T, You know I've been using the eBucket that Gessieviolet designed with the overturned colander that forms the built-in, one-bucket reservoir. The soil packed around the edges of the colander are in constant contact with the water underneath the colander, and creates a wick to the soil in the top of the bucket. The plant draws water up as needed. There's an overflow hole to create an airspace between the soilbed and the top of the colander. I have several questions. 1. Since your 5:1:1 is designed for aeration and drainage, I'm thinking I won't need the colander/reservoir, especially since at some point I'll be hooking all the eBuckets up to an auto drip system. I could do an experiment and keep 1/2 as is and do 1/2 with a full bucket of 5:1:1. LMK. 2. What would happen if I used the 5:1:1 recipe in the eBuckets with the colander design as is? 3. If I don't go with the built in reservoir, should I drill additional drainage holes? 4. The "fines" part of the pine bark is the crumbly, soil looking part, right? Should I sift this out to ONLY get the dime-size flakes or use it all together? I see that there needs to be careful regulation of the MG potting mix (peat component) if you keep the "fines", since that's a smaller fraction than the dime-size pine bark. Too much of the "fines" & MG could set up a PWT, correct? 5. How do I determine when I've reached "good" drainage? What IS good drainage? 6. Finally, how much moisture retention should I be shooting for in the 5:1:1, or is this relative to the particular plant's needs? My cabbages are heavy feeders and WATER HOGS, which is probably why they do so well with the built-in reservoir. They can drink at will. Thanks in advance for addressing these questions. Linda

Cembra is hot! Parviflora and Koraiensis as well as Cembra are top notch in my opinion as far as 5-needled Pines go. Koraiensis is definitely the overlooked of the three and as Chub said to me a few years back, '(Koraiensis) should be planted more often (especially in the midwest) as it's not prone to any insect or disease.' Cembra is noted for a "twist" in it's needles as is Koraienis too, I believe. All three are great IMO. Funny you ask too because Chub said to me last week when I brought him over a graft of P.cembra 'Silver Sheen' - "I never met a CEMBRA I didn't like!" ...And he meant it. Chub also has a seed-grown P.koraiensis that's a good 30 feet that is just gorgeous. He named it after his late wife. I'll get a photo for you guys. Dax

I recently ordered some plants from western evergreen and I must say they were all quality plants! Ik sometimes the website might be tougher to navigate but if you email him he gets back promptly. Definetly would recommend ordering from him!

I also had tons of Pine siskins visit my WNY birdfeeders this winter. 2-3 times, mixed in with the P.siskins were 1 or 2 Common Redpolls. I also had White-winged Crossbills in my brushy area pinetrees, eating pinecone seeds, the first time that has ever happened since I have been birdwatching. Both siskins and redpolls are irruptive species for WNY. This year, the pinecone seed crop in SE Canada was poor, so the siskins and redpolls and crossbills moved further south into the USA, in search of better food sources. They will go back up north to breed. A few straggler Pine siskins are still here, but most have already left WNY Gail R (WNY)