Thanks for the replies. Im not sure what to make of the figs slow progress, by all accounts they love hot weather, and even if they didn’t the last 2 weeks have been fairly mild in comparison to the first two weeks with temperatures sitting between 25-30oC (77-86F), only getting above 30 once, which should be fairly ideal. Fertilising may be an issue, although they have been getting their half strength solution quite regularly, sometimes 2x a week. If it isn’t going to hurt them I can give them a full strength measure at their next watering and see if that kicks them into action. If I could make a guess, I would say it comes down to water, since the plants wilted whilst the soil feels damp to touch (at least in the top few cms) I would say there is possibly patches of dry mix or, as I left some of the original soil mix around the root ball, this may have dried out, or isn’t staying wet. I have been silly and haven’t once checked with a dowel or anything, but believe the soil is probably quite wet now as last week we had a few days solid rain in a row. If this theory is correct then hopefully it should become evident quite quickly as the plants will start putting out growth again (I hope). This morning, despite being watered last on Saturday, all my pots feel wet, almost soaked, right on the top. After work I will stick a skewer in and see if this is the case through the whole mix. My other thoughts were that I had been over fertilising and the plants could not take up water, but I just don’t know that a high enough level of salts could have built up in such a small amount of time, especially since at each watering I let a fair bit of water flow out the pots. @shazaam I am fertilising only with the regular miracle grow for all plants, with some added vinegar and Epson salts for the blueberries. I am not sure what N source is used, but will check and see if it ammonia or nitrate based. I have been searching for a soluble acid loving formula, but although it is on their website I haven’t been able to locate in stores. Perhaps if it is nitrate based I will see if I can find any ammonia based product somewhere. I added some slow release acid loving Osmocote when mixing, which is likely to have an ammonia base, but I am sure someone stocks a soluble somewhere in my city…

I wouldn't sweat it... primarily because from a prior "Container Soils -- Water Movement and Retention" thread, Al notes: "dust to 3/8 is best, but if you have some 1/2" pieces in there, don't sweat it." A substrate with 1/2" particles will have different properties from one with smaller particles, but only by a small amount. Here's a study quantifying the different properties of substrates of varying pine bark sizes. For larger bark particles, air space is increased a bit at the expense of available water (which makes sense intuitively... bigger chunks will have larger spaces between them). The researchers note that available water (for plant uptake) might be insufficient in a 1/2" substrate without more frequent watering... but that's with 100% 1/2" pine bark. In our 5-1-1 case, the smaller pine bark/peat/perlite matter would fill those large intra 1/2" spaces if the mix is mixed well. Sure, uniform particulate size is more "optimal" still, but at this point (after having screened for nuggets beyond 1/2"), the diminishing returns on effort input vs. results output really begin, in my opinion.

Oh I see... my gf told me something a long those lines, about how water has to flow consistently and all that through the whole plant while the sun is hitting it or else it will wilt. Hmmm and I'm actually new to this whole gardening thing, so I really don't know if the potting mix and container provide a good environment for new root development, all I can say is that the container is pretty big, and that i used organic potting mix from miracle gro, I don't know if that is good enough for it. I hope that all it needs is time :( I don't want it to die on me T_T

I have a Bosch 800 series with Crystal Dry, same odor problem others are experiencing. This dishwasher replaced a 30+ year old Whirlpool that never smelled, ever. I rinse dishes first because I run the dw once every 6 days or so. Did a thorough cleaning of the filter, below the filter, the walls etc. Used Cascade dw cleaner this weekend, which did a super job of cleaning, but as far as the odor issue, it's back, now with an overlay of the strongly perfumed Cascade cleaner, which makes it worse because when I open the dw door to air it out, my kitchen smells like the dw cleaner, which I don't really care for. As far as the residual water, Bosch CS told me that it was an intentional part of the design, to prime the pump for the next use? However, I'm wondering if it's the crystals causing the issue, by absorbing odors and then releasing them after several days into the dishwasher? Thoughts? Very frustrated, because dishwashers are nothing new - the first one was invented in 1850 according to the internet. Would much rather have one that just cleans the dishes, than one with all the bells and whistles that smells.