Lol - up in the middle of the night fretting over fertilizers? Please tell me something else had you up at that hour. ;-) Here's how I fertilize in the winter: I water/fertilize (fertigate) every time I water with a low dose of fertilizer. Not everyone CAN fertigate that way - it depends on your soil choice and watering habits, so don't emulate unless you understand the ramifications. After I'm done fertigating, I fill 5 - 1 gallon milk jugs with tap water and add just under 1/4 tsp of 9-3-6 to each, and let them rest for the 4 day interval between fertigating, so they come to room temperature. I've asked a LOT of degreed hort people if plants suffer adversity from being watered with cold water, and not one has ever offered anything conclusive that says it's either good or bad, other than potential damage to foliage on some plants, like AVs. Most bonsai books suggest that a cool drink during the midday time period is very helpful because it quickly cools roots down, so apparently the 'shock' thing is a perpetuated myth. Still, it's no extra effort to allow the water to come to room temp, so that's what I do. When I fertigate, I use a watering can with a long spout that allows me to reach plants in the center of my 4x8 growing areas. The spout has a fine nozzle that sends out a 1/8" stream of water, so it take on average about 20-30 seconds to water a plant. This allows me to wet the entire surface of the plant, so gravity moves the solution down through the entire soil mass. When I see water flowing into the collection saucer, I water for a few more seconds, then stop. My plants are set on pieces of plastic u-channel above the effluent, so I don't need to empty the saucers. The evaporating water means my humidifiers run less. When it's time to water, I pour 2 qts of fertigation solution from the gallon jug into the watering can. I then add 3 drops of ProTeKt while the water is still turbulent, so it mixes well. I don't mix it in until the last minute because mixing the fertilizer and ProTeKt ahead of time causes some of the elements to precipitate from (fall out of) the solution. You asked if the ProTeKt is necessary. I think it's good to remember that in many cases, we approach growing with only our own perspective in mind. Much disagreement arises between someone who thinks their way is good enough for everyone because they are happy with it, and the grower who has found a way superior to that particular way and wants to share it. People very often get defensive when someone suggests that what someone says or does isn't the best way. "Well, it works for me!" really isn't very conclusive when it comes to deciding what might or might not be best for the plant. In addition to that, some growers place a high premium on 'less maintenance is better (for me)', while the next grower is trying to make the point that MORE maintenance is better (for the plant). I tend to always speak from the perspective of how to get to what's best for the plant, and then let the grower decide if they want to go to any extra effort or expense that might be entailed in getting there. So, the ProTeKt isn't necessary if your goal is to raise a healthy plant. I had healthy plants for many years before I started using it, but after I started using it, I noticed a lower incidence of insect and disease issues, and I noticed that my plants seemed more resistant to temperature extremes. I noticed these things even before I read a few of the many studies that quantify the effects of aqueous Si on plants, so if I was dreaming, I was at least dreaming in accord with the conclusions of others who made the actual effort to nail down the Si's effects on plants. I can't really tell you it's necessary, but I can say with a fair degree of certainty that if you do use it regularly, it's going to be helpful. Al

There are very few plants that satisfy a significant % of their nutritive needs via nutrients dissolved in water that contacts their foliage. The primary pathway for nutrient movement into almost all terrestrial plant material is through the roots. Foliar feeding is used in agricultural situations where a scarcity of one or more nutrients has been identified, and the plant is growing so rapidly that nutritive (plant) demand is greater than the plant's ability to supply (take up) isolated nutrients. Rarely is a complete fertilizer sprayed on foliage; rather, it might be a solution containing Fe, Z, Mn, or any of the other nutrients in attempt to alleviate a deficiency of an already identified nutrient, or sometimes more than one. In containers, plants almost never grow at rates that find the plant's ability to absorb insufficient to support it's growth rate, so if you do see significant improvement in your plants growth rate or appearance, it's a fairly good indicator that something is acting to inhibit the primary pathway or the grower isn't providing all the essential nutrients at a favorable rate and ratio. If you DO provide nutrients in a favorable rate/ratio, and root function isn't inhibited by poor conditions in the rhizosphere, you should see virtually NO difference in growth rate or appearance after foliar feeding. Also, when applying fertilizer via foliar application, it doesn't necessarily correct deficiencies. Nutrients that are immobile in the plant cannot effectively be moved throughout the entire organism, so you really are only providing a stopgap remedy. Any foliage that grows after application of immobile nutrients is still going to be deficient unless that nutrient is taken up so it enters the nutrient stream. An excess of any one nutrient can be as limiting as a deficiency, so make it your goal to ensure all the nutrients plants normally get from the soil and that are essential to normal growth are in the soil at all times, in a ratio that closely mimics that at which the plant actually uses the nutrients, and at a concentration high enough to ensure no deficiencies yet low enough that it doesn't inhibit the plant's ability to take up water and the nutrients dissolved in water. Conceptually, that would be the perfect way to fertilize, and it's not difficult for the hobby grower to get very, very close to getting it just right, using only one fertilizer, if some consideration is given to its selection. Al

Sorry, just took a look at this thread again and noticed your question...by the time I got to Miele, I had decided on induction, so I didn't give the Miele an actual test drive. I did give it a pretty thorough inspection at the Miele place, though, and thought it was a very sexy range -- and the performance seemed very similar to the Wolf dual fuel. I say that b/c the Miele also has the stacked burners, which I really liked, but the BTUs are higher than Wolf (which top out at around 16k, I believe -- Miele was closer to 20k or so -- I can't quite remember). The Miele ovens on the 48" range were very nice -- the smaller one is a speed oven, and the bigger one is a regular convection. The speed oven wasn't a big plus for me personally, since I really wanted a steam oven as a second oven, but there are people on this forum who love their speed ovens. One thing I really liked about the Miele oven, which Wolf doesn't have, is the burst of steam option, which is great for baking (you can program up to 3 bursts of steam for up to 6 min. each during cooking). I didn't care that much about the MasterChef options on Miele, but again, others love these. At any rate, the Miele seemed very similar to the Wolf, I liked the steam option on the oven better and liked the Miele burners better (also, if you're interested in a grill, theirs was excellent and seemed very similar to the Wolf, which I think is the best in the business). If I had stuck with a range, I would have been very tempted by the Miele.

Well, arbitrary decisions have to be made. There is real competition at all price points, however, in order to survive in the marketplace all products need to be reasonably well made. You have infinite options- Stainless steel (hard to clean) or porcelain enamel (chips)? And the different suppliers differentiate by dong their 'thing': Wolf, red knobs and stacked burners, Thermadore - star shaped burners; Kitchen Aid, not a Ferrari but nothing to sneeze at and well made. Bosch, Etlectrolux, GE, Jenn Air, they are all fine. Natural gas cook tops are based on 100 year old technology. (not entirely true but kind of true.) You will be fine. Do not buy garbage. Get something that will not be out of style tomorrow. Not a sin to save money and buying a brand new scratch and dent etc.