Hi Steve. It really does sound like you are trying to discourage people from growing their own citrus when you say things like: "6b "WAY TO FAR NORTH TO BE GROWING CITRUS" Steve" or "The vast amount of people that grow up north quit after a year or 2 when their trees die." In fact, statements like: " "We" are the small handful of citrus tree growers doing well with few troubles." are completely unfounded. Though I respect your opinion that growing citrus was the hardest experience you've ever had, it certainly wasn't for me. Personally I think that shoot tip micropropagation is complex, but not hard. I think that cultivating mycelium for master cultures is time consuming, but not hard. Basically, I think that all of the things you are saying are hard, are in fact easy with a little knowledge, which is the purpose of offering this guide. I don't think that growing citrus is "expensive, time consuming, and difficult". As a matter of fact as hobbies go, I'd say it can be rather cheap! To be clear that it CAN be rather cheap. If you want to spend a million bucks building a theme-park sized greenhouse then go ahead, but you certainly don't need to. If you want to spend $40 a bag on bark chips for your 5-1-1 mix then you can, but you don't have to. If you want to spend a grand on a fertilizer injector for your irrigation system, again you can but you don't have to. I'm sorry that you feel that this hobby is expensive, but I feel that you can keep you hobby on the very cheap side if you want to. That is to say that I managed to keep everything on the cheap side when tropical plants were not a part of my business and were just a hobby. Just for the sake of clarity, when you say that things are difficult to grow outside of their 'temperature zone', are you considering that every houseplant that you come across is being grown out of it's 'zone'. If what you said were entirely true then I don't think that I could grow the orchids, bromeliads, tree ferns and other wacky things that I do. You could even go so far as to say, that because these species are not native, they don't have anywhere as close to as many naturally occurring pests and therefore are EASIER to grow! I would like to encourage positive discussion, so if anybody would like to start a discussion about this elsewhere, please do. I would however like to hear from people who have something positive to contribute to the production of a citrus care guide, here. Thanks for the imput so far everybody. :)

I agree that late 20's into 30's is more common in a lot of areas outside of the South and Midwest, which tend to skew younger. 21 seems VERY young to me to get married. I was a completely different person at 21 than I was at 31, when I did get married. Though plenty of people have married young and made it last, I think it's less common these days. My grandparents married at 18 and they are still together, but I think back then divorce was a much less viable option, especially for women with children, so there weren't many options if there were regrets or if one or both spouses had negative changes as they aged. I'm watching a lovely little Netflix series set in the 50's and the married woman had a husband who cheated on her and abandoned her with 2 small children for his mistress, and still divorce was such a stigma for a woman in those days that all of her family and friends are encouraging her to do everything to win him back home where he belongs. That wouldn't fly these days with most people. I only know a couple of people who were married before 30 (counting marriages in the last 10 years).

There are a lot of ways to respond, watchme, but here's one: Q- What kind of bacon do you like? A - Bacon? No, we don't eat it anymore, we're concerned about the health risks. There's nothing more to it than that, with a bit more information filled in. That's normal in conversation. As far as your saying "some of the oldest, healthiest posters here are those that pretty much eat what they want." I suspect some (maybe many) of the posters here are smokers. Do you think that disproves the consensus of opinion among all the experts that smoking is bad for human health in many ways? Or since people here who eat bacon or diets unhealthy in other ways aren't dead yet (and they'are numerous, judging from many comments made from time to time about what's for dinner or what's being eaten) , that that suggests that those who try to eat more carefully and avoid dangerous foods are wasting their time with something that's unnecessary? Or that isn't important for good health and longevity? I hope not.

Jupidupi, I see popcorn balls every year! They are always in the same aisle as all the trick or treat candy! I have seen them this year too. NOT my favorite but I appreciate the tradition. Jasdip, I always try to have some savory treats as well. Pretzels or chips in small bags. And always cheez balls. My non-candy treat bowl has a variety of savory and sweet stuff. Both because I know some people don't like sweets and because I know that a lot of these drivers that come through here have probably not been able to stop and eat all day or all night, and sometimes they just need a snack to hold em over until they can stop for a real meal or go home for one. As for my candy decision, I will likely do what i did last year. That is, I WILL leave some candy here on my off days. If, when i come back after that first set of nights off, and there is little to no candy left and it is reported to me that the candy bowls were not CONTINUALY stocked, then I will flip my witch switch and only bring it when I am here. That woman actually had the nerve to blame "those greedy truck drivers" for eating all the candy and snacks when I was on my off days last year. Clearly, she was too high on a sugar rush to remember that my SO (one of those truck drivers she speaks of with such contempt) would come in there 6 days a week, and would tell me that when i was not there, all 3 of my treat bowls were always empty, but her desk and face were FULL of candy. But I always give her and the others a FAIR CHANCE every year not to be a greedy pig. If they blow it, well, no more candy for you swine. To his credit, the other night minion usually buys a few bags of candy and puts it out on the nights he works. He is meaner than me though. He will wait until she comes in to relieve him, then will walk over there, get the candy and lock it up in his locker right in front if her. Another funny story. Last year, I did just that. When I left for my nights off I took all my candy with me. The other night minion brought a big bag in and locked it in a cabinet. (He did not do THAT in front of her.) Anyway, when my SO came in to load one morning, she confronted him and told him to tell me that she FOUND where I hid the candy! She had noticed the cabinet was locked, surmised that there was candy in there, found a screwdriver and TOOK THE HINGES OFF THE CABINET to get to the candy, open the bag and binge. And then when she saw me she confronted me quite aggressively about it and asked me why did i hide "the" candy. (As if its community property) I DID start with a reminder that if a decide to lock up any candy that I buy, that is my decision that should be respected. But, when I told her that the candy that she detected like a truffle pig was not mine, but the other night minions, her face was quite priceless. They do not get along you see, and she was quite embarrassed. Why she wasn't embarrassed by such behavior if the candy had been mine I do not know. She and the other night minion are on shift when I am off. MY day shift counterpart does eat some candy, but not nearly to the same degree. And that's fine. The candy is for everyone, but with the understanding that my candy stash is NOT a food pantry, and as adults, its expected that you would be able to control yourself. If they cant do that, well, I cut em off! This woman (the hinge remover) was my partner in the weight loss challenge, BTW. And I agreed to be her partner next year. I hated to lose the contest but took pleasure in the knowledge that I whooped her behind to the tune of 11 pounds, as I lost 17 and she lost 6, even with her weight loss surgery. ( I know I am TERRIBLE)