Damn! I had a long post all prepared and did something stupid (I think) and lost all my work. I did that yesterday on another forum site, too. I HATE it when that happens. Try this site for reliable information about nutritional issues and info. It even has a Mulder's Chart that shows how antagonisms play out, which really shows why fertilizers that don't closely mimic the ratio of nutrients plants actually USE, can get you in trouble in doubletime. Ask any specific questions you can think of. We can probably answer them. Root growth and top growth are closely linked. Root growth always occurs prior to top growth. Chemical messengers keep the plant informed about it's state of vitality, and growth regulators will suppress top growth until there is enough root mass to support it. What is the first thing to emerge from the seed? The root radicle, not the trunk. That plants in very large pots with plenty of room for roots to run won't put on top mass because they put all their energy into growing only roots is a myth. We KNOW that tight roots slows growth more and more as root congestion increases. It doesn't make sense that tight roots and roots with room to run would BOTH suppress growth, does it? Growth and vitality begins to be negatively affected at the point where the root/soil mass can be separated from the pot intact. Once a plant gets to that point, nothing will correct the limitation other than correcting the problem via root pruning. Potting up won't do it, and neither will planting out. Myth - shallow pots stimulate lateral growth while deep pots stimulate ht. No truth there. Whether plants are shrubby or tree-like originates in genetic predisposition and can be controlled to a large degree by selective pruning. There are 2 perspectives when it comes to plants being potbound. From the plant's POV, tight roots are always limiting, so the plant wants more room for roots when they are congested - to relieve the stress. The stress CAN be employed by the grower to make some plants grow in desirable ways. Tight roots have a dwarfing effect (smaller leaves/tighter internodes, and sometimes a few more blooms, but stress is stress. Stress unchecked leads to strain, and strain uncorrected always leads to death of the organism. Not long ago, ONE person glommed onto a negative statement someone made in a blog about Turface. This person is intentionally negative about most things associated with the 5:1:1 mix or the gritty mix, and even regularly sacrifices his credibility on the altar of negativity when it comes to these soils. It's not uncommon to see that happen. Turface, used appropriately, is a superb soil additive/amendment. Asking people who actually USE these soils, and considering them a reliable source is going to serve you much better than believing someone with an axe to grind. Al

Northwoods: I am not sure why so many of your bagged apples fell off but I presume from June drop? If you are bagging early in the season that might be a reason. Most are bagging when the fruit is the size of a dime to beat insect damage from curculio/leafroller but when June drop comes, the trees will drop some fruit naturally. I prefer to spray early for insects (starting at petal fall) and then bag mid-late june. This also gives me plenty of time to get them bagged since I am covered against insects anyway. Just a thought that perhaps june drop is the reason. Of course since I am only bagging the Haralson this is not an issue for me. It would be if I bagged all my apple varieties. Tony: The last time I bought Imidan 70 was from Schlabach's Nursery in Medina NY. They stopped selling it this year and now offer Avuant instead due to the restricted use issue for many states for Imidan. Not a problem for me. I have many friends in the orchard industry who will sell me a pound or I can get it direct if I buy it in 4 lb lots from Keystone. 4 pounds at time will last me for about 7-8 years. I keep it triple packaged,cool and dry and have no problems with the longevity issue. 8 year old Imidan seemed to work for me just as well as fresh. Imidan can be purchased IF you have a pesticide applicator's license (if it is a restricted use chemical for your state) and if you are willing to buy 4 lbs at a time. For many home growers with just 2-3 apple trees, the cost for such quantity and the pesticide applicator's license required make Imidan out of reach.

WOW! Yes, the Arnoldia one sure does! It confirms what I suspected, the name is a nothospecies name. There are just so many contradictions (like smivies' first link) that I thought maybe there was something I was missing. Ilex x meserveae contains only crosses (and backcrosses) between I. rugosa and I. aquifolium. Cultivars with any other parentage, like Ilex 'Mesdob' (aka China Boy), are not members of Ilex x meserveae. Sources like The Holly Society of America, The Morton Arboretum, Bernheim Arboretum, The University of Illinois, UConn, Monrovia, and hundreds of nurseries (at least in some of their documents) have it wrong. Thanks Wendy!

And don't include the word 'tomato' or 'tomatoes' when searching the tomato forum or 'pepper' or 'peppers' when searching the peppers forum or you get everything. The search here isn't like Google. You want a very specific search here not general net-wide searching. So you want to use specific terms like "soil preparation" or "add to soil" or "add to garden" and leave out all the a, and, the, conjunctions. But you can't rule out posts that come up on your search just by the title since people notoriously choose some really strange titles for their posts. For example, the post My Stupidest Gardening Mistake happens to contain lots of soil preparation info. :) Dave