Bejay gives pretty good advice for So Cal gardeners, so you can't go too wrong listening to him. Partial shade here can be like other people's full sun, and full sun can be like a blast furnace. As for overhead watering, that's all I ever see around here commercially. The remaining large plot growers all use large sprinkler systems, rainbirds and the like. The nurseries that I go to all overhead water. I don't have time to sit and watch/manage a series of soaker hoses and such myself. I have used overhead spray from a hose nozzle for many years -- and during some hot spells I do water almost every day. If you wait for rain around here, or follow some kind of calculation, you will not have a garden for long. The trick is to not let the wilting of plants fool you into watering too much. Sometimes well watered plants will wilt like they are on death's door because of the intense/direct heat. Let the soil be your guide. Keep the soil evenly moist and you'll do fine. Layers of newspaper or cardboard and then a layer of mulch on top will help cut down on watering. Also, I don't plant the warm season garden until after St Patrick's Day. Warm season plants will just sit and sulk if you plant them out too soon. Still haven't planted beans and cukes yet as some mornings are still under 50*.

I would wait 2 weeks & then fertilize with a half dose of a soluble 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer. I won't go into details about RATIO vs NPK %s now, because you've prolly run up on the information in your reading. You'll go a long way before you'll beat Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 (a 3:1:2 ratio) as your 'go to' fertilizer. I use it for almost every single plant I grow, and have, for at least 3 years now. A good second choice would be any of the other 3:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizers, like Miracle-Gro 24-8-16 0r 12-4-8. Several other manufacturers also make a 24-8-16 equal to Miracle-Gro. I like the Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 because unlike most soluble fertilizers, it also provides Ca & Mg in a favorable ratio. Another plus it offers is in the fact that it also provides most of its N in Nitrate form, which helps keep plants from stretching out in low light - helps to keep them bushy/stout/compact. I would screen or rinse the fines from the perlite & use a wick in the bottom of the container. just to be sure there isn't any perched water to speak of. The cool thing about the wick is it will also serve as a 'tell'. When the wick feels dry where it exits the pot, it's time to water. Don't worry about the confidence thing. That will come - especially since you have so many here willing to help you knock all the t's off the can'ts. Al

One of the things I love about this kitchen forum is that I can see so many different styles. Sometime it reminds me of watching salsa dancing where you could watch 5 couples dancing and everyone is doing something a little different to make it their own. When I was working on my kitchen, I could look at pictures and see what things people did that called to me. One of the things I decided on based on the finished kitchen was going with taller crown molding. I didn't even know I liked it or wanted it (chuckle - this forum is great for finding things you didn't even know you wanted ) until I tried to figure out what it was about certain kitchens that appealed to me. Looking at the kitchen magazines aren't much help because they are showing the kitchen that is double my budget, double the space I have, and with whatever is the in trend that season. I like that we keep the finished kitchen thread nice. It is a celebration. You want to encourage people to post because it is helpful to the newcomers in figuring out your taste and style and really contributes to the sense of community. If I post that I really like X about someone's kitchen - then I really like X about their kitchen or I won't say anything. It's interesting because some of my favorite kitchens have been ones that I could never pull off but they had that something about them that was visionary.

first ... is the pot plastic or ceramic ... if ceramic.. in 5 .... get it out of it... or it might crack ... because the plant HAS TO GO OUTSIDE ... period ... either bury it in the veg garden ... or pot it into a bigger pot with dampened media... and put it in the garage ... and every other week ... put an ice cube or snowball on it .... the bigger pot.. will help stabilize it all ... with the usual fluctuations of winter in z5 ... [btw.. z5 is about half the US.. can we have a bit more specificity... its wildly divergent beyond min winter temp.. which is all zone is] the required dormancy is something like 60 days .... i would GUESS .... after about 90 days... you might be able to bring it indoors.. and FORCE IT early .... but i have never tried that ... the problem in my z5 MI ... is the forced air furnace ... killing all the humidity in the house ... as well as the fact that what little sunshine we get ... is not enough for most plants ... short of a light stand .... also ... it will be rather humorless sitting on an ice cold window sill .... getting too cold at night.. when the thermostat goes down .... all this said .... no one ever learned anything new.. without trying something new ... go for it ... and keep us posted on how it all goes .... if you learn ... we learn ... even if all we learn is failure ... its not like this is some hundred dollar plant ... ken