When you put on a concert, everyone needs to play well or the performance as a whole is diminished. The same is true with your set-up. The wick and soil need to work in concert to be able to draw water upward into and through the soil fast enough to satisfy the water needs of the planting. This is a challenge that the SWC container guys are always working on for an ideal solution, but there are so many variables involved, that it is usually pretty elusive. The good news is you get better at it as you gain more experience. I think what you're attempting is very ambitious, and I have some doubts that you can get it to work well, but please don't let that stop you from trying. You shouldn't have to wet the soil at first, but it would take longer to initially wet the soil if you didn't. What I would do is make a small setup and start it dry. Drop the wick into the water and leave the whole t6hing set for a day with no plants in the container. If the soil is wet or damp at least half way up, you're getting close. Remember that a mature planting will be pulling lots of water from the soil too, so the set=up needs to keep up with that aspect as well - not just wet the soil w/no plant material in it. For wick watering, you'll use as much wick material as it takes to wet the soil. PWT are much less a concern when watering with wicks, but one wick won't work as a 'supply' line and another a drain line. Mulching would be helpful. Perlite retains water only on its uneven surface and it has a steep release curve (releases water rapidly). You always need to worry about cooking roots in container culture. Shade your containers, paint them white, use pot in pot, ..... to keep soil temperatures down. There is no need to use specialty fertilizers for your tomatoes unless you're sold on the idea for some reason. All-purpose 24-8-16 fertilizer to start and then 20-20-20 after the plants have put on some foliage is a pretty simple strategy. Many of us use 9-3-6 or 24-8-16 for a while and then reduce the solution strength and add ProTeKt 0-0-3 to the fertilizer solution, but you don't need to get that complicated if you're willing to have the 2 types of fertilizer on hand. Al

Don't give up.......fig rooting is very easy. Almost all cuttings will form root initials and/or roots within 4 to 6 weeks in baggies when rooted at a normal room temperature of 70 to 75 degrees F. Of course you must start off with VIABLE cuttings that are in good condition. Sounds like your cuttings may have been damaged before you tried to root them. Sometimes cuttings taken from the very ends of the branch (tip cuttings) have been severely damaged or even killed by cold winter temperatures. Wood that is closer to the main trunk of the tree is less subject to cold damage. That is why some people actually prefer to use interior wood rather than cutting tips. Also, while it is important that your paper towel not be too wet.......it is also important to realize that your paper towel CAN BE TOO DRY. For a cutting to root properly in any environment it must have a source of moisture (in the proper form) and a source of oxygen. When you increase the oxygen content of the rooting environment, roots WILL GROW FASTER. Deprive cuttings of fresh oxygen and roots grow slower. I have conducted several controlled experiments on this and have seen it firsthand. Use plastic Ziploc STORAGE baggies rather that FREEZER baggies for rooting your cuttings. Storage baggies allow ten times more air (oxygen) to get inside of the baggies than do freezer bags. Also, open your baggies daily as this allows (1) more air (oxygen) to get inside, (2) allows for inspection of the cutting for possible mold and spider mites, (3) allows for inspection of the cutting for optimum moisture uptake, (4) to insure adequate moisture is in fact within the baggie....some cuttings take up more moisture for re-hydration than others, (5) to re-distribute (stabilize) moisture inside of the baggie to insure that it is in "the right form". Don't give up......try again using some new cuttings. Choose those cuttings that are 6 to eight inches in length and have a diameter that is at least the size of a pencil. Best of luck to you, Dan

I would recommend to repot the tree into a much larger pot so it doesn't dry out so fast. Being new at gardening, that's the most common way to lose a plant by letting it dry out. Personally, I would plant it in the ground. Plants in pots take a lot more time and knowledge to grow successfully. GardenGal has given you very good information. I grow about a hundred Japanese Maples in containers, and about that many more in the ground, and can vouch for what she has said. You mentioned that you have a Corkscrew Willow in the back yard and that doesn't leave room for much of any thing else. Willows do have an aggressive root system and I'd be leery of planting anything but a groundcover near or under it, but consider combinations of plants rather than lining up specimens along the fence. Here's what I did with a red leaved Japanese Maple and a rhododendron. Mike

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.41 Database version: 3082 Windows 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 (Safe Mode) 11/26/2009 3:50:48 AM mbam-log-2009-11-26 (03-50-48).txt Scan type: Quick Scan Objects scanned: 106513 Time elapsed: 18 minute(s), 4 second(s) Memory Processes Infected: 0 Memory Modules Infected: 0 Registry Keys Infected: 9 Registry Values Infected: 7 Registry Data Items Infected: 0 Folders Infected: 1 Files Infected: 3 Memory Processes Infected: (No malicious items detected) Memory Modules Infected: (No malicious items detected) Registry Keys Infected: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ModuleUsage\C:/WINDOWS/Downloaded Program Files/popcaploader.dll (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\(c9c5deaf-0a1f-4660-8279-9edfad6fefe1) (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\(e4e3e0f8-cd30-4380-8ce9-b96904bdefca) (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\(fe8a736f-4124-4d9c-b4b1-3b12381efabe) (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\(df780f87-ff2b-4df8-92d0-73db16a1543a) (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Stats\(df780f87-ff2b-4df8-92d0-73db16a1543a) (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Code Store Database\Distribution Units\(df780f87-ff2b-4df8-92d0-73db16a1543a) (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\popcaploader.popcaploaderctrl2 (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\popcaploader.popcaploaderctrl2.1 (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. Registry Values Infected: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\10331715 (Rogue.Multiple.H) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs\C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files\popcaploader.dll (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\13636423 (Rogue.Multiple) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\38017019 (Rogue.Multiple) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\37743428 (Rogue.Multiple) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\06495327 (Rogue.Multiple) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\54769940 (Rogue.Multiple) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. Registry Data Items Infected: (No malicious items detected) Folders Infected: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\10331715 (Rogue.Multiple.H) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. Files Infected: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\10331715\10331715.exe (Rogue.Multiple.H) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files\popcaploader.dll (Adware.PopCap) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully. C:\Documents and Settings\User\Start Menu\Programs\Security Tool.LNK (Rogue.SecurityTool) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.Thanks Raven, I hope this is what you need, PK, in S. La.