Hey Mike..how are you? Haven't seen you in a while. A few times in the past my Citrus, Gardenias and Azalea got a mild case of Chlorosis. I added Iron Chelate or Sulphate. I used to add iron 2-3 times per year regularly,(as a preventative) so plants never got chlorosis, but then I grew lax, lol, so every now and then a plant would turn up w/Chlorosis. After applying Iron, the problem cleared up in approximately 2-3 wks..I did NOT add any other chemicals in between, so I'm sure the problem was iron definciency. That's one reason I've made up my mind to start adding Iron 2-3 times a year again, to avoid further problems. As for ES's, some people who use it regularly, swear by it. I've used it once this year, but I think it takes more than one dose before noticing a difference, OR it may not do anything..But too many people vow it keeps leaves green and vibrant.. My problem using ES's is, what happens to variegated leaves? I have a few variegated citrus and other tropicals, so wouldn't dare adding ES's to these plants. I surely don't want them losing variegation, turn green. I plan on using ES's on palms, ferns and green leaf citrus. To see if there's any noticable change. You've made an excellent point about fertilizers..All my Citrus ferts are timed/slow-release. I don't understand how they work. Some ppl add other ferts along w/slow=release, so maybe that's the answer. I'm uncertain but heard time release and organic ferts do not work automatically, as quickly as chemical types..I wish someone here had a definate answer. Mike, some products, like Systemic insecticides probably explain (on package) how long it takes to kill bugs. As for fertilizers, it probably depends on NPK, dossages, etc. Some people fert once a wk, once every two wks, or once a month. If you're specifically talking citrus, that's one thing, but if you're talking plants in general, it depends on the plant..Cactus and Sux are slow-growing. So, adding more or frequent ferts will only harm and/or grow tall and spindly stems w/fewer leaves, especialy during winter months. (This pertains to tropicals too) There are certain products like Eleanors that's supposed to be quick acting, I've never used it..Too expensive and they advise not using with other fertilizers..to be sure all other fert is gone, you must leach soil before using Eleanors. I don't want to mess around with it. But people who use it, (once again) swear it's fast acting, and when used, you'll notice a big difference opposed to other fertilizers. Ironically, I read a post about Eleanors, the poster said, the only difference other than its high cost is there's more NPK which is the reason it's faster working. IMO, Superthrive, (hormone and 50 vitamins) is fast-acting, helps ailing plants, quickens germination with seedlings and cuttings, and boosts healthy plants, too. Toni

So how did you do that cobblestone path if you don't mind me asking? did you do it yourself? Did someone say that was a form? Cuz if it was I want one. Was it hard? Do you think it would work ona a sloped path? Okay enough of my questions already. Your yard is beautiful. BTW I always think mine looks better in photos as well.

The time it takes for the hot water to get to your faucets or shower is related to the distance the water has to travel from the hot water source to the sink and the diameter of the hot water building supply pipe (typically 3/4 inch) as well as the feeder pipe to the sink (typically 1/2 inch). A 3/4 inch pipe holds about 8 ounces of water for every 3 feet of pipe. So if your tank (or tankless) unit is 90 feet away from a faucet, you would have to push out about 1.8 gallons of cold water (plus whatever water is in the feeder pipe, a 6 foot section of 1/2 inch pipe holds about 8 ounces of water) before the hot flows. A typical sink faucet will run at 1.5 gallons per minute maximum flow rate - so you are looking at over 1 minute to get hot water in this scenario. With tankless units, there is also a small delay between the time the unit senses water flowing through it (which triggers it to fire) and the time the unit heats the water up to the set temperature. There are 3 ways you can eliminate the long delay. The first is to put a hot water source (tank or tankless unit) closer to the sinks that are far away from the current source. The second way is to use point of use hot water generators under key sinks that you use. These POU units are very small tanks or tankless units designed to service just once sink. The last method is to install a recirculating loop where you constantly circulate hot water through the hot water building supply. I have a Rinnai tankless system that we installed in the basement directly below the master bathroom. From the time I turn on a shower or sink, hot water is flowing within 10 seconds. That was the good news. The bad news was that the kitchen sink and 3 other sinks that we use often are over 120 feet away from the Rinnai tankless units. Just before we finished the house, we discovered that it was taking several minutes to get hot water at the kitchen sink - and that was unacceptable to us. I wound up installing a recirculting loop. This was not the way I would have preferred to do it, but space and venting in the basement on that side of the house was an issue. You could just live with the delay you have - 1 minute isn't that bad. If you decide to fix the delay, I recommend posting some details on the plumbing forum and seeking advice on how best to correct.

Hey walkin -- I'm *far* from an expert on this--people here helped me on the one I've done. I bought a kit of the precut wood and MDF parts, complete with screws and such, truth be told, just because I didn't want to have to do all the measuring and cutting--sometimes I hit "tilt" and have to take the easy way out. The kit was from eBay. We did buy better foam, however, than the kit came with. And we also wrapped it. Probably way overdoing it. It wasn't hard at all, in fact rather enjoyable in an instant-gratification kind of way (esp. since I didn't have to do the cutting :))--we did do two rows of staples, alternating spaces kind of like sewing stitches, because the fabric seemed to pull between the stitches so I wanted it anchored completely. We didn't edge it with wood, but we could--we just did a simple rectangle which extends 24" above the surface of the mattress (we have a high mattress--if you were to purchase the same set and not have as high a mattress setup, it would be taller unless you cut it down). We love the simple lines. It would be easy to put wood around this if we chose to, or to make a slipcover for it down the line.