Here's some info on another great blackberry for LOW chill areas.....May not be available in the USA...not sure....Really would love to try growing these.... http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=92918#SlideFrame_1 Six years of research and development have paid off for pioneering produce marketer Pure Fresh with the first harvest and successful retailing of a new, improved blackberry variety, Stella. Stella, a medium-sized berry slightly bigger than the popular and flavourful Tupy, has a higher sugar content and longer shelf life than other varieties. The exciting new Pure Fresh blackberry also has a more cylindrical shape for a better, more durable fit in clamshell packaging, a significant benefit for retailers and consumers of the delicate fruit. The elongated shape of the Pure Fresh Stella allows for better arrangement in the clamshell, minimizing pressure on the high-water content blackberries and preventing bursting and leaking during transit, said Roberto Castaneda Sr., the founder of Pure Fresh and its parent company, Guatemala and Mexico based grower Planesa. We are very happy, announced Castaneda. We call the blackberry Stella because it is now the star of the Pure Fresh berry program. Stella means star in Italian. We see a lot of future in it. It is a new and modern variety,Castaneda said. Pure Fresh is the exclusive importer and marketer of the Stella under the Pure Fresh brand, and Planesa is the exclusive producer of the Stella in Guatemala and Central America. The Quest for a Better-Shaped Blackberry with Improved Flavor Planesa has been working on improving blackberry varieties since 1998 with Dr. John R. Clark at the University of Arkansas, which has one of the world's most successful blackberry variety programs, said Castaneda. Clark and Planesa introduced the commercially popular Kiowa variety to Guatemala and the high-yielding Kiowa today accounts for 90 percent of the blackberry volume out of Guatemala, one of the few countries in the world where the Kiowa has been produced successfully, said Castaneda. The Kiowa replaced the Brazos variety which was not as superior to the Kiowa. Building on Castaneda's philosophy that new and better varieties are the key to staying ahead in the produce business, Planesa sought a blackberry even better than the Kiowa. The innovating company had seen excellent results with the Brazilian Tupy blackberry on its farms in the Mexican state of Michoacan. The international grower began growing Tupy in Guatemala and it has shown some success but yields are lower than those in Mexico. So the search began to find a new berry that would have better yields in the sub-tropical Guatemala climate. Planesa and the University of Arkansas set up a testing agreement to evaluate several unreleased selections for possible adaptation to Guatemala, said Dr. Clark. This selection was tested by Planesa in Guatemala and found to perform well in the low-chill environment in Guatemala. It is a thornless plant, and produces large, long berries of good quality. Postharvest evaluations have indicated superior postharvest capability compared to Kiowa, a key attribute for shipping a fresh-market blackberry. .......... Here is a link that might be useful: News article on Stella Blackberry

Hi, We are dealing with an issue similar to this one, only the HVAC closet is on the ground floor - the lines were cloged and the emergency line was also not working. The water not only backed up to the pan, but also drained into the pedestal box and one of the HVAC lines that hung below the unit. In our experience, it is never a good thing to have the AC off. Regardless of how dry it seems, mold can grow in humid areas. I would recommed you get the pan installed and have your HVAC guy out to keep it running. In the meantime, I agree with another posting on getting the dehumidifier in. Regarding the insurance company. They are basically trying to save the company money only and do not have your best interest at heart. I haven't heard of any insurance company painting whole rooms or casing not damaged by the incident. In your case, it might be better just to either do the rest yourself or have whomever painting finish the rest - via an additional quote - so you know exactly what they want to charge. I hope you get good sincere workers in there. On another note, the home we are working on also had window leaks. Everything went unchecked and the maintenance person that did painting and caulking simply covered and filled rot up. The house now has primary and secondary termite colonies, not something to take lightely and a true lesson for the absentee owners (vacation home). I would seriously think about visiting your vacant home periodically - make sure your windows are not leaking, weather stripping on doors is in good shape, your HVAC will need monitoring. You will also want to think about a few other things. When a house is vacant, the sewer line does not get flushed out - there's a trap (elbow) at each fixture - sink, toilet, tub, etc. I believe this would be the case with your own septic system, so please ignore if you are on some city or county sytem (unless someone corrects me there). To continue, your best bet is to flush the toilets and run water in your sinks and tubs - not for long, just a few seconds. It just simply puts water back in the elbow, preventing sewer gases from coming into the house. Prevention can go along way. As they say, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" Good luck, I hope you can sell. Remember curb appeal also - make sure the yard is taken care of - it does go along way and when someone stops by if they see its taken care of outside, they will assume it has been inside. Small details will also get noticed. Go room by room and just check small details, do cabinet and regular doors hang and shut correctly, what about drawers - these are things that people will look at, minor yes but if they can't pull apart your house, it may satisfy them with what they see first hand. Another HVAC tip - even though the house is not getting used, make sure to change the filters. You could get the reusable ones or just use the paper ones. At our house we purchased reusable and vacum and then rinse the extra dust out (they have a plastic frame with washable screen). Check around the perimiter of your home outside also - keep it clear. If there's a moisture issue, try and get it diverted or fixed, termites love moisture. Well, hopefully I have been helpful. - Rachael

My unit is about 14 years old and the condensation/drip pan is rusting. I had a service contract tune-up and the technician said that with the old metal pans, once they rust and start clogging up the pipeline with small pieces of rust, they only option is to replace the entire unit! Has anyone had a similar experience or have a solution for replacing just the pan? The water is overflowing onto the air filter and soaking it. Thanks.

I too had this problem, got three units on top of our bar, first unit started leaking through roof, pulled air filters and replaced, cleaned out drain pipes which were full of gunk from dirty air filters and were clogging drain, added some bleach/water to drain, cleaned condensation pan, and unit is no longer leaking. Did this maintenance to all units. HVAC guy was going to charge standard 150 an hour plus parts, plus a possible emergency call which was going to cost me close to 800 an hour during this texas peak season heat/humidity, was literally going to break the bank! This post has saved me! Small business that is staying afloat no pun intended, says thank you for honest answers! Cheers!