I make sure to use water that has sat out overnight to water my plants. Does that not make a difference? Or not enough of a difference? You already learned that the crystalline structures on the leaves of your plant is composed of dissolved solids (sugar and mineral salts) left behind as the water in the exudate associated with the guttation (primarily driven by over-watering) evaporates. If you allow your water to rest overnight in an open pan, some of the water in the pan evaporates, but ALL of the dissolved solids in the water are left behind, So technically, the concentration of dissolved solids in the water (which includes fluoride, and chloramine, used now to chlorinate most tapwater) would be slightly higher than water straight from the tap. The pH of water straight from the tap is also slightly lower than water that has rested for a period of time, due to dissolved CO2 gassing off. Also yes, can you point me in the direction of drain hole tutorials?? I'm guessing you mean how to drill the holes? This should help: Drilling holes in pots The 2 types of drill bits most appropriate for drilling holes in pots are a diamond core drill for the highly vitrified (hard material - baked at very high temps - glass, ceramic, ......) pots, and a drill with several names for drilling clay pots fired at low temps, such as terra cotta. That (carbide) drill is called a 3-point drill, spear point drill, or a spade drill, seen here: You only need 1 - in 1/2 or 3/8" size. For the hard stuff, diamond core drills are best, though the 3 point drill will drill the hard stuff, too. Diamond core drills: You can buy either type at big box stores. They're not that expensive, and they last a long time if you take care of them. They are best used with a steady stream of coolant from a squeeze bottle (contact lens solution bottles work great for this) or with the work surface barely submerged. IE, put the pot upside down in a tub and fill the tub with water until it just covers the work surface. If you use a spritzer or squirt bottle, a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water is an excellent coolant, and soapy water is better than plain water but not as good as the antifreeze mix. The coolant keeps the tool from over-heating, and in doing so, increases the life of the tool substantially - like triple or quadruple the number of holes you can drill. Regular masonry bits are "ok" for drilling terra cotta or cement (you can make them work), but inappropriate for anything harder. The right tool makes everything easier. And lastly, should I be flushing all my plants (pothos, croton, aloe, snake plant...) when I water? One way or another - YES, absolutely. Ideally, your choice of soil should allow you to water to beyond the point of saturation, so you're flushing the soil as you water. If you can't do that w/o worry that the soil will remain soggy for a prolonged period, limiting root function, or worse, wrecking root health it would be best to consider learning how to amend the soil you're using or make a soil that allows you to flush the soil regularly. There are also a few very simple work-arounds that will allow you to use a soil that would otherwise be inappropriate. For example - if you're using a soil too water-retentive for a plant's well-being, and you need to flush it - you can flush thoroughly over a sink or tub or outdoors. When the pot stops draining, hold it in your hand(s) and move it up and down. You'll note that on the reversal from downward to upward motion, Newton's First Law of Motion takes over and some of the excess water in the pot exits through the drain hole. As the amount of water diminishes, more can be forced from the soil by reversing directions more forcibly. As long as your pot is of a manageable size, this simple trick is invaluable for anyone using an excessively water-retentive soil. If the pot is too large, you can use a wick to drain excess water, or even tipping the pot at a 45* angle to drain makes a very significant difference in how much excess water a medium can hold. Compare B with A to see how much excess water the simple act of tipping the pot forces from the pot. E shows what a wick, used correctly for best benefit, can achieve. D shows one way of using ballast to reduce excess water. Even when using extremely water retentive soils, ballast can reduce the amount of excess water a soil can hold to less than 5% of what it would hold w/o use of ballast. Al

I need some help/advice. The only thing i have ever planted are vegetable plants. last spring a co-work gave me a fig tree cutting. Tt was about 6 inches high and had no leaves on it. i repotted it into a five gallon container and gave it a shot of MG fertilizer for tomatoes as that is the only fertilizer I had. It gree very well and i got some very small figs on it but that ws it.My friend told me to expect that and that i would get figs next year. He told me wait until the leaves fell off (I live in upstate New York and my first frost date is around Sept 15th. He said to put the container in my garage away from light which i did and to water it about once a month which i did. This spring i put the container out and gave it the same fertilizer. I am in zone 6b and my last frost date is May 15th. At first nothing seemed to happen. he advised me to check all the branches and to cut a little off the top of each one. if the wood was brown to keep cutting until i reached green which i did and all of a sudden the thing took off. It got so big that I decideed to put it into a 10 gallon container. before long the tree was filled with green figs. in all there are now about 2 and a half dozen very large figs on the plant. I checkeda few website and determined that the figs i had were called Conadria because of their light green color. I also noticed that the figs were very hard and this was now into August. I spoke with someone from Willis Oorchard who told me that the figs should ripen before my last frost date. I also found out that they grow bst in zone 8 and above. two weeks ago I noticed two of the figs were turning a purple color. that week were were hit with heavy rains and when it stopped two of the figs were nice and soft so I picked them and they were very sweet however the rest ofthe figs are still hard and some are starting to turn purple. Is there a chance that the figs will ripen before i get my first frost?? what type of fertilizer should I be using and how much and how often. I know that when my tomaotes do not ripen in time i put them in a brown paper bag in a dark closet and they will turn red. Will the ame thing happen with figs?? I forgot to mention that i plantedthe tree in MG potting soil for containers. I will be heading up to Canada tomorrow morning so if canyone can give me advice before then it would be appreciated. Thanks

Chris (cebury): You're absolutely correct, the many citrus orchards around my area all have mature trees, they're green year round. The interesting thing is, I have 4 citrus trees, only 1 has yellow leaves, it is the most mature (thickest trunk). The other 3 are pretty green. Here's a link to the tree canopy I built for the starfruit tree. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/delldude/1.jpg Notice the top is just plain old Hefty trash bags. I've since changed it to an semi-clear cover on the top, north, and south. The material is use is a weed barrier, sold in a huge roll at Costco for $30. It's whitish, semi transparent, so sunlight can still shine through. I haven't made a canopy for the citrus tree in question yet, but I think I should asap. All my trees are on the south side of the house, so they get the full sun exposure from dawn to dusk. I've built 10 canopies already, and so far they seem to be helping with the wilting, browning, crumbling leaves problem. My avocado plant is the hardest hit, its leaves are so thin and fragile, the edges all browned out and crumbed when I squeezed them. Regarding wind screen, I don't cover all 4 sides, some plants are fragile in the wind (like my jujube, its leaves got blown off before the canopy was built), so I covered the north/south sides of the canopy, and not the entire height of the canopy either, just 48" vertical dimension. On a side note: since my house is newer, the soil is so bad. Very alkaline, I added some soil acidifier (sulfur) last week, along with some organic fertilizer. Maybe doing that in the heat of summer is not such a good idea, hopefully no roots get burned. Thanks,

But what do you do when you have to move the plant over rough terrain? Little flat dollies have a hard time going over stairs and thresholds, etc. I've lived the lifestyle for many years of constantly moving huge potted plants to and fro. I've tried everything. I found these two plant movers from Nursery Enterprises I've used the bigger one for years. It's allowed me alone to do the work of a team of men--all without damaging my back or my expensive pots. http://www.nurseryenterprises.com/15-gallon-tree-dolly.html http://www.nurseryenterprises.com/large-pot-dolly.html