If you called Dave from Dyna-Gro and ask him why he sells 9-3-6 AND 7-7-7, you'll get an answer like I received: ""Al - You are correct. We market high P fertilizers because people "believe" [his emphasis] they need them. As you have noted, our Foliage-Pro does a great job start to finish. However, it is simpler to give the market what they think they need than to try to reeducate it [my emphasis]. There is some evidence to believe that low N helps to convince a plant to stop its vegetative growth and move into its reproductive phase (flowering), but environmental factors are probably more important. P is typically 5th or 6th in order of importance of the six macronutrients. There is little scientific justification for higher P formulas, but marketing does come into play for the vast majority of users who lack any real understanding of plant nutritional requirements [my emphasis]. Therefore, the market is flooded with a plethora of snake oil products that provide little benefit and can actually do harm. For example, one exhibitor at a hydroponic trade show had a calcium supplement with 2% calcium derived from calcium chloride. Can you guess what continued application of 2% chloride would do to plants?' I hope this answers your question and am sorry for XXX's (name deleted - his employee) inaccurate response. Cordially, Dave Neal, CEO Dyna-Gro Nutrition Solutions ...." color> Between MG 24-8-16 and 12-4-8, there is little or perhaps NO difference when applied at recommended rates, other than one is a liquid and one a granular, soluble product. MG has done the calculations for you, but it would roughly come out to the fact that you would use twice as much of the 12-4-8 product as the 24-8-16 product to reach solutions of equal concentration. This relatively minor consideration holds true when comparing the two MG products, but when you change to a comparison of say 24-8-16 to Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, there are significant differences that affect growth, vitality, and appearance. 9-3-6 is a 3:1:2 ratio, but it also has ALL the essential nutrients plants normally take from the soil, in a still favorable ratio. This is significant because most soluble fertilizers, the MG formulations being discussed included, lack the macronutrients Ca and Mg. So if you're using a bagged soil and Miracle-Gro 24-8-16 or 12-4-8, you depend on soil breakdown and the lime added to the soil when it was made as a Ca/Mg source. The problem with that is, the Mg fraction of dolomite is about 125X greater than the Ca fraction - so guess what becomes deficient first. ;-) Using 9-3-6 regularly ensures the Ca:Mg ratio is always balanced and that both are always available. It's extremely important that nutrients less mobile (in the plant) nutrients like Ca are ALWAYS in the nutrient stream. If they aren't, cells can't form normally. FP 9-3-6 also delivers most of it's N in nitrate form, and none of it in the form of urea, which is where MG's N comes from. Urea promotes large, coarse foliage and long internodes, especially under low light conditions often found indoors. Nitrate forms of N, on the other hand, encourage compact, bushy growth and shorter internodes. I use 9-3-6 on everything. I modify it regularly, only for 2 plants - tomato and hibiscus; and the modification is as simple as including some extra K in the form of Pro-TeKt 0-0-3, which is also made by Dyna-Gro. Fertilizing can be monkey easy if you are using a soil you can water correctly. It won't take long for you to see that in order to be a proficient grower, you need to take a holistic view. It won't do you any good to get the light right if you get the nutrition wrong; and the reciprocal is just as true. Good growing is about eliminating what is limiting your plant. In most cases, the limitations can be traced directly to a poor soil, so it always makes the most sense to look there first if you want to correct problems or improve proficiency. Al

Why pay for sheet metal and cheap burners when you can learn, compare, and get a quality grill in the same price range? For Gas Grills 101 check out "How to Choose", "Major Differences", and "What to Look for" at www.picksinc.com/GasGrills/home.htm For Gas Grills 201 check out the "GrillTalk Message Board" at www.picksinc.com/Grilltalk.htm Don't spend $500 or $1000 for a grill that is poorly constructed, made of sheet metal, and has cheap burners!

I have recently purchased the Model 8000 that was asked about way back in December. I paid $400 at Lowes with free assembly and a full gas bottle thrown in. I've had other grills, and I believe that the GO grills should be easily the longest lasting in their price range. Many so-called stainless steel grills use stainless cosmetically, which eliminates some repainting but does not contribute to structural survivability. The GOs are aluminum essentially everywhere (with the exception of the 4000 model, which uses some plastic). The entire body of the grill is guaranteed for 75 years. The burners are solid brass and guaranteed for 25 years. Most other parts are guaranteed for 5 years or more. All nut and bolt hardware is stainless. I've had expensive grills that rusted at the bottom of the legs where the casters or wheels attach. That's a pretty catastrophic failure. All the cosmetic stainless in the world won't deal with that. And the GOs simply can't have that problem, since they are aluminum all the way down to the casters. The casters appear to be bullet-proof themselves. So what are the limitations? Is this grill totally bullet-proof? I expect the paint will deteriorate -- of course many of you have repainted a grill, as I have. It's not that hard. A custom-fitted cover with zipper is available from GO and will prolong paint life. I expect that the grid that holds the ceramic briquettes just above the burners will be the first component to fail. Replacements are $12.95 plus shipping from the manufacturer. This raises an important question: If this grill is largely bulletproof and replacement parts will be affordable, what if the manufacturer doesn't survive? I've done some research on Great Outdoors, and here's what I've found: They incorporated in 1997. Their first products rolled off the line in 1999. Since then, they've tripled their production and sales every year. They are now retailing through giants such as Lowe's and Wal-Mart. Of course, this doesn't guarantee that they'll be around forever. They certainly won't sustain that growth rate indefinitely, and when they level off, they'll have to make serious adjustments to stay profitable. I'm betting they're here for the long haul, but I'm hedging my bet by buying a few spare parts and putting them away. (My guess is that five years from now GO be bought by one of the big boys like Weber or Char Broil. All the principles will walk away as 10-million aires.) I forgot to mention that the grill seems to be of first-class construction. Everything works well and has a feel of quality. So far I've had no problems with flame-up, but I haven't been cooking super-fatty meat. The only shortcoming from my perspective is lack of any temperature sensor. At GO's suggestion, I bought a Grill Care thermometer from Wal-Mart. I had to drill a 7/8-inch hole in the top casting to install it. LoweÂs sells a hole-saw type bit (a cylinder with bi-metal teeth around the bottom) for $12.95 that has a half-inch shank to fit your half-inch drill's chuck. It's a cinch to drill the hole if you have those tools. The thermometer was about $14 and is a high-quality item worthy of the grill. Drilling the hole does not void the warranty. One impressive thing about Great Outdoors is their customer service. Send them an e-mail, and you get a prompt and courteous response. They seem to have their act together in that vein. Is this the perfect grill, thermometer aside? No, I think the perfect grill is all stainless -- it doesn't rust, and it doesn't need paint. But such items are extremely expensive. I sent GO an e-mail saying that I wished they'd take the all aluminum design and supplement it with stainless to eliminate painting -- a bullet-proof grill at a more affordable price than end-to-end stainless. The manager, Linn Anne Rowe, said they were looking at a design like that. We'll see. Meanwhile, you can have your Webers and similar-quality, simlarly priced grills. I believe the Great Outdoors grills are best in class -- hands down. Tim Naff

Very quickly From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Heating degree day (HDD) and cooling degree day (CDD) are quantitative indices designed to reflect the demand for energy needed to heat or cool a home or business. These indices are derived from daily temperature observations, and the heating (or cooling) requirements for a given structure at a specific location are considered to be directly proportional to the number of heating degree days at that location. More specifically, the number of heating degrees in a day is defined as the difference between a reference value of 65°F (18°C) and the average outside temperature for that day. The value of 65°F is taken as a reference point because experience shows that if the outside temperature is this value then no heating or cooling is normally required. Occupants and equipment within a building usually add enough heat to bring the temperature up to a more comfortable level. Suppose, for example, that the average temperature for a given day is 55°F. Since this value is ten degrees lower than the reference point of 65°F then one would say this is a ten degree-day. Obviously, the outside temperature is not always constant, so one needs a method to determine the average temperature. A simple way to do this is to compute the arithmetic mean of the high and low temperatures for the day. While not always correct, this is sufficiently accurate for most purposes and is done for practicality because these temperatures are always recorded by the weather bureau. Thus, in the previous example, if the high temperature were, say, 65°F and the low 45°F, then the average would still be 55°F for a ten degree-day. 65°F is known as the "base temperature" of the degree days. Degree days are commonly found with a base temperature of 65°F or 18ºC, and 15.5ºC is common in many countries such as the UK. However, heating and cooling degree days can actually be calculated using any base temperature - the most appropriate base temperature to use depends on the application (e.g. the temperature that the building is heated to and the amount of heat supplied by people and equipment). Heating and cooling degree days can be added over periods of time to provide a rough estimate of seasonal heating and cooling requirements. In the course of a year, for example, the number of heating degree-days for New York City is around 5,000 whereas that for Barrow, Alaska is over 20,000. Thus, one can say that, for a given home of similar structure and insulation, four times the energy would be required to heat that home in Barrow than in New York.