Onionology is complicated. Will try to clarify a little: First a little background: "onion" is a huge catch-all imprecise category encompassing a highly diverse clan, allium cepa and other allium species as well. What we are talking about here are bi-annual bulbing onions, grown from seed. All varieties of bulbing onions ultimately derive from the so-called "spanish" onion. They fall into two rough categories, long-day and short-day, based on how much daylight there is around the solstices where the plant is growing. So bulbing onions are highly sensitive to photo period. The first most important thing to know is whether your latitude is "short" day or "long" day. As it happens, Kentucky is kind of in the middle, either might work though long day is probably more likely to do well. There are also a few hybrid varieties called "intermediate" day that might do best of all for you. Short-day varieties are sown in fall and come to full size in late spring. They require more than just low latitude, they also require a mild winter climate, about z7b or warmer, so some regions of KY might work and others not. Long-day are sown soon after the winter solstice and planted out in early spring and are full size in mid to late summer, depending. An exception is the walla-walla which is adapted to the PNW and I think there may be one or two others long-days that can be fall-sown in mild northern climes. So the infamous "sets" are small bulbs grown from seed and then planted to grow for the plant's second season. The plant really wants to bolt and grow seed rather than a bulb. Sets are a scam perpetrated by seed companies. They are mostly a waste of time and space. Buy plants grown from seed in texas next year, they come at just the right time for planting out and the results will be far better.

perhaps you are confusing a transplant.. with an 'established' shrub ... established shrubs... older then 3 years in situ ... usually need little or no water except in extreme drought ... as mine are right now.. with drooping leaves ... transplants.. rely on you for a supreme 'culture' of nice damp [as compared to wet] soil .. with a nice mulch to temper wild swings .. as to how often you need to water is dependent on your soil.. and how water moves thru it.. short of digging small holes or inserting your finger and actually finding out how yoru watering protocol is performing ... there is no way for us to tell you how long you have to water .. to get water down into the entire root mass of the transplant ... i might guess that your watering is superficial .. and though you might be wetting the plant .... or the soil surface.. you were previously not getting enough water.. down into the root mass .. water as you will.. then dig a small hole.. and find out what you accomplished ... good luck ken

JW, "...my serrano is showing some darkening/brittleness on some leaves, it's not just confined to the edges of the leave either. If it were just confined to the lower leaves I wouldn't be too concerned but I see some leaves are effected in the mid section as well." Well, I would be concerned even if it were just the lower leaves. Everything about your plant's appearance communicates to you the state of its health and nutrition. The darkening makes me suspect a phosphorous deficiency. This is what a phosphorous deficiency in corn looks like. I don't have a link to a similar picture for a Serrano pepper. "They are in well drained soil and I feed high quality organic liquid nutes." I have to admit that I am not that enthusiastic about organic nutrients for culture under lights. Do you have an analysis of your organic nutes that you can post here, so that we can determine how much available phosphorous they have? Also, what source of water are you using? I prefer to use rainwater or melted snow. Otherwise you need an analysis of your water supply and you run the risk of salts accumulations from the water itself. Hope you get your digital camera soon so you can post some pictures of your plants. We should be able to tell more then. MM

Yes, this is common. Expect your period to start skipping, then returning, being heavy, lasting longer, lasting shorter, it all comes down to perimenopause. My first alert this was starting to occur was when I was 46. I had a period two weeks after the prior one and it freaked me out. Then I had a period like no other, with heavy bleeding and clots. It lasted almost 3 weeks, which is what sent me to the doctor. I went for a sonogram and found out the clots and very heavy/lengthy flow were due to fibroids. The periods skipping, changing in flow, etc went on for four years. The most difficult years for me though were ages 50 - 53, during which I had almost every symptom named in this forum. Thank God for all the caring women who have taken the time to share their stories here. From sore joints/muscles to heart palpitations to strange periods to anxiety to "weird head feeling," I have had all these and more. I was tested for all kinds of things and often told "it has nothing to do with perimenopause," as though it wasn't even real. I wish the medical community would do a better job communicating the issues related to this time of life. I say all this to give you a heads up now as to what might be ahead. Consult your doctor about anything that seems "off" to you, even if it's just to have peace of mind. But also know that much of the time, changing hormones are behind a great many of these symptoms. I never realized the enormous role hormones play in our lives. I am now 54 and still have the odd hot flash or muscle stiffness but things are getting better. I hope you will be one of the lucky ones for whom perimenopause is a breeze.