yogurt container for the wicking chamber. I used a small piece of landscape fabric to surround the wicking chamber (so the soil wouldn't get into the water reservoir, PLUS...I lined the entire bucket with a large piece of landscape fabric that laid on top of the wicking chamber so that when I removed the rootball, I wouldn't have to worry about 'fuddling' with the wicking chamber. For my soil less mix, I used Raybo's (then) experimental mix of peat, bark fines and perlite with some lime mixed in for rooting the daughter plants. The older plants were originally planted in a denser mix which contained peat, compost and perlite. Although the denser mix worked fine for the smaller containers, it did hold a LOT of water and I have since abandoned using it in favor of a more porous mixture based on Raybo's. As far as fertilizer goes, I added blood meal, phosphate, greensand, lime and Azomite when I made the soil to give the plants a boost. I was pretty lazy after that (OK...neglectful ;-) and only fed them one other time with MG added to the reservoir. I did try using fish emulsion, but take it from me...that stuff is just RANK in a water reservoir. I ended up flushing every water reservoir shortly after adding it. This year, I'm still trying to figure out a reasonable feeding schedule and what type of fertilizer to use. I have both chemical and organic. Only time will tell I guess! Donna H.

It will take about a month to cure them; hope you slit the olives first. After curing store them in brine, 1/2 cup Kosher salt to 4 cups water; they'll keep a year in the refrigerator that way. Applenut

Thanks for the welcome yall.....I'll call around and find some wax myrtles. Thanks for the contacts. As for my bamboo, I grow the following: Vivax Grey Henon Henon (Black) MOSO Robert Young ALLGOLD Red Margin and a few others...... I also have a few banana trees, elephant ears, cantilillies, fig trees, etc... The question is, what DOESN'T my family grown in Plantersville.....Seriously, they have just about anything you could want. Paul....You're welcome to call ALLEN BEARDEN about getting your plants at wholesale. I'm sure he can accomdate you. They are just now wrapping up their shipping season and getting ready to throw a lot of plants away....Its amazing how much they throw away. PH #: 334-366-4004BTW, I have a Myspace page dedicated to Bamboo.....Here is the link: http://www.myspace.com/bamabamboo Thanks again for the warm welcome..... Cyrus

It is flea beetle damage - small black hopping beetles that make small holes in leaves in a "shotgun pattern". It is appearance damage only and poses no threat to the plants. Most of us just ignore it and them. Dave