>> I will continue to challenge unproven claims and exaggerations about herbs or supplements that are based on testimonials or research in rats and cows. Sorry if that irks you. Are you irked by the fact that the National Institutes of Health (via the ADAM encyclopedia on their web page) says that there is good scientific evidence that elderberries may reduce the intensity or duration of influenza?? How did such an authoritative source come to that conclusion, which was very different from yours?? Answer: you are not just looking for scientific evidence, you demand an iron-clad body of evidence, a complete lack of any ambiguity, and your decision making is based on this binary 0-1 level of thinking. For you, either it is 100% sure and we call it proven, or it is unproven and cannot be spoken of positively. Other, less retentive types might say "there is some decent evidence elderberries might help with flu, there is no evidence it is any more dangerous than blueberries, so I can make a decision based on that 75% level of certainty that it might be helpful and worth trying." For me, the idea of a convergence of evidence is useful when there is incomplete information - and given the funding for herbal research, that is most areas of herbalism. You would rather stick to your binary theory of certainty, 100% proven, or unproven. Great if that works for you. Appropriate in some conditions where risks are high. But quite unnecessary or impossible in other cases. What is irksome is that you want to define the terms of discussion in this forum by your standards, which few of us share. Most herbalists place some value on the tradition of herbalism, the historical/clinical uses of herbs, and our personal experiences. And in my case, yes, lab and animal studies, or studies that may not have 10,000 subjects in them and therefore could be described as 'small.' I am quite aware that such evidence has limitations. But it is evidence, and it can often tell us something quite useful. Zum beispiel, when the traditional use of an herb like kudzu is for headache, and we combine that fact with lab studies showing that compounds unique to kudzu affect serotonin metabolism in a particular way known to be beneficial to some types of headahce, and then one (and then many) cluster headache patients I know who suffered with daily headaches for years suddenly became pain-free within a day or two after they start taking kudzu, I see a strong convergence of evidence that kudzu can help some with cluster headaches. And when my remission for cluster headaches ended recently, I used kudzu and experienced the mildest cycle I have ever had, which I see as more evidence that it is effective. In a previous discussion on this topic, you simply dismissed this type of understanding as a delusion or placebo effect. To me, your way of thinking might be appropriate science in the context of a regulatory committee that decides on applications for new drugs, less applicable for a committee that makes decisions on orphan drugs, and quite irrelevant to individuals interested in herbalism.

Zitro, fluorescent/aquarium lights are designed to produce blue, violet, and UV light. They are not good for plants. Spataro51, your four shoplights actually use the same electricity as five 65W bulbs so you probably aren't going to save a lot of money on your utility bills. The good news is that they produce around five times as much light as those bulbs. I'm sure you can see the difference in the light. I looked up your three palms and it seems that they all prefer quite bright light and are not ideal indoor plants. The Washingtonia particularly likes lots of sun although it will tolerate lower light levels. They should all appreciate your new lights and you are unlikely to ever give them too much light. Just make sure the lights are timed to go off for 10-12 hours each night. For the future, you should look at HID lighting. A 250W lamp would produce a little more light and use about 2/3 as much electricity. A 400W lamp would use a little more electricity but produce twice as much light. The drawback is the high initial cost, several hundred dollars, but you would make the money back in utility bill savings in a couple of years. Definitely use this approach if you decide your palms need more light or you need to cover more plants.

Came through ok here as well. Minor damage from winds, couple small trees down, some large limbs down are common. Winds only gusted up to around 50MPH here during heavy rain bands. Only knocked over my 5' windmill in its pot, but no damage. Bananas got a bit of shred, but not real bad. The water came up to the drain tops here, and moved up in the toilet some, but nothing like we saw before. We had sandbagged and prepared yesterday. IT figures we didnt flood. I would put money on it if we had not had the sand bags ready, we would have flooded massively. Just how things go it seems. LOL! Cute citty Jonnieb. I found my cat the night after Isabel went thru. I was helping my friend move into his new house in columbia heights, and i saw this tiny little dot in the yard. Just a couple ears sticking up. I approached but he ran away, but kept coming back, we put water in ice cube trays for him ( its all we had at the time) and he would come and drink, but was very skittish. I finally got him, no mother be found anywhere, no cat calling, nothing. We think his mother may have perished during the storm / flooding. He was flea ridden and terribly imaciated, just skin and bones really. I took him home that night, and took him to the vet the following week. At that point we did not know he was a boy, so I named him Isabel, after the storm. At the vet, the vet said to me.. well, Isable, IS A BOY! LOL! I had to bottle feed him with an eye dropper for a couple weeks. He weighed a whopping 6 ounces and completely fit in the palm of my hand, tail and all. The vet said he was likely the runt, and he was barely 4 weeks old. Hes now 5 years old as of the last week in august, and is a happy, healthy, but lean, and smaller house cat. Hes got the most beautiful ocean green eyes. Hes still got that "WILD" in him tho. He was after all a wild ferral city kitty. Heres a couple of pics of him.

Hey Josh, Well, I dont honestly remember. I looked up the map on google last spring, and I pulled up about 7 different maps. I saved images of my area (DC METRO area) and a couple of them have the same zone 8 circles around the downtown areas of DC and Baltimore, while the others have my area as a very warm zone 7. Do a google search and see what comes up. Im sure you will find plenty of variation, but nothing really wild. I tend to belive the map I posted more, because the minimum winter temps here have been more consistent with what the warmer maps would inticate, and I have personally experienced things that I thought for sure would die off in the winter, survive just fine. The area in DC/Northern VA that is marked as zone 8 on that map, is largely flat, costal/ flood plain. There are a few large hills just immediately to the north and west, that are 4-600 feet up. I would venture a guess the tops of those hills are much more zone 7, while down here on the flood plains, its quite a bit warmer. I think in our area, if you have a protected location, especially one with lots of sun / southern exposures, a zone 8 is definately possible. Were also tempered by the Potomac River, and Chesapeake bay, neither of which have frozen over in years, and that helps moderate temps in the local area. 50 miles to the West of DC, very different story/ climate. Its genearlly a cooler zone 7, and with any elevation, drops to zone 6, and even zone 5 on some of the peaks over 2,500 feet. Not sure that of that helps you. Sorry about that! LOL! Basically, I use what seems to the best guess based on both the maps, and what I personally experience with winter temps and growth/ survival.