Good morning all! Lucy, hope you find lots of plants, opps, I mean brushes :-) I haven't gone to Lowes in a while, but I did go to this outdoor swap meet a few miles away to look for plants. I was good and didn't buy any because I had specific fruit trees in mind so refrained from buying horsetail, a sweet lime, and three different chile plants I (these were what interest me). Besides, now I know that I should take someone with me to help carry to the car or my tote with wheels. There was a papaya, but it was already sold. I am going to try to go back next Sat. when they first open. Anyway, a glorious Sunday to all!

A few thoughts, though I am late in the catching of this thread: 1. I disagree on the Boron deficiency claim. Or at least I disagree that it is so obvious. First off, the leaves are curled the wrong way to make that claim off a pic. Also, boron deficiency looks exactly like 3 other mineral deficiencies, so somebody is being demeaning without good reason. Boron deficiencies simply don't happen often by themselves in hydro. In hydro, boron is more available than in soil and is supplied plenty well in commercial nutes. 2. I think your pH is/was too high for optimum. 6-6.5 is optimum in soil. Not in hydro. 5.5 to 6 is optimum in hydro. Sounds like some of the advisors here forgot to pull out the right chart or were unaware that pH needs are lower in hydro than in soil. Likely the latter as I find many growers use the same charts for both by mistake. Easy mistake and even easier to grab the wrong chart if you don't know it by eye. Iron and Manganese, for example, become less available in hydro as the solution drifts toward neutral. Iron is virtually unavailable around 8 and up. In soil it is available all the way to 9+ (my charts don't go any further). Thus the importance of using the right info. 3. On pH again, I would like to point out that just because you may have a deficiency of a mineral it doesn't mean that your solution is deficient. It only means the plant is. Adding the mineral won't help you if your pH keeps it locked out of the root systems ability to accept it. That is a common mistake, too, in the ground. If you have blossom end rot you may assume you need calcium. Usually wrong. It's because the calcium isn't getting in the plant. In the ground that is usually due to drought stress that later causes mineral transport issues. Not because the mineral isn't in the ground. Point: don't assume a deficiency in the plant automatically means a deficiency of that mineral in the solution. 4. Tomatoes don't have an end of life cycle so soon. Remember, they are a perennial that is grown as an annual. They can actually grow another crop. Your browning could be lack of nitrogen and the browning of the stem could just be the tissue turning woody. Don't know without a good pic of the stem. Sometimes, when you go to a fruiting formula you deny the plant the nitrogen you used to give it. I do. This will cause yellowing and ultimately browning and falling off of lower leaves (clip them off before they die as dead/dying tissue invites disease). No worries. More will grow elsewhere. there are greenhouses that grow the same plants for 18 month stretches. Eventually, my understanding is that they stop producing as quality of fruit. I've never grown that long with one plant to verify this, though. My 9 month old tomatoes produced as well as my 4 month old ones, though. Unfortunately, the cat got to them and mistook my set up as a cat tree. I cried. Seriously.

Have you already received your Welcome Packet from the Bianco Antico Club? I can't remember...if not....WELCOME!!! Finding the right backsplash for this granite is NOT easy. You would think it would be the easiest thing since everything does go with it. From the whitest whites, to the creamiest, from the brightest/hottest greens to the hunter greens, and so on. As you probably know (if not, I'll post a picture) I have a Beveled Arabesque tile. I won it in a contest. It is white and the shape is what makes it so special. We were on the endless hunt for our backsplash. I found a tile that we loved, it was by Mandala, The Sinu Collection, in Stingray. If you have the opportunity to see it, I suggest you do so. It goes so nicely with this granite. It is a taupe with variations. I believe srg215 (do a search, and you should find her) took my suggestion, went out saw it and fell in love and had it installed in her kitchen. Looks great. The reason we did not go with it was because I painted the backsplash area a color that was similar, just to get an idea how it would look. I decided that in my kitchen the darker tile would just darken things up too much--so my search continued. I had many a beveled Italian subway in there for testing. Then, on a whim, I entered a contest and bam, my kitchen was chosen. Even though I loved the Mandala tiles, I am so happy with my beveled arabesques--they really create the uniqueness I was looking for. BA is a complicated granite because you don't want anything to compete with it. It really is the star in the kitchen. Anything too small, like a 1x1 or even smaller would just add too much busy-ness. If you look at the Mandala tiles (and there are other colors in the Sinu Collection) keep in mind that there are different sizes available. We were leaning to the larger format 4x12s. Trying to minimize the grout lines. If you can't decide on the general "light or dark" backsplash--I suggest you paint back there and see what your eye likes. I was convinced I wanted the darker tile, but once I painted it that color, I knew--it had to be light. Here is the link to Mandala, I can't get you right to the tile, so open the link, and click on the following: Products Sinu And then there are things under this, "collection", "field tile", etc. but you have to see them in person to really understand. Let me know if you want to see a photo of my backsplash. I feel bad posting it again and again-- Here is a link that might be useful: mandala tile

Well, I have 3 Viridi Rascals from last year given to me by a friend and they have rooted but are just playing pet rock like so many of my Komoriya bulbs, but I haven't given up hope yet I think they are just waiting for some warm weather like the rest of us! I tagged on to a group order and have 3 Ratatouille and 3 Lollipops coming and am excited!! Earlier on I had placed a small order with the Barnhoorn folks (just 4 bulb) and when it came time to pay I was unable to send the wire transfer and as they didn't take PayPal I had to cancel the order so I am doubly glad I have the 6 bulbs coming from the group order!! And yes, the prices were much lower when ordering in bulk. Donna