Well, I made it through Chapter 1 of that doctoral thesis. I had to go to "Wikipedia" to find out what a "2:1 clay" was (search for "Montmorillonite", LOL). Some things I learned: 1. Terra Green (I've used the name Pro's Choice for this brand in previous posts) is made from a different clay than Turface (I used to think that they were made from the same type of clay). Even worse, different lots of Terra Green apparently use different clays from two different quarries (I knew about the two quarries, but I thought that the clays were virtually the same). Several other potential substitutes for Turface were also mentioned, that I did not know about, which I will now have to Google! 2. Turface (and various "equivalent" competitors) possess an Anion Exchange Capacity -- at least for phosphate. They are thus controlled release fertilizers for phosphate. 3. Because these products absorb phosphate, you will have to add an initial charge of phosphate, otherwise they will compete against the roots for phosphate. 4. I think that the initial charge of phosphate required will probably be about 1/10 to 1 gram phosphorous per liter of absorbent. (Since phosphorous is given as a phosphate salt, you will have to add the weight of 4 atoms of oxygen plus the weight of either 2 atoms of potassium or 2 molecules of ammonium to calculate the amount of fertilizer to add.) Once given this initial charge, the absorbent will then act as a controlled release fertilizer for phosphate. Any phosphate lost by rain or plant growth will have to be replaced, in order to maintain a controlled release reservoir. 5. Axis is a weak absorber of phosphate, hence not a good controlled release reservoir of phosphate. Turface is a stronger absorber, hence a better controlled release matrix. Some of the other products absorb phosphate more strongly -- perhaps too much of a good thing in those cases. Or perhaps I will have to read Chapters 2 and Chapters 3 to find out, LOL. 6. Although Axis is a weak absorber of phosphate, it reduces wash out of phosphate when pots are watered. (Yes.... I peaked ahead of Chapter 1, LOL.) I would guess that that the mechanism is as follows: A. Phosphate diffuses into the water that is inside the pores within a grain of Axis, so that the concentration of phosphate outside Axis will equal the concentration of phosphate inside Axis. B. Once pots are watered and drained, the concentration of phosphate outside Axis is lower than that inside Axis. C. Watering pots is fast, and the pots drain fast. D. Even though phosphate is not bound to the silica surface of Axis, it still takes a long time for it to diffuse out of the pores inside a grain of Axis, into the water that is outside of the grain of Axis. E. The time required for phosphate to diffuse out of Axis, and reestablish equal concentrations in the water that is both inside and outside of Axis, is a much longer time than the time required to water and drain a pot. For example, it may take a few hours for phosphate to diffuse into (or out of) a grain of Axis, while watering and draining a pot takes just a few minutes. F. I will have to read chapters 2 & 3 to see if this PhD comes up with the same hypothesis I did.

Thanks guys for trying. I think the contest site got overwhelmed & they had a hard time keeping it going. They sure had a good response to their contest with so many cute dogs! I couldn't even find out how many votes Fendi ended up with. I tried to log on & it says it doesn't recognize my user name, so I tried to make a new account and no luck. They were supposed to keep the dogs pics up until Jan. 15. Maybe they will get the site going again. If I hear anything else I will post it. You all exceeded my wildest expectations in yout support & I will remember it always! All the best to you! Joyce

And that is exactly why the WSJ story today said that the bailout would slow, but not eliminate the financial decline. But time is what is needed, and it was the only way to get it. The government is the lender of last resort. NOT acting is what caused the 1929 Great Depression and Japan's 1989 recession/stagflation. The dollar had been strengthening, but will now weaken due to the bailout. Returns on equities will strengthen in time, but growth will be slow. For those who are railing against Wall St. and saying that we should go back to "banking local", there is a relevant article in the WSJ today on the difficulties small banks are having, with a high likelihood of several quarters' earnings completely wiped out. This means little or no local lending will take place. Consolidation in bad times is the name of the game. In times of crisis, Cash is King, as Warren Buffett so ably proves time and again. This is why he's been investing so heavily in the last year as the bears rule, after gradually stockpiling cash starting at the height of the last bull market. And BTW, Buffett, like Bill Gross of PIMCO, has already said they are willing to help the government dispose of these securities without management fee, and are eager to get the chance to purchase a good amount of these securities. IOW, the government could buy these securities, tack on their own handling fee, and resell them at a decent profit because these shrewd investors have run the numbers (unlike many politicians, apparently) and know there is gold to be mined amongst the dross.

I used it to get a general idea of how my space would work and as a starting point for consulting with a KD. Many tweaks later I had a final layout but, it was a similar to what I had worked up on the planner. We took down a wall (header went in yesterday!) and the planner gave a visual of how it would look, if it would be disruptive, and was it a feasible option. I also used it when I did my upstairs bathroom reno. We added a bathroom with a 5' knee wall and I was able to see the fit and placement of the fixtures. The planner had a slant wall option that really helped visualize the space.