I heard and read that white vinegar lowers your ph and baking soda raises it. I have tried it, one day. But the water changes so often, I would rather leave it alone as the above buyorsell888 had posted. I am no expert or pro, so I hope mother nature takes care of it. My fish are swimming like crazy so I guess they are okay. As far as my plants go, I am going to give them a special soak of miracle grow or plant food in a separate container just enough to let them soak in some nutrients before putting them back in the pond. I am just waiting for my pond to go through its cycle so I can finally see my fish at the bottom again.

Two common plants that can cause dermatitis, for different reasons: Bindweed, that morning-glory type vine with white blossoms, contains small amounts of urushiol, the same chemical as in poison ivy. I can't pull the stuff up without breaking out. Euphorbias such as robii and chameleon have that white sticky sap, which many folks find to be a major skin irritant. Again, gloves won't help me if I handle that stuff. How are you pulling your gloves off? You may be inadvertently getting contaminants from the outside onto the inner surface of your gloves if they get inverted while you're taking them off. Hope it gets better! LynnT

It looks good. I think you are correct in expecting it to leaf out/flower in a few days. I can't see it clearly, but is there any padding on the strapping around the trunk? It looks to be putting a fair bit of pressure on the trunk - if the strapping is an inch wide or more, then it's probably OK. I would loosen the strapping as soon as the tree is sufficiently upright - the more it can move in the wind, the stronger it will get. If you could mulch out to the drip-line, it might be a good idea - there have been studies showing that trees mulched out to 20' did better than trees mulched out to 10', which did better than trees out to 5' or less. It looks like you have only about 2' of mulch out from the trunk, although I know judging distances from a photo can be tricky. The mulch mantra is; as widely as possible, no deeper than 4" and no mulch in the inch or 2 next to the trunk.

I started Lisianthas last year around the end of January. They bloomed late as well. I was planning on bringing a few in the house for the winter to see if I could keep them alive by my south facing window. But that never happened. I was going to start them myself again, but I have fungus gnats in the house that I can't seem to get rid of. I know how much they like these flowers, so I asked a employee of a local greenhouse if they start them. She says they do and in 6 packs, so I'm opting for that route this year. Good luck with yours and good luck on having earlier flowers. Shelley