Hi, gang. Two things right off the bat: 1) My NN is NOT clavoris (that's what the site gave me when I signed up and don't know how to change it) and 2) Back to solving the problems with the Watch Chain!! About three years ago I found some long pieces of WC on the garden floor of Lowes. I took them, and stuck them into a smallish (4") pot filled with cactus soil, then dressed them with a topping of pretty gravel, and larger stones to hold the pieces up. That plant is now 1 1/2 feet high, LOVES being crammed together, and any and all pieces that fall (and that happens frequently; they just love to plop off and give me more propagation material!) I just stick into either a pot of their own or existing, common succulents. By "common" I mean succs that have similar watering needs. HOWEVER (which is just "BUT" in a longer fashion) even if I pot the pieces next to, say, Hobbit fingers, or other succs that need a longer time dry (one can usually tell by how fat the leaves are: the fatter the "leaves" the less watering it will need. You just have to experiment, and SAVE THE POTS: if they die? I take them back. ALL the time. I am known as "Crazy Plant Lady" at my local garden center) I can take a small, repurposed small watering bottle (think "eye dropper" or any other small bottle with a small hole in the dispensing end) and water ONLY the crassula and, if I'm careful, I only get the water needy stonecrop or crassula. One really does have to know who needs how much, and it might take a while. I also use my fingers to test the soil for water content: if it's cool to the back of my finger, that means there's water there. DON'T WATER THEN. I have about 200 succulents of all kinds in the house, and they ALL have fluourescent lights trained on them (those aluminum hooded clamp lights work really well, knock wood). So they get lots of light, and, I hope, the proper watering. Sorry this was so long!

I know I'm not speaking for all Ozarkers here when I say this, but I think the attitude that is pretty prevalent around here is that I decide how to manage my own property within reasonable limits of the law. IMO, it is not reasonable for someone in an office in Jeff City to tell me I have to tolerate poisonous snakes on my 10 acres. Same goes for mountain lions. I have a bunch of little kids, and I just can't have deadly animals on my property. I do my best to teach my kids about all kinds of local animals, and basic principles of conservation. But I have toddlers, too, and they need a higher degree of protection. It seems like maybe some people are offended that there is this assumption that anyone who wants to kill pit vipers is phobic of snakes or ignorant of the importance of a well-balanced ecology. So many people come here from the city or out-of-state with these notions that we ignorant hillbillies need to learn a lessson or two about the beauties of nature. Au contraire!!! Why do you think we still live here? It takes time and personal commitment to learn what you need to learn about how to manage land properly. And the state of Missouri doesn't always know either. It's pretty complicated on a large scale. I am adamant with my kids not to kill spiders or beneficial snakes like black snakes, king snakes, bull snakes, garter snakes, etc. However, I am equally adamant that a pit viper is not necessary to our farm's ecology, and if they see one they need to kill it. Same goes for mountain lions. My property is not a wildlife conservation park. It is a home for humans, and certain wild animals cannot live safely that close to humans. Now, if I had chickens, and black snakes were getting in my chicken house, then I would have to change my policy about black snakes. You'd have to rely more on cats or terriers to get rid of your undesirable rodents then, I guess. My family raises cattle (for several generations) and they have never felt it was necessary to shoot coyotes, despite the fact that they can predictably be expected to kill a few calves every year. That's not enough of an impact to seriously disrupt the environment by getting rid of a species with such a major presence here. A mountain lion is a different story. What would they contribute that we really need? We've been getting along great without them for around 100 years. I don't want them to become extinct. Just extinct around here. If every single mountain lion and black bear were kept within the confines of the state parks, that would be a good thing. Same with rattlers, copperheads, and water moccasins.

Salmon from one end of the continent and lobster from the other...this is one good swap. You'll like Bittman's book I bet, Robin. I bought one for the kid's roomate when she graduated high school and, of course, had to preview it for her. The trivet is beautiful, Catherine... nice choices.

"continually added fresh water through the fill tube in an attempt to dilute the hydrated lime solution (the soil is covered by a plastic cover, which is part of the Earthbox system)." OK, I get it. Since I'm a DIYer who reads but still won't follow directions (and have no patience for being on tour buses and the like LOL), removing the cover is something I wouldn't think twice about to get rid of the excess. But a single top flood if we could turn back the clock would have addressed the problem much more effectively. More importantly, I think it may also hold a clue for you to re-enforce your original thoughts on what happened when you didn't quickly refill with the balance of water. You'd wick up the let's say 2x concentrated solution, which you already worried about ... but if the top had somewhat dried, you'd also wick up more total volume ... we are not dealing with a gas tank, but rather a sponge. Now you are slowly removing it since there will be a concentration gradient through the small wicks and what is above stays (and this might be the situation that tigrikt was thinking and helping you with too). "I usually use a bagged planting mix from the local nursery (their own "custom mix"), which contains a variety of ingredients (peat, redwood, bat guano, etc.)." tigrikt could comment better than I on this one if they are an actual EB user in your sort of climate. I'm inclined to think you have bad advice from the nursery on the soil, if there is nothing in there to cut back on the sponginess of the peat - like perlite. Redwood? perhaps you mean redwood bark? Big difference there. I'm not up on shredded redwood wood, but I do recall Dr. Gericke had some issues with it, as being somewhat acidic at least, though as a composted ingredient it would probably be good. Either way these things seem to add up to high acid (hurts calcium uptake) and high water retention - outside the sweet spot. I am assuming a lot of things online so it is more of the concern I'd check on, and recommend you learn more about the properties of soils. I understand you've grown this way for years, with reasonable results, so I'm just suggesting you go to the next level now and experiment a little with your soil mix's water retention with something as simple as some added perlite in a few Boxes if you want to take it slowly. Sey has been experimenting with a mix in containers promoted by tapla, and probably could add a few thoughts on the soil if he's still following the thread. Cheers PC edit: maybe the cover is not removable, and I assume it is. If that's the case, I'm sure a DIYer could experiment with removable covers, which I guess is going against the EB concept of set it and forget it, so it will depend on the complexity you feel is appropriate for your situation. One difference between my containers and yours is that I use a lighter mix uncovered and depend on the rain to naturally flush with pure rainwater (free distilled water). It helps keep accumulation or any errors with fertilizer supplements in check, but I enjoy supplementing with fertilizers so that is part of my growing strategy.