Aw, how cute! Looks like he's having a great time. Unfortunately, a pair of cardinals have nested in my rose bush. Ordinarily I would love to have them in the yard, but there are cats around and only one of the babies survived last year - one was killed by a cat, the other was blown out of the nest in a storm. I took great pleasure, though, in seeing the third fly away. I keep a Scarecrow water cannon aimed at the area around the bush trying to keep the cats away, which will protect them until they leave the nest, then it'll be a problem.

Oh Boy.. You finally got MITES????! Congrats...lol Seriously. There was sone good suggestions here.. Thsi is what I do and I have yet to have a spider mite issue in my greenhouse, although that is not to say I don't have at least one mite in there.. In fact, when containing any kind of plant in any confined area, that is the chance we take and in fact quite common. Personally I thing every one of us folks that grows indoors has at least one pest or two. The key is to accept it, not to panic, never be disappointed if you think you rid them all and see on again, keep on top of them, never letting them take control, and prevention. I always keep a fan circulating the air in mine. I use a spray bottle, you know, the kind you spray pesticde out of, the big pump ones and spray my plants early in the a.m as frequent as possible. It keeps the air humid in there all day, keep the plants clean and discourages any pests.. The fan prevent disease problems and allows me to use water this way. I would not use all that Neem..It will eventually suffocate your plants if you use too much too often, including buds and new growth. I would use a good horticultural oil in a spray end bottle or one that attaches to a hose. Why don't you drain your hose so it won't freeze up or keep it stored inside until you use it again? That is what I do. I always have access to a hose even when it's below 0 Too, keep the area clean of debris and dead leaves, especially on the floor and on the shelves..I would also spay your pots and all surrounding area.. You should be able to fight this with ease//to be honest, i would rather have mite than scale or mealy.. Hopefully you have gained some good ideas from us here... P.s..Find a way to consistently spray down your leaves with water and keep a fan going..This alone will help prevent many issues! Mike

Personally, I would allow it to have all the veggies it wants and then I would move as I am just too skittish to live in an area with carnivores the size of a minivan.

You might not have meant to Elmer, but by referring to it as a possible regional and/or socio-economically specific popular phrase, you implied that those of us who do know the phrase are, for lack of a better term, hickish rednecks. Let me be the first to inform you, if you didn't already know, that people from this region generally embrace the "redneck" title; however, if it TRULY doesn't fit, they get annoyed. You refer to it as a regional slang term when; I KNOW you are just as smart and as capable as I am that if you run across an unfamiliar phrase, the first thing you do is google it. A simple google search would lead you to any number of reliable and "NOT" regionally specific sites that would quickly inform you in under 30 seconds that prick is a somewhat common and acceptable term to use to refer to an animals ears being erect. It isn't "regional" and it isn't "socio-economically based" either. You implied both which was possibly frustrating to others, I know it was to me.