Wow where did the time go? Seems like the weeks are flying by. I was in LOWES again and all their garden decor is on sale and even dollar general has stuff 25% off. Need to have a yard sale so i can go get sme stuff..LOL Does everyone have their boxes ready or already mailed? I think Im running late but priorty mail is a blessing.. I have been busy with my new monarch cats..LOL Lowes at san pablo had milkweed for $1.00 I grabbed the 2 they had left and my 6 new cats which are now 2 chryalis , 2 big boys and two small cats in a critter keeper with fresh stems twice a day.. I can wait have neer done a release yet so this is a first. Just wanted to stop in and say hello to all! Happy Gardening Donna

I've been using Al's (gritty) mix with pines, junipers, yews, and myriad other conifers for well over 20 years now, and though I do do a lot of experimenting with soils, have yet to find anything that works better. ;-) I'm not self-promoting, just saying that I experiment with soils a LOT, and have yet to improve on the basic gritty mic mix. It holds LOTS of air, virtually NO perched water, ample volumes of water, is structurally very sound & durable, and it's adjustable for water retention to suit plants individually. Those are all the most desirable qualities you can have in a soil. I wouldn't use wood chips other than conifer bark as a primary fraction of a container soil for several reasons. A pH spike during the composting process is inevitable. Wood chips break down much faster than conifer bark, so when using them, N immobilization should be expected. Also. because they break down so much faster, they generate a LOT of heat during the composting process, often raising sol temps an additional 10-15* higher than similar soils with bark as their primary fraction. Of course, N immobilization with the gritty mix is insignificant and heat build-up due to composting is never a problem because of how slowly the bark decomposes AND the excellent gas exchange of the highly aerated mix. A 50/50 mix of a peat-based soil (like ProMix) and wood chips will yield a soil with the same drainage characteristics and perched water table height as the ProMix. Only when the wood chips (which are not a good choice for container media) are a very large fraction of the soil (about 80%) can you expect drainage & aeration to improve significantly. To get a visual on this, ask yourself how much perlite you need to add to a quart of pudding to get it to drain & hold air. BTW - most commercial cactus mixes actually drain poorly & support way too much perched water to be healthy for cacti, succulents, or conifers. All of the pines, junipers, and most other conifers I've grown would instantly rebel at wet media and the presence of significant amounts of perched water as the mix of ProMix and wood chips would be/have. They prefer a soil that holds little or no perched water and remains damp after watering instead of wet. I have 320 lineal ft of bench space like you see in the picture below. Most of the space is much more crowded with potential bonsai than you see, and conifers make up at least half of the near 300 trees. All are in the gritty mix; and I have no trouble keeping them happy & healthy. Al

I have several. Only I didn't buy the whole setup. I bought the $15 kit without the bucket. Not because of price. Because the waterfarm doesn't have a deep enough reservoir for some plants. It does if you feel like watering daily, but if that is the case then why do a hydro system when you can pot them and water less and use compost, right? I'm talking about the individual systems rather than the ones daisy chained to a single large reservoir. I've no experience with those. I bought cheap 5 gallon buckets and large net cups. I still have to water daily on the tomatoes, but peppers don't drink at nearly the same rate. They last 5 days to a week before having to water or adjust anything. I have also seen a 14 gallon rubbermaid container adapted to house two plants with two rings in it. That actually looks like it might be better if it weren't for the fact that the containers are more flexible and prone to warping with water weight or plant weight. I'm sure you could compensate. I agree that salts can build up, but only if you ignore the system. Even with high salt content for lowering water consumption and forcing flowering I don't have to worry about it unless I neglect to add water. I have no build up at all on the ring with Botanicare, but I only use it for peppers. I use GH for the tomatoes. My peppers are snobs. I've been using the same equipment the last couple years without any corrosion whatsoever on the ring. I am not really sure how the plastic corrodes. Bilberrybrian, could you describe what you mean? The grommet where the sight tube connects to the bucket, however, can corrode easily. They're cheap and can be replaced without much effort. I buy them in packs of ten for a few bucks. They last two cycles at least. I've only replaced a few out of necessity. The others for "just in case". I recently decided to try adding a coat of silicone to the grommet. I think that will completely eliminate having to replace them. I also call it a bubbler system because the ring is bubbling, not dripping. I know it might seem a petty difference, but I think it makes a huge difference. The bubblers are not nearly as efficient because they tend to splash a bit. Drip systems are slow enough that much more water goes down before evaporating. Covering the ring with something (I have used a pie pan with a hole for the plant) can greatly decrease evaporation.

Well, I went to my first Aldi today! It was the one in Saint Cloud... I have a mail box there from when I used to live there so I stopped because I was in the area anyway doing errands. It was very clean! Of course it is brand new. I was a little overwhelmed and only spent about 15 minutes in there. The problem for me is that if I see junk food, I will buy it. If I buy it, I will eat it! So, at a regular grocery store, I COMPLETELY skip the cookies/crackers/chips aisles... I don't even look down them! At Alidi, junk and convenience food abounds! It is right in your face because the store is so small. It's in colorful packages at cheap prices, and it's very hard to resist buying! I managed to walk out with a ham for half the price I saw them for at Wal-mart and a gallon of moose tracks ice cream. I wanted to make split pea soup, and have been waiting for a better price on hams (20 bucks is jut too much for me to be OK with spending for one ham!). The young lady who checked me out at the register was friendly and fast. She was sitting on a stool... and had blond hair, half of which was spray painted pink! Certainly not your typical supermarket! I told a friend about Aldi, and he said he'd shop there just because they let their cashiers sit down! I caught myself wishing that some dominatrix had been standing at the door ready to apply manacles to me before crossing the threshold so I wouldn't have snagged any junk food during my Aldi endeavor. Alas, my self control was enough... after all, I only bought the ice cream for medicinal purposes. I woke up with a sore throat today (really I did!), and bought the ice cream solely to numb the pain.