For the last few days we have seen squash bugs on our bush zucchini. I have been trying (not very successfully) to remove the eggs, and the bugs were sent into a soapy water bath. The bush zucchini is in a container on the deck, all by itself. But in the main garden (40-ish feet away) we have a whole row of various squash and cucumbers. My question is this: should I leave the squash bugs alone on the bush zucchini and use it as a trap crop? I don't mind sacrificing that one plant to save the whole row. We have not seen any squash bugs in the row at all. Or should I put row cover over the bush zuc and just trap the bugs in there? There was a baby praying mantis eating the little bugs yesterday but there are way too many for it to eat them all. Also, if the bugs stay in the potting soil, does that mean that I should not reuse the soil the bush zuc is in next year? Thanks in advance for any advice.

its not a fert issue.. rarely if ever is ... i dont understand.. you start by saying you looked out the window.. and finish be saying everything is in the house ... i thought CO had some freak snow storm about a week or so ago ... how cold did it get ... was any of the stuff outdoors... take the houseplant issue to the houseplant forum .... simply to reduce this post.. the tree damage sounds like frost/freeze ... it should rebud.. if it losses those leaves ... it should be time.. for the veg to get outdoors .. first hardened off to sunlight and temps ... ken

Hi Susan, I would go with a widescreen. Widescreen is the future(which is now).Yes they do take up a little more space (width)but it's not much. The upside of widescreen is you can have 2 windows or webpages open side by side and be more productive.Granted widescreen is a little more expensive ,about $30 or $40 more then a"standard" monitor but it's worth the little extra money. Most people consider a 19"monitor the new standard size whether it'widescreen or standard.You can get a 19",20",or 22"widescreen for $209,$233,and $289 respectively. Hope this helps ya. Here is a link that might be useful: Newegg

Thanks for the tip Flamingo, but honestly I wouldn't change a thing on our set - even if I knew how :) I remember the technician showing us how to change the picture when it was first installed, but he recommended a setting and we haven't changed it since. This picture is crystal clear, beautifully proportioned and dead bang perfect no matter what channel we have it on, but we've only ever used this set with Direct TV so maybe it has something to do with their broadcast? I did notice last night when we were watching one of the SVU stations that the picture was squared off with black bars to the side, but that's very rare and is more about how the station is telecasting. That may tell you something about the ratio our set is set on, I dunno. Still, the quality was perfect and I wouldn't have adjusted it even if I could have figured it out. The Direct TV techs that were out a couple of weeks ago to switch out the box stood and watched the picture. They said the quality was amazing considering it was a 5 year old set and 1080i, not 1080p. We also have a progressive scan DVD player, and watching widescreen movies is like having our own private theater. Alisande, you're going to wonder how you ever lived with a square box TV once you make the change! And yes, you will eventually have to switch over to a digital set, because eventually all the networks will have to relinquish all their old analog signals by 2009. This has been a mandate for 10 years, giving people the opportunity to make the switchover as they needed to replace their existing sets. "Congress Sets Deadline for Digital TV Switchover -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, with little fanfare, the U.S. Congress has thrown down the gauntlet for consumers who have yet to make the changeover to digital TVgo digital by February 17, 2009, or go without television. The provision mandating a switchover to all-digital broadcast by that date was part of a deficit reduction legislation bill passed in late 2005 by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. To ease the transition, the legislation also earmarks $1.5 billion to help consumers buy digital converter boxes, providing up to two $40 coupons per household that can be used to offset the purchase price. The eventual elimination of analog broadcasting of television programming will free up portions of the radio spectrum currently allocated for that purpose. Some of the freed up spectrum will be reallocated for use by emergency services, while other portions will reportedly be auctioned off to wireless companies. As part of their calculus, lawmakers estimate that the auction could generate as much as $10 billion in revenue for the federal government, and have earmarked $7.4 billion of that amount for cutting the federal deficit (hence the connection with the budget legislation). An estimated 15% of U.S. households (or about 16-20 million households) continue to rely on over-the-air television broadcasts. Those consumers will either need to upgrade their current televisions to digital-ready TV, purchase a converter box to receive digital signals, or subscribe to a cable or satellite service by early 2009."