Damp-off of very young seedlings has never been that much of a problem for me, but I think the reason for that may be how I germinate them to begin with. It's a cue I took from my mother, which is basically to put the seeds in the same pot (around the edges of the pot) with an adult plant then water the adult plant the way I normally would. It means I don't use bottom heat and whatnot, so things sprout when it naturally becomes warm enough for them, but pretty much I don't worry as much about damp-off because there are older roots using the same water in the same pot. It's when I take the babies out that I experience problems. As I mentioned, I actually put some young Calamondins back with their Rangpur Lime host plant to recover after this winter. The other thing I practice quite a lot is the theory that it's not dead until it's dead and even if I'm sure its dead, it's worth a shot. You wouldn't believe the number of citrus seedlings and cutting grown figs I had come back to life after the moving issue the spring before last. I actually use the much maligned self watering pots, but not as self watering pots. The designers would say I'm using them totally backwards. I'll go down my line of trees and tip them to dump the water if I notice water actually standing in any of the reservoirs. (I can't imagine using them to "self water" because what that really does is create a high water table for root rot.) If you've ever taken a moment to look at one of those things empty, the bottom of the pot that sits inside the reservoir is like a pasta strainer. So long as the reservoir is always empty, drainage isn't a problem.

The fruitless under the can light Meiwa has finished its growth spurt with a total of 44 linear inches of new twigs with fresh leaves. It is now tied for the second biggest of seed grown Meiwa kumquat trees I picked the fruit off the other Meiwa tree at half ripe and the skin was sweet and the flesh was very juicy but not much flavor in sweet or sour. I was afraid a mouse would get it and it was the only fruit from a seed grown tree. I also picked all the much ripper fruit from my grafted meiwa and the fruit was sweet skinned with semi sweet tart flesh. very much worth eating. This will actually be the last entry for this thread from Me and I will continue this discussion in "4 seed grown 2 year old Meiwa kumquat tree for year 2019". I will leave a link to the new thread when I start it. forget what I said above. I did not expect this much change in one of the trees. Steve

Unless they are seedlings almost all my plants are tied to the pot. Primarily, I tie the root ball to the pot and usually two pairs of opposing wires tied to the pot and twisted over the root ball. Pictures are easier: The four wires tied to the side of the pot. The opposing pairs will be used to tie the root ball. I used one pair to tie the trunk since it was a air-layer and the roots were a bit too fragile to put too much pressure on them. Have to watch out as it grows since wire can bite into the trunk as it thickens. For tall top heavy plants I use a guy wire to tie the trunk to sides of the pot. Here is a fig that was dug out of the garden and put in a pot. I just used twine but any rope/wire can be used. The guy wire can damage the trunk and in that case I will slip a plastic/rubber tube over the wire of sufficient length. The tube part will rest against the trunk to prevent damage. I cannot seem to find a picture of that. The root ball of the fig is also tied to the pot if you look closely. You can also see the tie point near the bottom of the pot sides. Bonsai pots have feet and so in those cases you can run the wire through a pair of bottom holes. Without feet the wires underneath will cause the pot to wobble sitting on the ground. Hope this helps.

Haven't taken any pictures lately, will try and do some soon now that I am back home after another trip out to see my son. But I did harvest some Mexican Sweet Limes yesterday! They certainly have a very distinct aroma, and with just a bit of sugar make a very floral, with a touch of some spice, drink. Just washing the fruit released the skin oils and filled my kitchen! I would hesitate to use any to cook with, the distinctive flavor would overpower the dish, I think. KC On a different note, I haven't been able to upload any photos, but I was able to upload a screenshot of my photo! So some formats are working and some are not! :(