I don't think a lower pH is what is being recommended. What is the native pH of the soil they are talking about? Anyway, the thing to understand about organic matter is that it isn't a mineral based soil. Soils are mineral based and have a chemistry that is different than organic matter. In a mineral soil pH is one of the factors determining what nutrients will be water soluble when water passes through the soil. As the water moves through the soil it picks up nutrients and then plants take up the water along with the soluble nutrients in it. Again, pH is one of the factors that determines what nutrients will be in that water and in what amounts. If the pH is too out of whack then nutrient deficiency symptoms will show up even though the amount of the nutrient in the soil is ample. All of this deals with the chemical reactions that take place in a mineral soil. Organic gardeners add organic matter to that mineral soil and I would say 10% is on the low side of what many of us try to maintain. The processes that control what nutrients are available and in what amounts in organic matter are not identical to what occurs in a mineral soil. I am not a chemistry major and don't claim to have an in depth understanding of all the chemistry involved, but one doesn't have to be a chem major to understand the chemistry of two different substances is not likely to be identical. This is why organic gardeners don't worry as much about pH in a highly organic soil as opposed to a mineral soil with low/no organic matter. In practice the pH of a mineral soil with a high organic matter percentage isn't as important as it is in a soil lacking organic matter. That's another reason folks are telling you to stop fussing so much about pH and NPK and get the organic matter into your soil, grow something and then come back and assess whether anything at all needs to be done with the soil. If your plants all grow well, why do anything else?

***Update*** OK, so the aforementioned garden center owners bought all of the critter cages I had on hand. They seemed excited, and pleased with the cages' construction. Purchase vs. consignment was discussed-- neither she nor I had any real preference. I think she just paid me for them outright because she needed some for her own use in their display gardens. But, it was my understanding that future critter cage orders, be it purchase or consignment, would be sold to customers without a markup. My guess is that they believe they will sell more plants if they have some sort of critter protection to offer to wary customers. They sell something like 200+ varieties of hostas...... and we all know how much voles love them. No idea yet on how well they are selling. It's still a bit early in our gardening season-- Apr 15 is our "safe" planting date. If I ever get another order for more cages, I think I'll need to attach some sort of pre-printed tag. Something with the product name, price, the garden center's info, and maybe a slogan. The only name I can think to call them is "anti-critter planting cage", which seems like a mouthful. The only slogan I could come up with was something along the lines of "Protect your plants, time, and sanity". Any ideas? I know there are some creative people out there who would like to channel their inner Don Draper. Despite this first sale, I'm still on the fence about the whole endeavor. Just for sh**s and giggles, I contacted one of the local farmer's markets that was recommended to me. The manager liked the critter cage idea and thought they would "dovetail" with their other vendors. She said their M.O. is to provide organic/sustainable/Eco-minded local farmers and businesses a place to sell their goods. She also said they have a few veggie and garden plant vendors, as well as a bulb grower. It sounded promising, so I looked up some photos of the market online. A lot of their vendors look like super-serious operations. Tents, signage, huge displays, staff, logo-ed packaging....... it's all very intimidating. Anybody out there with farmer's market experience? If it's anything like holding a garage sale, I'm *out*. To quote "Mythbusters", this starting to feel like a bad idea. But I'm still oddly drawn to it. Dear Hubby hasn't been much help-- he's been trained to temper his opinions:) Please help me make an informed decision. I promise I won't keep pestering you all.

Here's the thing...in a container, soil pH is far less important than in the ground. What is important is the pH of the watering/fertigating solution. In the container, pH is constantly changing, depending upon moisture levels, fertility levels, and temperature. A lot of water in the U.S. is over 7.0 on the pH scale. Over time, minerals can accumulate in the potting media, which causes the pH to rise - the so-called "alkaline creep." Eventually, these excess solids might impact the ability of the roots to take up moisture and nutrients. In a container, where a short fix is needed, white vinegar or citric acid (wine making supplies) perfectly fit the bill. Just use enough vinegar to lower the watering solution to 5.0 - 5.8 or so, record the amount required, and then use that same amount every time you fertilize or water. The effects of vinegar are not long-lasting (like sulfur), but certainly stable enough to allow the plants to get a good dose of nutrients at the time of application. Do I think this is absolutely necessary? No. But if you really want to fiddle with cultural conditions, modifying fertigating solution is a start. Josh

I left the Dyson DC07 at my previous house with my now ex-husband. I don't anticipate having enough carpeting here to need it - but I can get it if I need it. And in any event, the Dyson upright is not a good match with oriental area rugs. I am currently using my Dyson DC11 canister - their earliest canister model, it has an air-driven beater bar. It's a workhorse - I'm using it as a standard vacuum cleaner for carpeting and hardwood and slso for jobs for which you would normally grab a shopvac. But I hate pulling a canister around the house. I hear you on the issue of deep cleaning the carpeting. But I would need to get into a bigger backpack model for an air driven beater bar. Can you give me a sense of the power of the Tailvac compared to something on the general market?