If you are re-potting on a regular basis using fresh soil, then you stand a much better chance of being able to grow more organically. If the plant is only in a medium for a short time, the medium may not break down and collapse enough to harm the roots. However, my experience has shown me that it takes less than one year for a bagged potting soil or a cocopeat product to break down within a pot. All of my bulbs that were planted in regular organic soils had some root loss after only one year. I found these products to be too fine in particle size, and not conducive to proper aeration. I don't remove my bulbs from their pots after flowering. I don't force a dormancy, preferring to let them rest naturally. Mine must stay in the same medium for a minimum of two years, making an inorganic approach more appropriate. Personally, I would avoid nut shells as part of a medium... I don't know what their PH is, and I don't know what they might do to a medium as they break down. They may create a more acidic or a more alkaline environment, but without knowing specifically, I wouldn't use them. Of the ingredients I use in my medium, only the pine bark will decompose, and it does so at such a slow rate that the PH doesn't change enough to be harmful. The perlite and granite chips, of course, remain inert. I appreciate that you find my postings useful... and I also appreciate that there are other ways to grow bulbs. I just want everyone to have a good experience growing, and sharing the options available is a way to make people think about their individual environments and make choices that will work for them. I think many gardeners do things without knowing the actual "how" and "why" of what they're doing. I, myself, have always grown plants in containers without knowing much about how they grew, or why I used the mediums and other products I used. I thought it all too technical, too scientific, and I was amazed at how simple it all really is! If you provide a plant with what its roots require, in a container environment, the plant will flourish... and all a plant really needs is something to anchor it, and something to draw its requirements of moisture, nutrients and oxygen from. It's a tad bit more complicated than that, but not by much! The goal is plant health and vitality! PS - I checked my spam folder, and the regular one... if you sent email, I don't think it made it.

Hello Friends, Thank you all for all of your nice words. This warm weather has been a long time coming and I am so happy that Spring is starting. Tim - Have not had any fruit on the Mexicola Grande yet, the wind has taken anything that has come close. Andrew - As always my friend, it is good to hear from you and Thanks for the compliments. Great to hear about your Carrie, it's pretty exciting huh? Check your e-mail, you've got mail. Tropicaliste - Thanks for the compliments and I will definitely put the age of the trees and their names. I know everything is helpful when growing in pots. Bo - Thanks for the nice words. I don't plan on Pruning the Jakfruit anytime soon. It seems to be brancing out quite nicely on its own. I plan on planting it out in the next month or so and hope that it will take off this Summer. That is so Awesome that you got the Violette de Bordeaux fig tree. You will be so happy with the Fruit. I have actually only rooted 1 fig cutting, I got mine already rooted so I don't have a whole lot of experience rooting Fig trees. Congrats on your new Fig tree. Mango Perro - I wish I was in Hawaii Ethan - My California Brother, thanks for the nice words and I will keep the pictures coming. Thanks again friends for all of the compliments and I will keep you all posted on the progress. - Jacob

When they rough plumb, the toilet drain line is a 3" diameter (or 4" diameter) pipe. The center of it is 10, 12, or 14" from the finished edge of the back wall, usually (those are standard sizes). Where the toilet bolts down is also that measurement (10, 12 or 14" from the back wall) and informs you on what type of toilet to buy--a 10 in rough in toilet can sit back far enough to fit a 10 in rough in, but a 12" rough in toilet cannot fit into a 10 in rough in space. If your plumber has to set that toilet drain line at 14" from the back wall (because, say, there is a floor joist under where he'd otherwise put it), even if you chose a toilet that only sat 27" from the wall at a 10" rough in, you have to add 4 more inches to that projection (difference between 10 and 14) and now that toilet projects 31". So, what I am saying, is in case, it may not be JUST about how it will nicely draw out on the floor... but also where your joists under it lie, and where the plumber is capable of running the drainlines.

(This might be crazy but ...) When I think of modern exteriors, I think of unexpected rooflines. Remember the deconstructed farm house in Beetlejuice? With this, I would build a bronze color metal pergola-ish slatted shade thing right over the middle section of the house, following the roof pitch. It would lend height and presence, and reduce a/c, and add a modern touch. Maybe three feet above the roof, and extend out over the yard. You could echo it somewhat with an awning over the front window. The lawn is a little old fashioned, but the tree is so nice. How about this - put a few square concrete pavers against the house, with an irregular outline, sometimes two thick, sometimes one, sometimes three or four. Use a few different sizes, but multiples so they make a strict grid. Make the edge zigzag. Then outline the edge with a stripe of black pebbles, before the grass. Then on the patio wall, echo the zigzag shape with tiles attached to the stucco.