Mike, thank you - i really liked your wording: "It may even lose most if not all the leaves if left to wilt just once,,,but it doesn't mean certain death..Just a slow recovery if properly cared for after that.. If it is left to dehydrate more than once to the point of wilt, then it will die." So as timing would have it, I just this morning visited a friends small orchard (that i helped plant this past spring) in Walnut Creek. Evidently he treated the new plantings like mature ones and now he has a mix of citrus looking from what you have Jen; to far far worse. They are all in the ground and in well drained clay. Absolutely parched. He is out there dribbling water now. He wants evidence that they are still alive through immediate / improved leaves..., but it just isn't so with citrus! I had to repeat over and over that this is now a long road back to health. Thankfully, my suggestion of the Meyer planting location has helped it as it is in the best looking condition of all... So his Meyer will rule the dozen! -George

hollysprings, we run the machine about 3 times each day, which is one medium to large, one medium and one medium to small. Those 3 loads are for about 6 bath towels, two of those thicker plus other assorted laundry, usually always 'warm' and 'Cottons' 'Medium'. This is the same way we always used these GE top-load washers. MRB, perhaps the machine is doing that again : On the first machine water came out I was told because a seal on the vertical shaft got worn out, or during failure the machine tried to spin when still in the agitation cycle, or vice versa. On the replacement machine water seems to come out when there is a little too much water above the clothing, usually when we selected large, as I mentioned there are also very large and super load levels which we never use. We are not perfect, and when we judge the clothing level to be higher than it actually is and select the load accordingly too high then it might splash. Again on past machines we never had to worry about that. See it this way, both of us are college educated, I am an engineer, We should be fully qualified to operate this machine. I should not be required to study rocket science for that. None of the concerns is mentioned in the user's manual. I should be able to throw the clothing and detergent in, select what is approximately correct per the users manual, push start, and that machine does its job for 6 years without a problem. In case I pay too little for the machine, it should perhaps do a poor job washing, aka clothes staying dirty, but should not break down every month! Bernd

Sjoerd, it is very likely you have whatever lemon cultivar you bought from the store (which is probably Eureka or one of the Italian lemons). Lemons tend to be highly polyembryonic, which means they send up more than one seedling per seed, and those seedlings can be either a clone seedling (clone of the mother plant) or a hybrid seedling. Clone seedlings will pop up first, and are the strongest seedling. So, most likely you've got a clone seedling growing, which means it will produce the identical fruit you purchased ft can take anywhere from 3 years (limes) to 12-20 years (grapefruits.) The only real way to know is to see what ort of fruit it produces - then you'll know if you've got a clone of the mother plant, or some sort of hybrid citrus. Very pretty little tree, btw. It should be outside as much as possible, gradually acclimating to full sun. Be sure you fertilize it regularly, and watch for pests when you bring it in for the winter (usually spider mites or scale as the two most common citrus pests), and treat right away, repeatedly, and accordingly. Patty S.

Hi greenman62, do you put green grass clippings, wait till dry before put wood chips? What is the reason amend the soil above the grade level not the hole? I heard the tree root will not go beyond the hole that has the amended soil and Also water will pool in the hole since surrounding dirt is clay, right?Would it be the same if amend the soil on hill/bump? I am also unclear about planter box. If I amend the dirt for the planter box, would a tree have shallow root? I am thinking of building a new planter box for a avocado tree. Unfortunately my husband amended all the dirt with compost including the hole. Hope my gold nugget will be ok. I have not transplant the two 1 new year trees yet.