What an interesting show that was. I just loved how Bonnie wants to help make a difference in her lifetime. This is a quote from http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/bassler.html and seems to sum up the point of the show: "Processes controlled by quorum sensing are usually ones that are unproductive when undertaken by an individual bacterium but become effective when undertaken by the group. For example, quorum sensing controls bioluminescence, secretion of virulence factors, biofilm formation, sporulation, and the exchange of DNA. Thus, quorum sensing is a mechanism that allows bacteria to function as multicellular organisms. Our recent studies show that bacteria make, detect, and integrate information from multiple autoinducers, some of which exclusively facilitate intraspecies communication, while others enable communication between speciesÂWe propose that quorum-sensing transition is not switch-like but rather operates in a graded manner" How fascinating to combine the theories of this segment with the aging segment earlier in the show! Here is a link that might be useful: Watch the Segement

Hi all, I'm happy to report that not long after I posted the pics of our calamondin in crisis, it started to bounce back and has been okay for the past couple of months. Trace and Serge, thanks for your questions and suggestions. We have not tried flushing the plant with copious amounts of water, and we haven't looked at the roots lately. Mainly for fear that pulling it out of the pot would just add stress to an already stressed plant. That was going to be the next thing we did, if it hadn't bounced back. I'm not entirely sure what stopped its decline, but here are a couple of things we started doing differently. First, we resumed the practice of adding a bit of vinegar with each watering. Second, we stopped misting the leaves. I may be way off base, but it seemed to me that the misting may have been the primary cause of its grief. Third, I took Steve's suggestion and ordered some Foliage Pro, which I've been adding every other week or so. But it should be noted that the leaf dropping and general decline stopped before the fertilizer arrived in the mail. So it seems safe to say that while the fertilizer is helping the plant -- the remaining leaves are a much deeper green and in general look healthier than they have in quite a while -- it seems that the leaf drop may have been the result of something other than nutrient deficiency alone. Maybe? In any case, the story has again taken a complicated turn in the past week or so: the plant has started to put out a flush of blossoms, which in some places is quite profuse. A few new leaves are also coming in, although unfortunately not nearly as many as there are new blossoms. At the same time, she has started to drop leaves once again. As I noted in my initial post, the leaf issues started in the first place after a similarly spectacular flush of blossoms several months ago. Is it possible that the plant is somehow putting too much energy into producing blossoms? In any case, should we pinch off some of the blossoms? Would that help generate more leaves? And I assume that during this phase of budding, fertilizer is particularly important? One final thing to note: From an original five trunks, the tree is now down to two. Does the death of entire trunks suggest that the (or at least a) problem may be in the root structure? Thanks in advance for any thoughts folks want to share. I'm adding a pic of the blossoms and of the trunks.

OK...I have uploaded some pics to Flickr set at the attached link. I tried and failed to figure out how to post a picture as part of this message, so if anyone wants to explain it to me, feel free :) Please excuse the mess in the sink. As you will see, the problem is leaving room for accessing the office. I put down a measuring tape in one pic, it's hard to read but the length of the window wall there from the current counter end is about 3.5 feet. I originally thought "window seat" myself, but realized that a seat of any length would cause problems. Same for a sink, etc. One thought I have is to do a short lower cabinet area ending in a curve or angle? Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of kitchen

If the heater is within budget do it for sure. I don't know about your area butvim in southern NY and I extend the swimming season by 2 months. May and sept would be to cold without one. I d go into october if I wanted but don't. I prefer natural gas if you have it since it heats quickly. With a heat pump you may not be able to extend the season all that much. LP is another source if you already use that for your home.