I am finding more and more students, when I first started in on orchids and started growing orchids I was the youngest grower as far as I knew. This being said I completely understand where you are coming from, I would buy orchids and say well I will eat cheap this week I don't really care about good food for a week ect. Now I am a Graduate Assistant and I have another job at one of the public schools so I have some extra mad money, kinda. I just try to limit my spending now to purchasing at shows and have backed off from random online buying. I actually have a want list instead of just impulse buying. I do however go to the sites and pick out several plants go look in the check out and then think of my want list and how much I would rather have them. Then I go and put all of them in the basket and then the price scares me and I am able to dodge yet again an impulse buy. Anyway it is interesting to have comments and solutions offered by fellow students living in smaller apartments who can not have MH lamps or a greenhouse. I also rationalize because think about how much it would cost to buy blooming plants from a florist , I have had about 14 plants bloom for me this winter. As a low figure say each would cost $30 in bloom at a florist that is $420 and that happens each year.

There are a couple things you can do. They will not get rid of the larvae already in your system. The first is to look on the underside of your bin lid and the sides of the bin above the bedding. You will probably see little deposits of yellow/tan material, sometimes in rows. BSF lay eggs on on surfaces around the bedding. If you see any, wipe the areas with a little alcohol on a paper towel. Don't saturate the paper towel with enough that you can contaminate your bedding. The other thing is limit female BSF access to your bin. I'm surprised they get into your garage that easily, but they smell the larvae in there and that attracts them. I got brought a few larvae into my house with compost to feed the worms. I did not notice until they hatched.

Hydronic heat is only suitable with narrower solid if the tubing temperature is run extra low. The whole system has to be designed around it, with the increased spacing and the mixing valve factored in to allow the temps to be cooler. Hydronic is already less responsive to rapid temperature changes than traditional radiators or forced air systems. Lowering the temperatures takes it to such a minimal temperature delta that you will be feeling cold for a hour or so if a rapid cooldown outside occurs. Or, you'll be sweating with the windows open if you have a big temperature rise. That occurs a bit anyway with radiant heating, but it can be perceived as worse with low temp radiant. Doing the loops at a low temperature also affects how the system "feels" to humans as well since the foot zone isn't as warm. It's much less of a benefit for the greatly increased cost over forced air, since comfort is the main reason that it's chosen. It's not a budget choice to begin with. We were only able to include it in our shop project because we did the install ourselves. And, the finished concrete is the finished surface, so there is no insulative effect between the heat and the people like there is with other materials like wood and carpet. The more of an R value that a material has, the more of an impediment it is to radiant heating. That's why traditionally radiant was confined to concrete or tile floors. Engineered will always be the better choice with in floor heat over crawlspace, and the ONLY choice for slab on grade. It expands and contracts less, and is far more stable. You cannot tell a good quality engineered wood from solid just by looking. It will look the same, and wear the same. Better quality engineered flooring has more core plys, and uses species ply instead of pines or firs. It's never a cheaper choice than solid, just the right choice for the conditions, like slab construction or in floor heating. As far as an oil finish, there are many many different types of oil finishes out there, and most are not very protective, which is the first function of a finish for a floor. Some of the factory oil finishes with polymers can be almost as durable as regular polyurethane. They aren't very DIY "repairable" though. An expert can repair even an polyurethane finish because he does the whole board, which is one separate piece. Poly remains the best choice for the most protective finish. Really, your issue is more a lifestyle adjustment problem than a finish problem. People with pets needs to accustom themselves to trimming their nails. Weekly. If you hear them clicking on the floor, the nails are too long. And, rugs should be at every entrance to the home, where outside debris is trapped. Those rugs should be changes/washed frequently. And it's a source of a lot of debates back and forth over the years, but those who are a shoes off inside the home family do have less wear and tear on their floors as long as they wear slippers or socks. Acids and oils from bare feet is just as bad as outside dirt when it comes to damaging your floors.

Does anyone have country/rustic maple or birch flooring? I was in a flooring store the other day looking for character grade hickory and spotted BSL in rustic maple and yellow birch and they had similar contrast between light and dark. I was wondeirng what it looks like in a room since BSL doesn't have any pics on there site. thanks