Tom: OK, maybe you will have to water. Some pointers that may help. Do you have some kind of SUV? I have a Suburban, so I am lucky. I have been watering about 400 new trees and some that I planted in prior years, If I use my methods and had just 100 or so--"piece of cake." I got a shallow rubber-like or flexible plastic tray that fits in the back. I can line up 40 jugs on this and can re-fill them right there and drain off the spillage out the back of the tray by pressing down its lip. I have another tray in the side that holds another 18. I drive close to me trees and carry them by twos or threes to the trees. For 90% of them I created a nice berm to hold the water, so I can pour it out fast. 100 trees, if they are in rows close toghether, maybe 2 or 2 1/2 hours. With kids helping, much less. No problem! Good luck. If you water them and keep up their strength, they will get established fast. If you see good buds form and the thick leader develop, you are home free, and one good watering now could do the trick. If the buds are really small and the leaders don't show any thickening, you should water more regurlarly until fall, if needed. --Spruce

Aw thanks everyone for the warm welcome back. I missed chatting with you. I used to have kind of a "meh" attitude about Florida and now I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's so easy on the eyes. And really nice folks there - although maybe they're just so nice because they're living in paradise. /Eileen. I hear you about the furry babies. I have been out of town so much lately that my cat is punishing me. ._.' So great that you have 3 sisters down there! I definitely hope I get to retire near my sisters someday. /Poseidon. "I agree, joni is one of those people that you just do not forget meeting." You just could not have put it better. That's what I keep trying to explain to people about her. I can't quite put words to her, but she's one of a kind. /Pug. It is exactly like that. I felt like Homer in that episode of The Simpsons where he is in The Land of Chocolate. All those little planty faces staring up at you, and their moms nearby so you can see exactly what they will look like when they are of an established size. It should make it easier to decide what you want, but really what happened to me was that I suddenly saw the appeal of all the plants I'd previously vetoed when merely viewing them online. Unfortunately Kelly has been busy addressing some health issues. We recently heard she was making some progress and I'm sure she'll be on here again eventually. I miss her too. /Renee. Whoa a vacation with both Bulbophyllums and Hoyas?! That's pretty posh. :) I hope you're able to make it out to Sarasota/Siesta Key. My sister really wanted me to drop her off in Siesta Key while I was visiting Joni but unfortunately for her, she slept in and I wasn't going to wait any longer! :P /Ima. It's a really pretty area, so I think it would make a fun day trip. If your daughter takes you, maybe as a thank you gift, you'll be faced with the same conundrum as I was: what a person's First Hoya should be. I went with polystachya, but Joni's suggestion of merrilli was a really good one, I thought.

WOW! What a great day you had Bobby. Both purchases look terrific and you got a great price on the burner. It looks and sounds as though you are already pleased with your purchases. I looked at the power suggestions on your model and the great thing about induction cooking is that you can start boiling your water or cooking soup at the highest power level and then turn it down knowing that the response is instant. Spaghetti and garlic toast make a great dinner, but I have to ask - did you have anything GREEN? I'm not sure why the instructions would say not to use it near anything metal, after all your cooking in metal pots and pans. And as far as the magnetic response to your toaster oven or anything else, keep in mind that even though your cookware has to be able to hold a magnet, you will never feel a pull of the pot towards the burner when you put down or lift up a pot. Many one of our members skilled in engineering or physics will have a scientific explanation. I used my portable induction unit on top of the metal grill of my Jenn-Air cooktop for over two years with no problems. Neither the portable unit nor the built in cooktop that we had mentioned any cautions about keeping other metal at a distance. Have fun and post back with other things you are cooking and grilling. Lee

Had to pop in here and wish you congratulations! I have been under the weather for a few weeks so my diet went kaplooey again. Back on the veggie train today instead of the cheese and cracker one. The cheese one was more fun! My advice is to focus on the holiday day and not the season. Some people eat cookies between Thanksgiving and New Years and then wonder where the ten pounds came from. Enjoy the day and tell yourself you can have what you are craving on THE holiday. If you need to freeze the temptation and save it for the day. On the day you can decide if you want it. Sounds dumb but it works as long as you don't freeze a dozen cookies for later.