Bob, "How often do you fertilize and at what strength?" During the growing season, I foliar feed my zinnias fairly frequently -- at least once a week if I can. I usually spray in the morning, and very generously, so that there is a considerable amount of run-off to feed the roots as well. If it is convenient to feed during the evening, because I was busy during the morning, and provided that it is hot weather which is not conducive to foliage diseases, then I don't hesitate to spray in the evening. Actually, wet zinnia foliage is actually resistant to Powdery Mildew, but other zinnia foliage diseases can be encouraged by wet foliage. When foliage diseases are a concern, I switch to frequent applications of a potassium bicarbonate based spray like GreenCure®. Potassium bicarbonate is also very water soluble and is easily washed off by rains or even heavy dews. But giving your zinnias a refreshing shower bath of potassium bicarbonate every morning would be a good idea, if you have the time. And there is a bit of serendipity to that, because some of the potassium in the potassium bicarbonate is actually absorbed as a foliar feed. Zinnias do need a fair amount of potassium. During the vegetative stage, before any blooms have opened, I feed my zinnias at full strength which, according to the Miracle-Gro Tomato Food package is one tablespoon per gallon of water. I avoid spraying the full strength foliar feed on open zinnia blooms, because the petals and floral parts (florets and stigmas) are more "tender" than the leaves and stems. When it becomes inconvenient not to spray the flowers, I cut the foliar spray concentration to one quarter of "full strength" and spray everything, with no harmful effects. The full strength can burn tender petals. I probably should experiment to see if I can "get away with" half strength on zinnia blooms. This is what I did with respect to the Boron this year. I made up a stock solution of boric acid. I heated a cup of water in the microwave, as if I were going to make a cup of instant coffee. (I drink a fair amount of Kava, because it is low acid, but that is irrelevant here.) I strip the labels off of some of the bottled water that I have finished, and I write "Boric Acid" on them prominently with a Sharpie marker. I definitely don't want myself or anyone else to drink any of my Boric Acid solution accidentally. I pour the hot water into a labeled bottle and add about one half teaspoon of boric acid powder (available at many drug stores in the Pharmacy area), replace the lid and shake it until the powder is dissolved. My sprayer tank holds 7 gallons, but I usually fill it to only 5 or 6 gallons to make it easier to wheel around. I add a bottle of the stock Boric Acid solution to each tankfull. You could do an equivalent thing with a hose-end sprayer. Until I started adding the Boric Acid, I did see symptoms of Boron deficiency in my zinnias (puckering, wrinkling, and downward folding of the leaves, tip burn, death of the growing point or bud, and stunted growth, naturally.) I have yet to see the symptoms of too much Boron, although I may run some experiments next year to see what they are. Apparently our soil here is deficient in Boron, and apparently the well water is also deficient. I guess that is a lucky thing, because in some parts of the country (the Southwest) there is an excess of Boron in the soil and irrigation water, which does cause problems. It's easier to add Boron than to take it out. Rain, or even heavy dew, will wash the nutrients off of the foliage and into the soil, where they are still available to the roots, so they are not wasted. However, I usually re-spray after a rain to replenish the nutrients available to the foliage. Zinnias are fast growers and heavy feeders, and they respond to foliar feeding in warm weather with almost "scary" growth rates. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned)

I start seeds in those standard seed starting trays (72 cells with a clear lid) over a heat mat. I use a single 6-pack for each variety, with the goal of having all the seeds in a 6-pack germinate within a day or two of each other. As soon as the first seeds germinate in a 6-pack, I take them out of the seed starting tray and put them under lights (no heat). But I found that with some vegetables (mostly spinach and lettuce) the ungerminated seeds in that 6-pack would often take 9 or 10 days more to germinate (for the same vegetable) and often would not germinate at all. I now cut up the 6-packs of spinach and lettuce if some seeds have germinated and some have not. I move the newly germinated seeds under lights in a cool room and leave the rest of the 6-pack, with it's ungerminated seeds in the heated, lidded tray. I use small strips of duct tape to label cells of trays that have been cut up. Sometimes I only have to remove one or two of the cells and the rest germinate together. It's a pain, but I don't want to have a 10-day difference in the germination of seeds for the same type of vegetable. I will continue to use the 72 cell starter cells, it's the best way for me to get a lot of different things started in a small space. I can get them cheap at Agway or online and they cut up easily with regular scissors. The coffee filter thing didn't work for me, I found it too easy to damage the delicate roots and found it more labor intensive to get the seeds planted in a hurry once they sprouted. To each his/her own.

Toni, I did venture out to Home Depot today, and came home with three different compact fluorescent bulbs -- the spiral fluorescent energy saving ones. One 30 W (120 W equivalent), 2000 lumens, bright white (they didn't have full-spectrum); a 23 W (100 W equiv.), 1600 lumens, warm white; and a 19 W (75 W equiv.), 840 lumens, "daylight." I was thinking of using the 30 W, on my orange tree, and either of the other two bulbs for the coffee plant and my passiflora vines. Am I on the right track? Or, do you recommend a different strategy? Lastly, I have timers for the lights, but am not real sure how much supplemental light to give the plants. They're all in a Southern exposed window, though due to the angle of the sun and an abundance of trees, they don't get too much direct sunlight. The orange tree has 5 small to medium-sized oranges, and an abundance of tiny ones (the plant had gone to bloom just at the end of the summer....It's about 3 years old. The coffee plant is about a year and a half old. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! for sharing your knowledge. I greatly appreciate it!

In order to get a picture of the difference between soluble fertilizers and organic fertilizers, imagine cell membranes as the fabric chain link fences are made of. Soluble fertilizers moving through cell walls might be considered something like you pushing ping pong balls through the holes in the fence, while organic molecules are more like trying to push basketballs through. The basketballs would have to be broken down into smaller pieces before they would fit. If there is no one standing by to break the basketballs down (if there are reduced populations of soil biota to break down the large organic molecules) no basketball parts get through. MG houseplant fertilizer is probably not a good choice. I believe the % of NPK is 8-7-6, or very close to that. Plants actually use about 6x more N than P and about 1.5x more N than K. If you choose a soluble fertilizer, you would be better served with something in a 3:1:2 ratio. 24-8-16, 12-4-8, and 9-3-6 are all very popular 3:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizers. Dyna-Gro makes 9-3-6 Foliage-Pro soluble. It's not easy to find, but it's the best I've seen because it also includes Ca and Mg (usually lacking in commonly found soluble blends like MG, Peters, Schultz .....), and it contains all the essential elements in the ratio plants need for normal growth and in a very favorable ratio to each other, also an important consideration. Al