Irene, I'd like to send you a personal message, but your settings don't allow. Maybe you'd consider sending me your email addy in a Houzz message? Sometimes explanations get lost in the back and forth between people with different viewpoints, but the fact is, soils with a large % of fine particles are always going to pose limitations that result from too much water retention. Even though that fact is carved in stone and can't be argued (because it's governed by predictable laws of physics), there are those very few that insist on arguing the point over and over. Any roots existing within the perched water column will be deprived of O2 for the duration of the saturation. I made that last period bold, but you probably didn't even notice. ;-) The question isn't whether geography or hot dry hurricane windy conditions lift the limitation imposed by the saturation, they don't; the only question is, "How long will the limitations last". In many cases, the answer is measured in weeks, in some cases, in days. A good guess about how a soil like Mg amended with some bark & perlite (let's say 5 parts soil, 1 part perlite, and 1 part pine bark) performs might go like this: Day 1, grower waters established houseplants heavily, to beyond saturation, so water exits the drain. At that point, limitations are most severe. Day 2-5, the degree of limitation gradually decreases until day 5 when the soil is reasonably well aerated and the plant is pouring energy into replacing the fine roots killed by the soggy conditions. Day 5-6, The plant has grown at it's best these 2 days because the soil is moist and about as well aerated as it can be. Almost all the roots killed by saturation have been replaced at a considerable cost in terms of energy outlay. The plant is pretty happy, but the soil is now becoming too dry for the plant to efficiently take up water and the nutrients dissolved in water. It's on the verge of suffering drought stress. Day 7, the grower waters, cycle begins anew. That isn't an exaggeration. It describes a soil that needs weekly watering. Now, a soil in a soil that holds little perched water. The soil is based on a very high % of coarse material (pine bark, perlite, peat or a water retentive bagged soil). NOTE that the ingredients are the very same ingredients as the soil discussed immediately above. The ONLY difference is the ratio of ingredients used. Day 1, grower waters established houseplants heavily, to beyond saturation, so water exits the drain. At that point, limitations are most severe, but still minimal because the soil is designed so the ht of the perched water column and saturation is minimal. Day 2, Perched water is gone, the plant is enjoying a well-aerated soil from top to bottom. Fungus gnats on notice to find more favorable accommodations. This continues until day 4 or 5. Day 4 or 5, fungus gnats have sent out scouts. Other's making preparations to leave this God forsaken place. Plant still happy, but need to water growing imminent. Day 5, grower waters & cycle begins anew. The only price paid for the second scenario is the need to water more often. The first soil was 'amended' with pine bark and perlite, so those would have been on hand anyway. Some might say I'm not going to water 100 plants every 4th, third, every other, or even every day. That's fine, but that convenience demands a soil with enough water retention to get you through whatever interval is desired by the grower. The grower might like the respite from frequent watering, but the plant won't. Convenience very often comes at a price to the plant. That's not judgmental, it's simply how things work. The gritty mix you mentioned holds no perched water if made correctly, so plants are happy from watering time until such time they need another watering. Again, because we've moved away from a perched water table entirely, the need to water the gritty mix comes more frequently than say the 5:1:1 mix, and much more frequently than a soil like you're using. It's also sometimes a challenge to find the exact ingredients, but because the gritty mix recipe I offer as a starting point is nothing more than 1 way to embody a concept, it can be worked around fairly easily. I'll watch for a message with your address. Al

Larry, that is about the way I did it back then. I let the fertiliser drop right onto the rocks of the waterfall, so as it would mix in with the turbulence. As I said I did not notice any harmful effect to fish or flora in the pond. The waterfall rocks looked like brand new with the algae cover gone and that was the only noticeable change that occurred. Like your situation, the plants were growing well, lots of Water Hyacinths and Watercress to suck up the nutrients. The only two things I add now, are Muriate of Potash and some Chelated Iron, but I don't go overboard with those. The lilies get a few chunks of broken up shrub spikes once a month. That's it for fertilising. A side note about cleaning off waterfall rocks, is about the experiment our old friend David [DRH] did with Hydrogen Peroxide. He turned the water off to the waterfall and poured the HP over the rocks while they were still wet. The HP foamed up upon hitting the algae covered rocks, he then let it sit for a few minutes, then sprayed it with water from the hose. All trace of the algae was removed completely. Buyorsell888, your are so correct. That's why I would be reluctant to suggest to anyone that they arbitrarily go around pouring any old fertiliser into the pond. You don't know what you maybe adding that could cause harm to the fish etc. I remember at the time, all this discussion was going on, someone contacted the manufacturer of Miracle-Gro, about using their product in a pond. The answer back, was that they would NOT advise that it be used that way. Sandy, great explanation once again! "Horton"

teka2rjleffel, I'm not sure how to answer that. My tea is just part of my feeding/soil improvement program and my roses are putting out new growth pretty constantly. I can't say I see any real spurt of growth after using the tea--I do have a good number of basals on most roses, though. I do the tea once a month. Mid-month I use Miracle Gro alone and Rosetone or Hollytone in the Spring and Summer (it's on tonight's list of things to do), and compost once a year. I don't have enough compost (or manure when I have the time and energy to go get it) to put it around every rose every year, so I rotate. I've experimented this year with adding 10-10-10 in-between on roses I think I might show and those in pots, too--so something pretty much every week on those roses. One reason I feed so heavily is because all of my roses are in raised beds filled with bagged topsoil/composted manure or pots--due to my vole problem, so I feel they need the extra fertilizer. Not sure this helped, Barbara

keodark, if you find that "miracle" potting mix, please let us all know, lol! Seriously, there just isn't anything out there that will fit your requirements. But, I understand trying to use the KISS method. I don't have the time to mix my own container mix, either, and, here in S. Calif, I need something that is actually more water retentive than gritty mix or 511 mix. Farfad's is probably your best choice, but I can't find it anywhere in my area, sadly. So, my next choice is EB Stone's Cactus Mix, which is got fir bark in it ( Fir Bark, Lava Rock, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, Sand, Redwood Compost and Mushroom Compost to be exact.) So far, my container citrus are doing exceptionally well in it. I've even brought a few abused citrus back to life in it. Fertilizing - you have to fertilize container citrus even more frequently than in-ground citrus. I use the new Osmocote Plus, which has a decent N-P-K ratio for citrus plus the micros, and I also will fertilize with a small amount of regular citrus fertilizer (Gro Power Citrus & Avocado Food) every 3 months during the growing season, too. Citrus are pretty heavy feeders, really needing nitrogen, so if you want to grow citrus in containers, and keep it as carefree as possible, this is what I do, and so far, it's working very well. I anticipate I'll need to re-pot in a few years, maybe 3 or 4 if I'm lucky, since I have my citrus in a little larger containers than some of the really serious container citrus growers on our forum, but I can do this because I'm not moving my citrus in and out for weather reasons. They just sit on my patio all year 'round. So, saves me a few re-potting sessions. Before: One year later: Before (this was a very coveted, rare citrus, I about had a cow when it came to me in this condition:) About 2 months later: Patty S.