Hi and thank you for your comments. Kevin, Truth is I didn't do anything special and I certainly am no expert. I start the seeds around March by putting them in a damp paper towel. When they germinate, I plant them in small 10cm containers. I leave them outside under the sun during the day and move them inside at nights, but now in July I have to place them in the shade all day long because they wilt as soon as they are exposed to the sun for over 20 minutes lol. Potting soil is some cheap mix (3,5eur/20lt, label says: "Special potting soil made of 90-95% blond and black peat mixture") mixed with some ground soil to make it heavier. For fertilizing I dissolve some grounds of granulated organic fertilizer in a bottle of water and then water the plants with it. Its NPK number is 11-15-15.

Monica, I wrote another tips message for you yesterday. but it hasn't appeared and I really can't remember what all I wrote. But I will try again. I don't have a sink in my greenhouse anymore just because I do not have room. I used to even have a small fish pond in there, but I just have too many plants and have removed that also as much as I enjoyed it. I do set up one of those black plastic rectangular mixing pans you see in HD and Lowes and use that to mix soil or use as a sink to soak used pots when I need a sink. I have a water spigot in the greenhouse with a hose and hot water. The fine misting setting on the hose sprayer comes in handy to provide humidity as well as to water the plants. I use a water splitter at the spI got so I can hookup multiple hoses that attach to humidifiers, fertilizer portioners, etc. I don't have any problem with moss, mold, algae, or weeds growing on my floor but I have a lot of air circulation with fans in each corner and an exhast fan in the peak. I have a weed barrier under the 8-10 inches of bluestone flooring. Keeping the air moving is essential to prevent disease and fungus. I do wash down the walls, roof and floor about twice a year to prevent disease, usually when I take most everything out in the spring and again before I bring the plants in again in the fall. My greenhouse came with built in benching, but I removed it after a few years as I can fit more trees in without it. The trees get too tall on the benches so now most sit on various height plant stands to keep them off the cooler floor like those in your picture or I make shelving using wire closet racks propped up on the plant stands or cement blocks so I can keep my configuration flexible as the size and variety of plants changes. Ask when you order your greenhouse about putting 6 inch support bracing bars up in the peak aong each panel as that will make the roof much stronger and you will be able to support lots of hanging plants without risking collapse of your roof, especially if there is snow load. I hang many of my higher light loving orchids up there. Hot air rises so it is warmer up there than down near the floor where I keep lower light and cooler growing plants there under the citrus trees. Your roof looks steep which is good as any snow will slide off right away. You also should order a dropped door kit so you can wheel your plants in the door without having to lift them over a foundation block or wall. I have a Freeze Alarm in my greenhouse which runs off a phone line. I think it cost about $200-$300 but it is very good as you can call in to monitor the temperature in your greenhouse when you are traveling or at work and also know the voltage of the backup battery if there is a long electricity outage. You can provide up to 3 phone numbers the system will call to notify you if there is a problem that the greenhouse is not maintaining its temperature or it is getting too hot in there. If you are away you can call one of your friends to go check on it for you. I think there are cellular systems available now too. If you are running pipes or electric line underground out to the greenhouse, that is the time to run the phone line out to the greenhouse in the conduit even if you don't plan to have the phone line out there. You won't have to dig again later if you decide you would like a phone line out there. There is also equipment you can add to your computer which will monitor humidity, temp, light levels, etc through a phone line. I guess that can be remotely done now too. There are also lower tech remote sensors that work wireless but are only good for about 100 ft, which generally works ok from your house if someone is always there to hear and monitor them. Those are only about $25 I think. I find that they are not always reliable when the temperatures get really cold though for some reason, and that is when you need it the most. It is always important to check the greenhouse every couple of hours on really cold nights to make sure everything is ok. I now use Aluminet shade cloth which really helps to keep the greenhouse cooler in the summer. I think it provides 60% shade. I originally had a black plastic knitted fabric which provided 70% shade but that seemed a little too dark to me and I think the Aluminet keeps it cooler even though it let's in more sunlight. To provide humidity in the greenhouse you may be able to provide enough by just wetting down the greenhouse floor in the morning. If that isn't enough, you can use that misting hosing that comes with mister heads spaced about a foot apart. If you put it on a timer you only need to mist for a few seconds every hour or so. Keep it low so it doesn't wet your plants leaves. You could also hook it up to a hgyrometer set to the humidity level you want to maintain to automat it more precisely. This is a relatively cheap way of maintaining a constant level of humidity. For about $350 you could get a centrifugal mister that provides a finer mist and hook that up to a hygrometer which costs about $100 and you will have a very fine humid atmosphere which I use for my orchids. I do not think the citrus trees would require that much humidity so just wetting your pea gravel floor might be all you need. If you put in electricity, put in a few outlets as you will want to put in a heater, or 2, some lights (even just to see in there if there is a problem), maybe a centrifugal humidifier, a couple of fans. I had to get more put in, and it is good to have them spaced at either end and maybe the middle of the greenhouse. I use UV bubblewrap on the inside sides and roof of my greenhouse. It saves a lot on heating costs. Many others throw a solar pool cover over the top, wrap it up like a gift package and tie it down with bungee cords, plastic deer fencing, wood strips etc. Again, it really conserves on heating costs and lasts for several seasons. I am trying to remember things that I had to learn about. Just ask if you can think of anything. Others will probably chime in with their experiences. You don't need everything at once, but it is good to start thinking ahead. Have fun! Cory

I think it's disingenuous to suggest that a well-made 5:1:1 mix needs constant watering. It doesn't. Even the gritty mix, that holds even less water than the 5:1:1 mix doesn't need constant watering. Do you have to water more often than more water-retentive mixes? Yes. But there is a price to be paid in the form of lost potential for the convenience of soils that hold water for extended intervals. Denise: there is a monetary consideration that clearly delineates hobby growers from professional growers. Nursery/greenhouse ops wouldn't be willing to pay employees to water twice as often as a heavier mix because they've weighed the cost of limitations due to temporary periods of excess water retention against the cost of watering more frequently, and decided it's to the advantage of their bottom line to sacrifice some lost potential to save labor $. The hobby grower is in the hobby to scratch their nurturing gene. for the most part, They actually feel good about spending more time with their plants and offering them the best care they can afford, as opposed perhaps to the cheapest soil they can find. Think of it in terms of the difference in perspectives between a puppy mill and the owner of a new puppy - two completely different worlds. So, care given by a nursery and greenhouse of will always be in consideration of the bottom line, which means following their lead will not always be in the best interest of the plant. Your care and mine are far more likely to be about providing the best care we can. Holding up the practices of a greenhouse or nursery is a little like asking us to emulate a puppy mill. I know - tugging at your heart strings. I wasn't really trying to do that - just the first good comparison that popped into my mind. Chicken farmer/ pet chicken, beef grower/ pet cow is another. If a plant is properly handled during a repotting session, it would be extremely unusual to lose a plant. Look at the two following root reductions where well over 90% of the roots were removed:Here, I have just finished pruning the top. This is after the root work was completed: Here ^^^, about 1/2 of the roots have already been removed The plant with root work complete:Note the size of the roots I removed. Many were more than 1" in diameter. In subsequent repots, I have removed all the knobby roots from the bottom of the bole. This plant was grown in the gritty mix - note the remarkably (for a maple) fibrous root system. The entire soil mass, you can see, is densely packed with the fine roots that do the lion's share of the work. After the root work: If you look, you can see the wire that shows this tree was layered above a poorly formed (but not unhealthy) root system. Where each of the 7 main roots are now, those that emanate horizontally from the trunk, I bored 7 holes into the sapwood and treated each hole individually with IBA rooting gel. I ended up with 7 perfectly spaced roots that will look great when they are later exposed on top of the soil. One more series, just to illustrate how little trees care about having half or more of their root systems removed: Again - note how healthy the roots are. ^^^ I wouldn't suggest you approach root pruning this radically, but removing 1/3 to 1/2 of a young plant's roots (younger than say 25 years) should be no problem. Plants that grow extremely fibrous roots (boxwood, azalea .....) need a slightly different approach. Keep the roots always wet while you work. First remove all problem roots (crossing, encircling, girdling, j-hooked roots - roots that grow upward, straight down, and roots that grow back toward the center of the root mass. After the problems are corrected (makes future repots much easier - the first is always the hardest) concentrate on removing the largest roots with the fewest fine roots attached. We know that root congestion negatively impacts growth, vitality (health) and yields, and those limitation become increasingly severe as root congestion increases. Pruning a bit around the edges of the root/soil mass and potting up is a half measure that ensures limitations remain until someone physically gets into the root mass and corrects the congestion and problem roots. Even planting out (in the landscape) will not eliminate the effects of congestion in the soil mass that existed at plant-out time. Al

After reading through the thread, I agree that your plan to sub lava rock for perlite and a commercially prepared potting soil for the medium's peat fraction should work fine, as long as the size of the bark and lava rock aren't too large or widely divergent in size. I also stand on the side of Pam in her assertion that you cannot expect a soil you have to water in sips to regulate moisture levels to cooperate with you as fully as a soil you can water at will to beyond the point of saturation without having to pay a tax in the form of diminished root health or function. If we take interest in the growing experience of others to the extent we get a sense of satisfaction from knowing we helped, providing information that allows them to recognize or create soils they don't have to battle for control over their plants' root health is probably the most significant help someone could offer. So moving away from soils that demand micromanagement when that ability might be in short supply yields significantly more potential, even to growers with years of experience, for plants to realize more of their genetic potential. Al