Hi Terri, As far as Patio Plant labels, they're basically a generic term meaning the plant can be placed outside in warm weather despite the area one resides. I'm in IL, and we get trees with the same tags attached to stems: Patio Plants. A useless term. In other words, it doesn't specify whether or not your citrus trees are true dwarfs or standards. It's no different than a tag that reads, foliage plant..It really hasn't any meaning. I think when they first started attaching these tags to plants, their intention was to give a general idea what to expect..For instance, foliage plants were greenery that weren't grown for flowers, (even though most foliage plants bloom.) I've seen Patio Plant tags attached to several varities of plants. Since I'm in IL I can't plant citrus in the ground, so all are in pots. Sorry, I hope someone can answer your questions about growing trees in Fl. The only advice I can offer is, if you're planning on keeping your new citrus in containers, perhaps you should wait until spring to repot..(if it needs repotting) What size pots are your citrus in now? Can you measure the diameter? Are roots sticking out of drainage holes, or above soil line? This is one way to tell if your trees are rootbound. Even if a few roots are exposed, I'd wait till spring to repot. You can always add a little soil on top if roots are exposed..for the time being. Again, since I can't answer your questions about growing in the ground, but you need a little more detail, like, how long do you keep lawn irrigation running each day? How much water would be hitting the soil..etc..Good luck, Toni

Hi Dora: I"m going to be running up to Farmer D's later this week to check out prices. The compost is very expensive but is biodynamic and worth every penny. Farmer D. comes to Holy Comforter and gives us compost. We have grown the most luxurious and forthcoming vegetables from his compost than we have ever grown before! Ah, the BUCKETS of tomatoes!! I would suggest you look into growing peppers other than bell peppers if you want lots of return. Bell Peppers have a small return here, but you can grow sweet peppers that are relatives of the Sweet Banana pepper and they will be prolific for you. Danita gave me some last year and they were so sweet and I kept the seed. My most prolific vegetables are tomatoes - Sungold cherry, chadwick cherry, green zebra. The key is to find tomatoes that will hold blossom in heat for a great crop that will continue into late summer. Yard Long Beans are my best bean planted after spring beans are done. I have so many I can freeze them all for winter from about 3 vines. The Red noodle hold color when cooked too! Malabar Spinach is an excellent hot weather leaf vegetable and looks gorgeous! You don't need to contain this one to the veggie garden! I also had the most prolific butternut squash (disease tolerant and bug resistant) which gave me more then 25 2-5 lb squash on ONE single vine! Asian veggies are also very prolific for me in summer and I look for those in specialty catalogs (and Botanical Interest carries some varieties too) that say "Heat and humidity tolerant" or are designated for sub tropical climates. Baker Creek does an excellent job of noting such little things. If you are planning a veggie garden and have not grown one before I suggest prepping now and mulching to get some great microbial action going in the ground. Amend soil with manures and something with "bits" like ground up leaves (leaf mold is best) or nature's helper or CLM - both of which you need to add a small amount of lime to as they are acidic. I have found rock powders which I bought online from Fedco (cheapest place) or greensand in small amounts really works great the first time you amend. If the clay is really hard, a small amount of gypsom will help the compost break up the clay. To this I would add worm compost or worm tea (or compost tea) if you can get a few warm days to brew it (setting the container under a tent of plastic will help it heat up)... drench your soil in this to get the gorgeous microbes growing and feed your worms!! You'll be so far ahead this spring with that extra dose of "tea" - once your garden begins to grow, spray it on to keep everything healthy without adding chemicals. Serenade helps too. Even one early application of Serenade makes a huge difference in a dry year. I love to grow veggies! GGG

Hiya goddess - I'm right where you are, having just received my first set of cuttings from Joni also. After way too much fussing (I hope they forgive me), I've rooted four of them directly in clear solo cups in Fafard cactus/succulent mix with rooting hormone in a bright window out of direct sun. They get misted and are in ziplocs. The other two (sipitangensis and publicalyx "Black Dragon") are in a mini-greenhouse outside on a covered porch (where an existing hoya has been extremely happy). Those two are rooting horizontally with the Fafard mix and I mist the soil once a day. I did poke a hole in the bottom of the solo cups for drainage, and I watered the soil in those and let it drain before I put the cuttings in. I'm assuming I wouldn't want to actually water again unless the soil was really dry, especially as long as I'm misting (can the community confirm this?). The reason I'm horizontally rooting two of them is that those came with little roots already sticking out all along the cuttings, and with several sets of leaves. I'm going partly on instinct and partly on advice from this community (thank you!). I'll be curious to see how our new babies turn out!

I used to recommend the GH 3 part flora series, too. But, I started using their dry Maxigro and Floramato this year. The price is way lower per gallon, you can buy a 1.5lb container for less than $15, and you don't have to measure with anything but a teaspoon. It also buffers 10 times better. I haven't added any ph up or down once to the tomato rez this year. Last year it was every other day sometimes. Of course, the nutrients aren't the only change I made. I also now have a single, much larger rez as opposed to individual 5 gallon buckets for tomatoes. Much better for maintaining ph and temps. FYI and maybe a non issue in this thread: I switched to Maxibloom for the peppers since the nitrogen seemed so high on Floramato. It's also a dry nutrient. It is much better. So, my 3 commercial favorites have just been narrowed down to GH's Maxigro (all vegetative growth), Maxibloom (peppers and eggplant flowering and fruiting), and Floramato (tomatoes fruiting). PH Meters: Get the cheap liquid drops. I found some disturbing issues with my Milwaukee pH meter. You don't have to worry about whether or not the drops are calibrated or if your battery is dying or your probe glass is crapping out or you're too close to fluorescent lighting. You don't have to buy storage, cleaning, and calibration solutions ($7 to $10 each). You don't have to worry about what happens if you drop it. I know I sound like a General Hydroponics employee, but I'm not associated at all aside from satisfied customer. Anyway, they make drops that are about $7. They last a really long time. At least one season. More if you have only a couple reservoirs to tend to. Here is a link that might be useful: PH Drops at bottom of the page at this link