Won't roots grow right through damp cardboard? I would imagine they would, but this would make it like a giant peat pot. Assuming the soil volume in the box is adequate the roots that grew out of the box would just be air pruned and the plant itself should continue doing fine. I would think the box would rot away, but if the roots had colonized the potting mix the mass would hold together. By no means am I recommending this approach as practical (and certainly not aesthetic), I am just trying to think it through whether it would work (meaning the plant does OK) and at this point I am thinking it would probably work. Not long term, but for an annual veggie perhaps. I find it interesting the ideas folks come up with sometimes. Very creative.

MG potting mixes are all peat based. This means they are not suitable for plants that require sharp drainage regardless of what the label says. Unless, like you say, a person lives in a hot, arid climate where nothing retains moisture for long.

It's been over 6 months since our last deep freeze, so I thought it was about time to give an up-date. All of the Olive Trees showed signs of freeze damage. Many of the leaves and smaller branches turned brown and eventually died. I would estimate that about 1/3 of the outer foliage had some sort of damage. I waited until May before removing any of the burnt looking foliage whatsoever. It's now the middle of August and the trees look green and healthy. The Oleanders and Changsha Orange didn't make it. However, I am happy to report, after turning all brown and looking quite dead, the Climbing Figs made a 100% recovery. In fact, they look better than they have in years (probably due to all the new growth). Looking around the neighborhood, it appears that most gardens suffered similar damage as mine. One can still see some dead limbs and leaf burn which hasn't yet been removed. A few homes lost some marginal hardy plants/trees like Eucalyptus and Sago Palms. But overall, it's now hard to tell that we ever experienced such cold weather. I am now back in Ireland, completing the end of a two-year assignment. If our Olive Trees make it through this winter, I plan to attach photos so everyone can see.

I'm another who's never heard of Ron Douglas. I was reading in a secrets revealed book about KFC. They talked about the cookers. First you cut the chickens into 10 pieces instead of 8 to have consistent sizes. The oil starts hot and there's something like a 5# (or maybe more?) minimum batch that can be made to have it come out right. It is a combo pressure cooker and fryer, once the chicken hits the oil, it sears and then drops the temperature, then the pressure cooking and rying continues. They got a cup of the coating mix and had it analyzed. The "11 herbs and spices" in there were flour, salt, pepper and MSG. The recipes have probably changed. At least some. The gravy allegedly used to be a complicated recipe touted by Harlan as "pure ambrosia" and so good you can throw away the chicken and eat the gravy. After selling out, they went to a simpler recipe and Sanders called it "wallpaper paste". I will say, KFC got me to appreciate cole slaw. I used to really like the chicken too but it's expensive and I don't get it often. Haven't had it now for years. One of these days I'll have to get some again and see what I think.