If they only changed color and started looking bad after the weedkiller was sprayed, then it is highly likely that weedkiller drift hurt the plants. When weedkiller drifts from an area as it is being sprayed, it can hit nearby plants in a lower concentration (less parts per million than it was originally) so that it only hurts them but doesn't quite kill them. If their color was bad before and their growth rate was slow, then they already were in trouble before and the weedkiller could be the last straw, so to speak. If their color was bad before and their growth was slow, their poor color and slow growth indicate multiple nutritional deficiencies, probably including nitrogen, boron and magnesium. As late as it is in the growing season, I'd toss the broccoli plants and grow some sort of warm season plant in their place. Broccoli planted this late is highly unlikely to give a harvest before the weather is so hot that it bolts and goes to seed. It is hard to tell you how you could fix the soil since you mixed together various brands. I'd start over with a soil-less container mix, like Miracle Grow, that contains a timed-release fertilizer. If that is completely unaffordable at this point, I'd buy a product like pine bark fines or soil conditioner (I buy a soil conditioner at Home Depot that is pine bark fines plus humus), dump out all the soil in the containers, mix in the pine bark fines and refill the containers. Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell you how much pine bark fines to mix in since we don't know how much pine bark fines were in the mix you put into the pots. You want to add enough that the container drains well, but not so much that every bit of water you put into the filled container just runs right through the drainage holes in the bottom of the pots immediately. Water should stay in the pot with the growing medium and wet it down with only the excess water draining out of the bottom of the pots. I wouldn't attempt to grow broccol in containers in zone 7 unless I was able to plant it into the containers in mid-February and could be harvesting the broccoli in May, and have it all finished and done by the end of May. After May ends, or even earlier in a hot year, the roots of broccoli will roast in containers that are exposed to sunlight. With my containers, I put hay around the containers to shield them from the sun so the plant roots don't cook. As Dorothy noted, the plastic placed over the pots likely created a greenhouse effect---something Dorothy and I have gained a lot of experience with this year since we have new greenhouses. You might not think the plastic could make it that hot, but my greenhouse was hitting temperatures over 100 degrees in February or March when the outside temperatures were in the 60s. The smaller the greenhouse, the more quickly the plants in it overheat. Since broccoli plants as a rule hate heat, they may have gotten too hot under that plastic. How to start over? I don't think the plant food is an issue. A fertilizer with a 1-2-1 ratio would be fine for broccoli. I'd start by scrapping the broccoli plants and fixing the soil. I'd then plant something into good soil (normal Miracle Grow potting soil is fine, but not the "garden soil" as it is meant to add to in-ground soil to improve it). If I was going to by Miracle Grow to put in pots that will have plants all summer, I'd buy the Moisture Control formula because it will hold moisture longer. Then I'd plant something that is easy in pots, like peppers or herbs. (I would have said tomatoes, but you already have those, don't you?) If you want to grow large plants, like the squash plants in your other thread, you need very large containers. Squash make monster plants with huge root systems and leaves. If you attempt to grow the typical summer squash plant in a small container, the plant will become rootbound quickly and the plants will wilt and discolor on a daily basis. I wouldn't attempt squash in anything smaller than a 20 gallon container, or maybe an 18-gallon Rubbermaid tote with holes drilled in the bottom. There are a couple of fairly new squash varieties bred specifically for containers, but their seed is pretty expensive. I think I've seen them at the websites of Thompson & Morgan, Park Seed and perhaps Burpee Seed. In the description it plainly states that are bred for containers. The smallest container I'd use for much of anything would be 5-gallon containers, and 10 gallons is much better. You can grow tomato plants in 5-gallon containers if you have a great soil mix, fertilize regularly, and water daily (up to 3 times a day in the hottest part of the summer) and NEVER let the plants get too dry, but it is not easy and requires a very attentive gardener. Ten gallons would be much better and 20 gallons would be ideal. If I was new to gardening in general and new to growing in containers, I'd choose varieties bred specifically for containers. If you are, by chance, coming to this coming Saturday's Spring Fling, I can bring you some tomato plants bred for containers and pepper plants that would grow well in them. Also, I'd have a gentle and friendly conversation with the landlord (unless you're moving so soon that it no longer matters) and ask him to please let you know in advance the next time he is going to spread a herbicide so that you can move your patio garden to the porch and temporarily cover them completely with plastic to prevent herbicide drift. After he sprays, you only have to wait a half-hour or hour and can uncover the plants. By then the weedkiller in the air would be diminished to the point that it wouldn't hurt your plants. Don't give up on gardening. Just take your time and master 1 or 2 veggies or herbs in pots before branching out and trying to master another one. There is always a learning curve when you begin a new endeavor, and with time you will progress along the curve and gardening will be so much easier than it seems right now. With containers, the growing mix is of ultra importance because every time it rains or every time you water, the soil compacts down and becomes compressed. Technically, the plants do not grow in the soil itself. They actually grow in the air spaces between the soil or soil-less mix's particles. When rain and irrigation cause those particles to compact and compress, the roots are being smothered between the compressed particles and they find it hard to (a) take up water, (b) take up nutrients, (c) take up oxygen and (d) grow. So, if you are going to be growing in containers, you need to use a light, fluffy mix. All mixes will compact over time, but a high-quality soil-less container mix will not compact as much as a cheap potting soil that has a lot of clay content. When you water, water lightly, using a hose set at a low volume, or water with a watering can. If you use a hose set at a fairly high volume it will compact the growing medium's particles together. That's when a light, slow stream of water is better than a strong, vigorous jet of water. When you see us talking about tight or compacted soil here, that's why it is an issue--it is so very hard on the roots of the plants. It also is the reason plain old dirt from the ground makes a poor growing medium in containers. Finally, just for kicks, I'm linking the website of a bagged, composted cow manure called Black Kow. Containers don't have to be fancy. Look at the tomato plant growing directly in a bag of Black Kow composted cow manure. You can watch the video at Black Kow TV (it is very brief) or click on the link at the bottom of the Black Kow TV page to see a pdf file, complete with photos, showing how to plant a tomato plant into a Black Kow bag. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Black Kow TV

No they aren't stacked. In the beginning they were quiet, not so much anymore! Sounds like an airport in here when they are in the spin cycle, and shakes the kitchen table! They are downstairs, cannot imagine them upstairs. Looking at the large Elux- 4.4 cu feet, don't know the color yet, debating between Stainless, Red, or classic White. Model number varies between colors, but ewfls70J, they are on the Electrolux website. I also saw a good review of them in this forum! I like quiet, in a house of loud children. Other than that I've had no problems with the Duets. Just remember to keep the door open after each cycle, and crack open the soap dispenser, and run the clean wash cycle every so often then you will not have smell or mold issues.

Cass66ragtop, how refreshing to read a post where someone actually understands the object of a home inspection. Buyers, home inspections are to educate you on the systems of a house. No house is perfect, NOT EVEN NEW CONSTRUCTION. You may want to try to re negotiate if there are health related (radon or bacteria in the well, mold etc) or safety related, dangerous electrical, structural, gas leaks etc. But it is not the sellers responsibility to give you a credit so you are moving in to a "new home". I've had buyers make offers on homes and actually say to me, after the home inspection, we'll negotiate a lower price. It seems to be what people think the inspection is for these days. Homeiecat I hope your agent didnt tick the seller off enough to stop any negotiations at all. You are a first time buyer and relying on his/her expertise, he went down the wrong road here and most likely put you in a bad negotiating position. It sounds like he is willing to fix the gas leak because that is a "safety related issue". If the roof is leaking you may be able to get that also, but it sounds like it is not but may be nearing the end of its life cycle (sometimes you can negotiate this, most of the time it is figured into the price of a home based on condition). Im afraid with trying to re negotiate for $9000, your agent may have just ruined any possibility of working with this seller. I wish you luck.

That speaks to the importance of equity, doesn't it? When you go to sell, equity is everything. People really go out on a limb when they take on a home where their expenses to maintain it max them out. And, if the market isn't appreciating, then the only equity they are building is what they are putting toward their principle. We all know that after a year of making large payments, you might own the doorknobs. Equity is the only portion of your home investment you have some liquidity with. How many of you who have purchased homes in the last ten years took out a conventional loan and put at least five percent down on your homes? How many have built up equity and then used it up with a Heloc, or refinanced because you bit off more than you could chew comfortably? I find it really scary to see the constant ads and billboards urging people to use the equity in their homes for debt consolidation. I also get uncomfortable when I see some of those shows on home improvement channels where an expert comes in to appraise a home's worth so that the owners can feel free to use up that cushion to spend more money on their homes and feel "safe" doing it. If and when they do use it up, their homes revert a more expensive home needing to bring more on the market to just meet the debt. I am nearing retirement. I have gambled on real estate for a long time now in a modest manner, but the whole goal in the game has always been to increase the equity I have in my property(ies). It has allowed me to work at a job I like, when so many of my friends who are as old or older than I "can't afford to quit" a job they dislike because they keep spending their equity like it were somebody else's money.