Hi Rick, I'm not an expert, but it's my understanding that a worm inside a stem is usually an indication of some type of borer larvae if I'm not mistaken. Did you actually see a critter? Egads, if so, you probably should check all of your plants. It is just scary to think about. What did the damage look like? Just throwing out an idea here, and without seeing the damage, I would venture to guess that it sounds a lot like it could possibly be a soil issue. I've had a few such issues challenge me when experimenting with different mediums. Are you saying that the damage is where the stem actually meets the soil? Root ball is fine? Sometimes the integrity of the stem is compromised by water retention at the area where the soil and stem meet, if your soil is not well draining (AND also somewhat moisture retaining), sometimes it forms a tight clot around the base and can hold the water in against the stem causing a slow rot, or as I found with some seedlings, the soil tightens and forms a fortress or ball around the root ball and therefore no water flows through the ball of roots as it should, causing the seedlings to stunt in growth and eventually "damp off" as you mist or water. What kind of medium are you using, and does it drain easily and evenly? As for your cutting the tips, I would have done the same if I thought I was losing the main stem. They will be fine under the right circumstances. I have no experience with water rooting, but am currently trying to root very small tips in 100% perlite and will keep you posted on any progress. I have rooted 3" tips in 1/2 mix (both HP Pro mix and Cactus Mix)and 1/2 perlite quite sucessfully. Hope this babble helped you somehow - if your plant does have a pestilence, I am seriously sorry :) Happy Growing, Karen R

I just browsed through the Duet manual for the latest model. I couldn't find mention anywhere of how many rinses the Duet actually does -- is it at least 3 rinses with a spin after every rinse? I just completed a few loads of laundry using CS, everything came out soft and clean without any FS. No suds during main wash either. Regarding the "agitation bubbles" I was experiencing during the rinse, I bypassed the water softener for one of the five rinses and the agitation bubbles disappeared. Turning the softener back on brought back some of the bubbles. I do not think this is detergent residue -- I think it is the chemical nature of the water causing this symptom. Our hardness is 30° dH, which is very hard. With the assistance of several web sites, I managed to calculate this into an equivalent of 534 mg/liter CACO3 (calcium carbonate). Water softeners replace the calcium with sodium, so the softener transforms this hardness into 534 mg/l of NACO3 (sodium carbonate) (washing soda). My washer uses approximately 9 liters per fill, which introduces approximately 4.8 grams (4,800 mg) of sodium carbonate into the wash just from the water alone. 4.8 grams of NACO3 translates roughly into about 1/3 TBS, so my water softener is introducing 1/3 TBS of washing soda into every fill. Charlie's Soap is primarily washing soda, so even the clean rinse water contains roughly 1/4-1/3 of a full dose of Charlies Soap. After figuring this out, it makes total sense that there would be some bubbles in the water -- even my "clean" softened water will contain some washing soda. Your situation will be different based on your actual water chemistry.

Sorry for this. Any idea why the pressure treated pine rotted? We have a deck made of PT pine, but it's ok IF you wear shoes. Barefoot it's a nightmare! Slivers!!

A pebble may have come loose. Contact the installer of your PebbleTec for an assessment and possible warranty coverage