When pinching plants to maximize foliage density and/or promote lots of branches, it's a pretty safe bet that if you allow the branches or vines to extend to 4 or more leaves before cutting the branch back to 2 leaves, there is little chance of die-back. New branches should grow from both remaining leaf axils, doubling the number of branches with each pinching operation. You need to be careful with rooting hormone. There are several synthetic forms of auxin (rooting hormones are synthetic forms of this hormone/growth regulator) that act as defoliants if used excessively. The infamous agent orange defoliant used during the Viet Nam war was simply synthetic auxin. The broad leaf herbicides like Weed-b-gone are also man-made forms of auxin. A 30 second dip in a 10% solution of unscented household bleach or a 10% solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide, or a dusting with powdered sulfur would have been an excellent way to combat the fungaluglies that cause root rot. Bare-rooting and repotting (hopefully into a fast draining and durable soil) was a good thing. Al

Sorry you've not gotten any responses. Try the veggie forum?

Sorry to revive an old thread, I've not been around much, but wanted to comment. Lately, I've been counting calories (Livestrong.com has a very intuitive calorie counter/ food tracker) and juicing to reduce weight and increase nutrients. I make carrot, apple, and spinach juice daily. It looks awful, but it tastes great. Spinach and carrots are the only vegetables I juice, but they have a lot of nutrients. I juice a lot of fruit too, watermelon, grapes, pineapple, it's all great! I have a Juiceman Jr. centrifugal juicer and it is what is right for me... it's fast and pretty easy to clean and does a good job. I have a friend with a Vitamix, and he say that it has changed his life. I tried to juice in my Blender (I have the "under 200 dollar Breville" someone above mentioned, but I didn't like the pulp/fiber in the juice. I'll get my fiber elsewhere, I want the juice smooth. That Breville has been nothing short of amazing by the way for anyone considering it. Terrapots, did you make a decision yet? I'd recommend an entry level juicer first to see if it's something you're going to enjoy and stick with since you aren't ready to invest in a Vitamix. Blenders are so much easier to clean than juicers though, there just aren't as many parts!

Belndtec: $205 to $844 Quoting prices without context is really pointless. Yes, there is a super expensive model. But that's not what most of us are talking about. That's the model that comes closest to the commercial models, it has a sound-dampening enclosure, and it comes with an impressive 10 year warranty. If that's what you want, you presumably know it, and why are you even bothering with this conversation :-) The model that everybody is talking about in this thread is more likely something like the Blendtec Total Blender Classic (I own an earlier version of this model and I really like it). According to camelcamelcamel.com, it sometimes goes on sale for as low as $180. Or if you need a few more features, then maybe the Blendtec Designer 625 for about $340. That's a bit more pricey, and I am not sure I personally see the value proposition. You do get a second jar (that's nice), but other than that you mostly pay for a nicer user interface. IMHO, probably not necessary, but some people obviously like it. There also are a few other models in the price range between these two. That's probably more where I'd start looking, if I was in the market for a replacement. So, in other words, we are talking about anything between $180 and around $340. That's obviously a lot more than a $30 Osterizer. But the only people who should even consider buying a fancy blender are probably using their blender several times a week. And then, $180 is really not all that outrageous. Within the first year, it costs about $1 per use -- and of course a good blender is expected to live much longer than a year. If the smoother blending and the larger variety of ingredients that you can blend are important to you, then go for one of these models. If you use your blender sparingly and not for anything challenging, then don't. It's as easy as that.