Jason, I have an assortment of vegetables, herbs, and small trees in fabric pots (a total of 20 in sizes ranging from 10 to 20 gallons). The pots set on concrete hold a lot of water in between watering, and I wish I had known about wicking before I planted them. The pots on grass or dirt drain/wick quickly and depending in the size of the pot and plant, can require daily or every other day watering. I live on the Gulf Coast so my climate is not as arid as others but it does get very very hot here so the plants consume a lot of water anyway. When it is time to re-pot, I will put wicks in any pots I don't plan to set on natural earth, grass covered or otherwise. I will say my fabric pot planted veggies and herbs were more productive and healthier than when I had an in-ground garden, probably because I could better tend to and individualize their food and water care and not have to pay so much attention to weeding (which I despise). Hope this helps!

Hi Thank you for the quick advice. Really I try to be patient but with the XX going on I don't manage too well. I realize they multiply like crazy but I want castings for my spring garden and 1 pound in 3 months probably won't do it. With 2 more pounds making 3 bins I think I have a shot at it. Plus if something happens to one bin I have a back up plan. My current tote is 18 gal. Got 6 more yesterday at Wallyworlds black Friday sale for 2.40$ each. My dream is to have all 7 bins going strong and then using 4-5 of them to start a wooden flowthrough. Then I can feed like crazy and start establishing bins for friends and neighbors that are interested. Woo Hoo! Less in the landfill and at the same time creating wormy friends that won't roll their eyes when I start talking squirm. I live in a townhome with a decent backyard but have an area 15' by 30' on the north side of the house. Doesn't get enough good sun to grow veggies but seems to be a good area for worming and non food plants. This area currently has my bin and two EarthMachine composters between a few palms and other plants. Composters are about half full of quarter done compost that was leaves, manure, grain, grass, and garden clippings. Got really hot for weeks. Turned it once and am waiting for the heat to stop again before I trust it with the worms. It feels like I will mix the worms and let the strongest survive. Eventually my herd will be mixed but will be uniqely suited to my area. Thanks again J

one of the first test I would do if i were you would be the CYA test. if your CYA is high, your chlorine is going to have to be high too. I was using the trichlor pucks in a feeder when my pool was first finished. after a couple of months, my CYA was up there. I have not drained my pool, but i keep my chlorine at around 9-10 ppm. my CYA is between 80-90. I learned a calculation from TFP where calculate your chlorine level to be 11.5% of your CYA level. this winter, i may do a partial drain to get my CYA down for next summer so that I can keep my chlorine at a lower level at around 1.5ppm-3ppm. Do walk, run over to TFP as fast as you can. I swear they can and will help you to get your pool perfect over there.

One SIL insists on telling me how much everything they have costs. And sending photos of completed "projects". This summer her husband re-did a bathroom. She sent me photos of the step-by-step progress and included a note "It only cost us $11,000". This after we had a contractor come in and re-do our bathroom for $26,000. Also bragged how her DH had b uilt a brick patio. We saw the patio, it's a mess. Bricks at all angles, he didn't dig deep enough or line it with sand, I know he didn't do it "right". I know because my DH and I built a brick patio several years ago and it was a lot of work! Then there are their cars. They insist on driving only cars two years old or younger. And they lease one of their cars right now. My family owns four cars outright. All between 2002 and 2004 models, but the great thing is we own them and don't have car payments. I dread her next DIY project. I have to go now, must practice my phomy smile and saying "Uh-huh. Yes." Like I care. By the way, her kids are both trainwrecks. Son lives at home and can't hold a job. Her daughter ran away from home at 16 and now has three kids and no husband.