scottamuss, Thanks. I'll go ahead and post it here... By the way, I feel soil quality is more important than water. Far too many gardeners over water. Take the time to learn that there is not a "cure all" for every pest at every stage of it's life cycle. Some won't work if it's going to rain. Some don't work well if it's too hot, etc. Pest management is complex, if you wish to use chemical products, do so responsibly which goes further than reading the label. If you want to learn, a good place to start is here: Integrated Pest Management This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist. Education: B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Appointment: 100% Cooperative Extension Research Interests: Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information. Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture: * IPM references and resources * Preventing pest problems * Natural common enemies * Making less toxic pesticide choices * Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects. You can watch the programs now online: Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free. Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on: Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals. ;) On Watering Some people want to customize the water for every plant. It's ambitious to try to give each plant the exact amount of water it needs but not practical or necessary. Even if someone gave you a chart, it would still depend on the quality and friability of your soil as well as the stage of the plant. So long as you have good drainage, the plants will take what water they need. General rule of thumb is that gardens require one inch of water per week by supplementing rainfall. You will have to adjust throughout the season and be attentive to the amount of rainfall you receive each week. There are two schools of thought on watering. Frequent shallow waterings or less frequent long, deep waterings. The general rule of thumb is that mature plants need 1-2 inches of rain per week in summer. You should provide whatever portion of this moisture is lacking. One inch of rain equals 65 gallons per 100 square feet of garden space. But this is just a guide. Time of the season, stage of the plants, soil composition, and many other factors affect the amount of water required. Be consistent during fruit production. Mulched plants require less water than plants that are not mulched. Raised beds require more than non-raised beds. If a good amount of compost is incorporated into the soil, less water is needed. Compost holds 6 times it's weight in water. Watering too frequently and too heavily is just as hard on plants as too little water. Roots require oxygen just as much as they require water and nutrients. Dry winds dehydrate plants. Cooler temps require less water. Those using drip irrigation whether from a soaker hose or milk jug are likely getting the best use of their water which is going right where it needs to go and the ground has time to absorb it. There are hundreds of methods of watering. Whatever you do, just be consistent. But I do agree, twice a day sounds like too much. Roots require oxygen equally as much as they require nutrients and water. I personally believe in a couple of deep waterings per week with the use of 2 inches of mulch to reduce evaporation and maintain a more stable soil temperature. Plants recover from dehydration much better then they ever recover from the roots being suffocated by drowning so under watering is better than over watering until you get the hang of it. Oxygen is equally as important as water and nutrients and rain water is always better than municipal tap water.

I got around the log in issue by adopting a new pseudonym (username). It kept rejecting my old one. Sure the old profile and data still survive somewhere. Existing in parallel universes has its perks, I guess. But all this white hurts my eyes. Do we need to go to settings each time we visit here to reduce luminosity?! I feel like I now know what it must be like to go snow blind!!! Maybe just wear a pair a shades.

A friend on a non-hippi list sends a photo of her cool CAKE and there is a hippi in the background. She replies that she knows nothing of this Apple Blossom (not an AB) and you say that it looks like Pink Diamond and suggest she looks it up on the internet. She replies that she did a GOOGLE search for Pink Diamond and lo and behold her search reveals a photo that you took posted on this photo. She then refers to you as a wealth of knowledge and starts bombarding you with questions...and of course you encourage her to join the FORUM!! K

dedtired, I checked out Dukestown and found that is part of the old iron working town of Tredegar in Monmouthshire, probably so called after the then local land owner the Dukes of Beaufort. Today the place does not have much going for it after all the closures of the mines and heavy industry. A run-down area of high unemployment with all the problems that brings. However the countryside to the North, known as the Brecon Beacons, is very beautiful in a rugged sort of way, with farms in the lowlands, lots of streams and small rivers, tiny villages and lonely farm houses. You can read about the general area in the fiction of Alexander Cordell; the best known is The Rape of the Fair Country set in the time of the Industrial Revolution. In this area of South Wales there are a series of 'valleys' running generally from N to S. The roads follow the same pattern as do the narrow rows of houses. The people seem to have little contact with their fellows in the next valleys to the E or W. It used to be a place of gaunt-looking chapels for a Sunday, Male Voice Choirs and brass bands. And the women rule the roost! The Tredegar/Dukestown valley is the 'Sirhowy' named after the river which runs through it. Here is a link that might be useful: info on Cordell and the area.