with regards to winter sowing. I think I read you're experimenting Dave? do you plan to repot your WS toms too? Hi buck - yes I did. I let them go longer in their milk jug (2 sets of true leaves) than I normally do those done in seedling trays (I normally transplant at about the cotyledon size in Trudi's picture above) and I only transplanted them 1x rather than the 2x I do with the greenhouse grown plants. She doesn't like coddling and neither do I - it kills plants. But then I don't consider stage transplanting to be either coddling or a waste of time. ;) I don't know enough about gardening to know if this extensive root system is normal for all plants, or enhanced by the WSing. For the most part it is normal for cosmos, they are rooty buggers but it is likely enhanced somewhat by WS too. If the weather permits planting them outside by all means do so. Mine doesn't yet so I would just transplant them to a larger cell/cup. So then,in theory, rather than going through the expense and labor of starting a seed in one pot, only to have to repot up larger, why not take the seedling and just repot it in its own larger pot? Crucial point. Many of us don't start our seeds as you did. If I was to use a 16 oz. cup to germinate seeds in I'd plant at least 15-20 seeds in it, not one. But I wouldn't use one as it just wastes soilmix and makes it much more difficult to heat the soil up and maintain the proper temps for germination. I use shallow seedling trays with no more than 1-1 1/2" of mix in it to start 100's of seedlings - on average 25-40 in each section in the pic below. Easy to heat, better germination rates, and faster germination. Obviously they can't continue to grow in such crowded conditions so once sprouted they get their 1st transplant to individual cells in 6 or 9 packs. Transplanted deeply to just below the cotyledons. Very easy to do at this stage. The cell packs are filled with fresh mix with a mild time release fertilizer added. They grow in those until they develop the second set of true leaves. The they get transplanted again, deeply to just below the bottom leaves, to fresh mix in individual containers to grow to garden time. could I just disturb the plant by taking it out of the cup, and then repotting it back straight into the same cup? Would that disturbance suffice, or do the root systems need to become crampt and then given room to roam? You could assuming fresh mix and deeper planting. In that big of a cup to begin with it should be easy to do. But no, it isn't that they have to become root bound first for it to work. since I have to repot some of the ones that have 2 or more plants growing in the same cup, maybe I should keep notes and see what develops. Excellent idea! ;) And as Trudi said, go with what works for you. Dave PS: billtex: There is positively proof seedlings have setback every time you pot up or out. Exactly, that's the idea. ;) It sets top growth back a bit so that the roots can develop/catch up. End result is a healthier plant rather than a long leggy one that has to be trenched in when planted. As I said above, "If your primary goal is early production then likely stage transplanting would make little if any difference."

One more vote to explore raising the ceiling instead of lowering the floor. In addition to lowering your home's value and making it a "definite no" to a lot of future buyers, you would make your house more dangerous to young children, older visitors and completely off-limits to anyone with accessibility issues. I live with brain injury I sustained at age 32 caused by tripping. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but it ended my career, as well as any potential to do anything else. It wouldn't take much for a guest to trip and crack their head. Would you be able to live with that if they sustained the damage I did? Could you afford the lawsuit that might be leveled against you? The increase in your homeowner's insurance if they knew you had that danger in your house? PLEASE don't do this. I apologize for the strong response. I just can't stand the thought of someone living with the headaches, vertigo, nausea, blurry vision, memory loss, etc. etc. I face every day. Especially if it can so easily be avoided.

I have a walkway leading to the step-up at the front door and like a flower bed between the walkway and the house foundation, where water stands and at the front door. when it rains we can't hardly Step down on it to get to the driveway. what can I do. please help.

The fog is really a northern CA phenomenon. Mainly because of the colder water currents. In Southern CA (south of Big Sur/Cambria), the water currents are a lot warmer. So we have cold ocean water against the land mass. But the fog, as noted in many posts, stays pretty close to the coastline during the summer. We're about 6 miles inland and get some of that fog, altho it burns off earlier in the day than it does closer to the water. And we don't have fog every day! The fog situation is also affected by the ins and outs of the coastline. Santa Cruz is usually warmer and sunnier than Monterey, on the other side of the Monterey Bay. But a typical summer weather pattern here is night and morning low fog along the coast, burning off by mid-morning. You can drive 20 or 30 miles inland and have hot weather. It can be 65 here and 90 up in Gilroy during the day. And it can be 65 at night and 90 during the day. But San Francisco and Monterey are usually a lot more moderate than the hot inland areas like Sacramento or Fresno. We also have mild winters, so we have no complaints at all! I want to know what's happened, too! Angc... are you out there? Or out here?