Fruitnut, I am retired but only in my 40's so my back is still in good shape lol. I prune low growth off so most of the fruit is up high anyway. Well the leaves I have now are last years leaves and probably half have dropped. You can see how yellow the leaves look in the circular bed.....the yellow on the ground is a pile of orange rinds as we had just made juice from our trees. If you mean the lack of leaves on the new plants I pruned most of them off with the fruit buds. The leaves here tend to have fungal problems in the late fall and will cause the leaves to drop. That is probably what is on your Santa fe as well. The commercial guys with multiple acres of 2 foot on center plantings have more trouble with it. The thing is that happens in November when most of the BB plants in the country are already bare. When you factor in the growing season here the plants are in leaf from Mid February until December/January you can see why the plants here grow like weeds. You can spray for the fungus but don't see the point in doing so.

I think you're thinking in terms of tropical fish. Typically, with fish, you use tap water, which usually has Chlorine. Letting it sit allows the Chlorine gas to evaporate. For most CP's, they live in nutrient poor conditions. Not only will the Chlorine kill them, so will the minerals in tap water. Evaporation concentrates the dissolved minerals. Rain water doesn't need to sit. It's normal for the media to smell. Not a problem. As long as the plants are green, they are okay. If everything turned brown, then I'd worry! Maryland, depending where in Maryland, may be too cold to leave outside for the winter, without mulching. I live in the Buffalo, NY area. so I take my plants to a co-worker, and he keeps them in his windowed garage for the winter. That works for me. Are you near the coast or near the mountains? That makes a difference.

A Merry, Happy and Joyful whatever holiday you and yours might celebrate at this time of year... to everyone! Best Wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2017! I haven't been around, and haven't devoted much time to my plant collection... except bracing to keep everything alive until spring comes around again. It's been a strange year, to say the least. Budgets have been extremely tight... so tight that we aren't making our annual pilgrimage north to spend holidays with family. We try to get there several times each year, but this one is a little different. We don't have the money, and we don't have anyone to come feed and care for the goats, chickens, and other animals should we be gone longer than a single day. It's okay... we'll just make the best out of a situation we aren't thrilled with, and we'll find a way to visit family after the rush of the holiday season.. I've got a nice venison roast thawing as I write this, and we plan on putting together a good meal around that. We have a roof overhead, we're warm, we have good food available, and we have each other and our little family here... and we're still alive and kicking... what more could we really ask for? I don't have many new photos to share... yet. I have quite a few stored on my phone, but they haven't been transferred to my laptop as of yet. So... the Best of Everything to everyone... today and always! :-) The newest member of our family... her name is Maka, Wielder of Soul (from the anime' "Soul Eater").

So, after using it for a few years, here is my take on the MC, keeping in mind, of course that YMMV. I want to start by saying that I just *had* to have the MC because I was sure I would get tons of use from it, especially because I have arthritis and I have had some close calls with moving heavy pots of boiling water. So, in that way, having the MC is very nice bc it does drain the boiling water and eliminates the need to move a heavy pot full of boiling water. The downsides, though, are that it does take some time to get the water to a boil ( I would say about 15 minutes or so) and then there is the clean up, which is kind of a pain. You have to wait for the unit to cool down enough to take it apart to clean it well; otherwise, it tends to get icky. Coincidentally, we seem to be eating less pasta these days *sigh* so when I do make pasta it is in smaller batches and I usually do it on my induction hob which boils water in under a minute. I do love my MC for keeping items warm and for steaming veggies. In those instances, clean up is super easy, it's just draining the water and then I leave the lid off all night to air dry. To speak to your oven choices, I really do love having my warming cupboard, I use the heck out of that thing! I almost think I would give up the MC before the warming cupboard, especially with an induction hob that boils water so quickly for pasta. So in the end, maybe the question is...how MUCH pasta do you prepare at one time? Is it smaller batches, for say a family of 4? Or is it regularly for 10-12? In which case the MC might be very useful for you. I hope this is helpful and not more confusing!