I started using SWC wicks made from synthetic mop material last year with very good results. I use the same mop Al Tapla recommends for wicking excess water out of containers (Mainstays brand at WalMart). I like them in my bucket SWCs because it's easy to adjust the amount of wicking (even after plant is in place) by adding or removing wicks. This year I want to try using binder clips to temporarily 'cut off' wicks until they're needed. I also like the fact that the soil buckets remain flat on the bottom so it's easy to move them around, work on, sit on the ground without worrying about crushing a wicking cup. I use my SWC's as top watered containers at first (until the plants get well established), and the wicks really help drain excess moisture out at the early stage. Peppers and Eggplants did best last year with 2 wicks, tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets 4, and cucumbers needed 8! (possibly more-or a better wicking mix). Keep up the experiments!

As regards to 'mutants', many of the newer hosta varieties are in fact mutants created in TC vats which are multiplied or sale by further TC. This is not to say that there is anything bad about them, as most of the old varieties were mutants created in nature. Mutants occur in TC fairly commonly and are generally rogued out as the plants are raised to production size. A fair number of these are generally kept and evaluated as for improvements over the base stock but most are destroyed in the long run. The reason they occur so commonly is that TC uses such small explants to form each plant that only a very small number of cells must mutate to give a totally mutant plant. If the Big Sky series has a fairly high number of non conforming plants entering the marketplace, then it is a problem of poor control in the growing out step that is at fault, not the TC itself, these should be caught as the plants are being up-sized. George

So sorry for late response (back from ski trip): kitchenguys.com 416 Roosevelt Avenue Central Falls, RI 02863 (401) 723-0500 Ian I also got my GE Monogram Advantium there also. (I recommend the 240 model; the 120 is not powerful enough.) Warning: they're not a showroom, more like where almost brand-new/scratch-dents go, instead of back to manufacturer. So I saw this Miele deal on ebay listed by kitchenguys on Thursday night. I called Friday morning about it. Problem was that I couldn't get there until Monday morning (I was in VT that weekend). So chicken/egg: should I make an ebay bid, or risk losing it auction to someone else? Ian offered to take down the auction, hold it for me until Monday when I showed up to test the cooktop with my pans (which turned out doesn't work w/ induction). Then he proceeded to hold it for me again until Tuesday while I talk it over with DH, before he'd re-list it on ebay. But I bought my new baby! Thank you Ian!

I have a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design. While this is pretty consistent with some of the technical information we learned, I would say that a great deal of our education was more about building concepts and ideas and then expressing them in an interior. This is important to learn and is one of the biggest differences between being an Interior Designer and being an Interior Decorator. A Decorator is trained more in the way of surface decoration (pillows, trim, carpet, paint colors) but an Interior Designer is designing the space under a centralized idea where all decisions are made. This can include a change in floor plan and the removal and addition of walls. It's important to know the rules above because Interior Designers alter floor plans, will work closely with architects and many go to work for Contract firms. This post was edited by htnspz on Thu, May 23, 13 at 4:36