Optimum levels of organic matter in solils is btween 5 and 8 percent, so while not quite there you are getting close. Soil pH, for most plants, is in the 6.2 to 7.0 range, so while a bit low yours is okay. Nutrients you want in balance, not too much of one and too little of another which is where the problem lies. Nutrient imbalances create more problems then they solve. Nitrogen is dependant on soil warmth, bacterial activity. When soils are cool and there is little bacterial activity there is not much N available, but as soils warm, and the bacteria become more active more N is available to the plants. Nitrogen sources with readily available N, soluble types, can make it look like there is ample N in the soil but that will also wash out of the soil quickly with excess water and is the source of nitrate pollution of ground water.

Hi andreak: I found a link that explains why they test for organic matter, rather than nitrogen. It's possible to have zero organic matter, and plants still do well if the soil is fertile clay and watered frequently. "How come my soil test results donâÂÂt have a measure of my nitrogen levels? Nitrogen is needed in relative large quantities and is often the nutrient that limits plant growth. It is not measured because it moves back and forth between organic (not available for plant uptake) and inorganic forms (available for plant uptake). This is affected by temperature, rainfall, soil texture and structure, biological activity and many other factors. Organic matter provides a slow release of nitrogen during the growing season." Here is a link that might be useful: University of Maryland on nitrogen

Satine - Thanks so much for your thoughts. I'm happy you had a chance to talk to your friends. That's a great big hug for sure. Just be sure that the male friend won't try to burn the candle at both ends - if you know what I mean. Also, make sure you don't get sucked into that as well. Go ahead and enjoy the new relationships though - sound like loads of fun still to be had. RE my daughter - she was a passenger (in my car!!!!!, believe it or not, but I'm not going there!!!). The idiot driving wasn't familiar with the narrow back roads in D'wood and I think tried to pass someone on a 2-lane road that started winding. When he did that, he probably saw an on-coming car and slammed on the breaks. My car didn't have anti-lock breaks, and of course they locked up, and the car veered right into a HUGE tree, on the edge of the road. That tree no longer stands - they cut it down because there were several accidents there within a few weeks of each other(even 2 days later) and decided to widen the road - DUH! Even though the car veered right, and up an embankment, the wheels were tured as though the car was trying to go straight, on the road. OK, that's the accident part - as most people believe, including me. Witnesses pretty much said the same thing, but it was dark and basically, in the woods, so you never know. They were about a mile from the house. The first responders were about a half-mile away, and a friend who knows the fire station, gave us a copy of the report (which we aren't allowed to have, BTW), so I know they were there pretty quickly. The report says w/i 4 minutes of the call, and the call was right away. They were taken by land to different hospitals because his injury was supposedly worse than Cheryl's. He has a ruptured pelvis; Cheryl, for the moment only had dislocated shoulder and leg fracture. He also was on suicide watch (friend was nurse at "his" hospital). Since Cheryl was 18, they could do stuff w/o my permission (thank goodness because again, I was in MB). She did call my sister, who went to the hospital. They joked about who was going to be the one to tell me about my car (almost paid off) being totaled - actually blown up!! My sister was an almost RN and knew some stuff when they put in a catheter and the fluid was a very slight pink. That's when they realized she had internal injuries - a nicked aorta!! They did an angiogram and then medi-flighted her to a major trauma center in DC. My sister saw the chopper land, but it was about 5-6 hours before she saw them take her into surgery - YIKES! No one said anything to my sister. I happened to call "home" to check on things and a friend told me about the accident. I knew Cheryl was a good driver and wasn't worried. BUT, why was my sister's friend answering her phone - he never does. Also, he told me to catch a flight home. Another friend paid for my plane ticket home and I went directly to the hospital. When I got there, they were wheeling her into an elevator for the 2nd surgery, and the Dr. in charge just looked at me, and shook his head - basically saying there was no hope. Good news after the 2nd surgery - they even set the fracture this time. After about a day, some friends and I were looking at her - still wouldn't wake up, and noticed her face began to change. Basically she went from OK looking except from a scratch over her eye, to a pie-faced look. To me, that meant she probably wouldn't be OK even if she survived. The next day we were called to the hospital early in the AM (DD's guidance counselor's boyfriend was a nurse at the hospital and would tell her all the details they wouldn't / couldn't tell us, which she relayed to us). When we got there they told us that she was brain-dead (sorry, don't mean to be gorry). We had to decide to turn off the machines. We told them to wait until visiting hours were over since a lot of her classmates were on the way. At 8:00 that night they shut everything down and she "went" about 45 min. later. The nurse told me that we would know if we made the right decision if that happened. Still, ya kinda never get over not knowing if you did. But, that's my long story about my DD, the bicentenneial baby - 10 lbs, born on the first holiday of '76, and died on Memorial Day - 18 yrs later. Hopefully everyone understands the detail here. I'm OK with it - believe me. We all just question her care when they transferred her. The Dr. at the 1st hospital was SHOCKED that she didn't pull through. He told me that if he had any idea that things would have ended this way, he would have done the surgery there. He just didn't want anything to happen and they not have the truama experience to handle it. The 2nd hospital handles lots of gunshot traumas and he thougth they would beter equipped if anything went wrong. Ya never know. It was good she lived long enough for us to see her alive. Dr. said only 10% with that injury make it to the hospital; only 1% make it after that. I just believe in Malichi 3:17 - she is now a jewel in God's crown (the gathering of the jewels). The driver - he has a permanent injury/limp. I met someone three years after the accident that knows him well. She said he was still sufering from Cheryl's death. That did give me some closure because we never knew him - won't go into that either! BUT, DD was a good kid, and unfortunately, things happen. He had an alchohol problem but was very different and respectable when he wasn't drinkng. So... One thing - WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS! She wasn't, although we had JUST had that conversation the day before. Dr. said DD's injury was typical in accidens w/o seat belts - blunt force trauma. Enough of me - but there is a message for everyone here. Have faith, and you can get through anything!! I'm not Bible-toting, but know that without that faith, I coulnd't have gotten through it - even now. Thanks for listening! Wishing all of you well - sunny side up :)

arent there embryonic roots on the bottom of that end part??? ... look close .. bet there is ... i would cut it right between the two pieces.. and set it moist media.. in a right side up plastic bag left open ... and it will root down into the media ... i would not bury it.. because i dont want the stem part to rot and somehow spread to the good part ... if it dries an falls off eventually.. super .... the baggie just add a little ambient humidity.. and might also hold up the cutting while it roots ... if you are doing it in water.. that..imo .. is probably your problem .. i dont know if that answers your question.. but that is what i would do ... if i missed the boat completely.. can you maybe restate the question ... its not going to grow a vine straight out of you previous cut... its basically going to start a new plant at the node prior to the cut.. and then that will vine anew ... leaving kind of an ugly spot.. until the leaves cover it all up and you forget about it .. lol .. ken