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.

Thanks Steve, It was fun watching the hummer approach the feeder for the first time. The port was not facing him so he tapped the base quickly, then he flew around the feeder the whole time hovering and rotating till he found the port. I can see these little feeders are going to be a bee magnet. The liquid most of the time is popping out a bit and I can see the bee's and wasp's just drinking it up. Plus the ants will for sure find the ground under them. So far though it looks like the hummer likes it, so I will leave them up. I'll let you know if the hummers go to the Yankee Droll window feeder. If they do then I will know they just don't like the jewelbox. Onloy two feeders? With these two one feeder ports I just bought I have 9 feeders out. 6 in the back, one in the front and 1 on each side. I have been trying to make a hummingbird heaven by having so many out. I thought that with so many choices they might pick my yard over someone else's. Perhaps I should take some of them down. Ken

Tavimh, Tell your husband congrats!!! Great accomplishment. I love the Manoa area, my aunt lives above the Univesity in the hills. Some plumeria people have stated the UHO might be an AKA for Kaleinani aka Kaulanani, I have both and they are very similar. It is a leggy vertical grower, so you will need some head room for her and patience as leggy growers do not bloom as often as compacts or dwarfs, but once it hits a certain age and height it will bloom regularly. You might also consider University Hawaii Lani aka Lani's Beauty. This cultivar was developed by UH for the lei industry. Personally if I had to chose one Id go with Lani. Oh I forgot to mention that without heat and sunlight the flowers will only look yellow, no orange or reds in it. I know Denver has the most sun days of anywhere in the US, 300 days per year. But with the GH effect who knows how that will go. I also forgot that Marilynns Gardens has a Lani also but to me the flowers are a bit different as I have both. Here are pics to compare Marilynns Gardens Lani: University Hawaii Lani: Actually the last pic was not a great representation of Lani as that was the year she got planted into the ground. If someone has a good close up of Lani and can post that would be great. Good luck