Dorothy to get boy THAT age to kiss ya...it must have been a great DAY all day LONG for ya lol Thank you for the hug Eloise and a sunny day it was. Have the one flowerbed competely done and planted. Funny about your green godess lol. Got a picture? Chocolate Brug I hope whatever it was that made your morning great...continued throughout the day!!!I am kind of braindead and tired. I guess brain dead because I am tired from working out there all day lol. Do you have Canna's? Do you like them? Cause I know as well as they multiply I will have some to share come the end of the season! Dorothy thank you for the additional hug. It made me make it through the day. You caught me ha ha ha I could say I just wanted to brighten the day everywhere you look lol. But truth is, I wanted to post a reply message. Went and got my coffee and did a few things. Then I thought I was in my NEW posting a message thread lol. Barb it would just break my heart if we get a freeze now. Afer I was done with all the garden work. I got the camera and started taking pictures. Everything just looks so great already. Oh man wait until you see how the Amaryllis from you grew already!!! Now I wish everyone a nice relaxing evening. Lucy

Hi Baci - Thanks... They are growing like crazy. Roots are starting to appear from the bottom, and they look very healthy. Lots of new shoots or runners, and they all seem very compact...except for one? Three of them are fruiting right now. It seems that they are all on different time tables... aaarrrgggg! I modified my nute settings so that it would accommodate the fruiting plants with the others in Veg. Its turing into a compromise... for this cycle. Oh well, this is my first grow. I plan on keeping the plants in there as long as possible. I start a Fire Academy in January, so I won't have time to experiment with new plants. Anyway, I'm using strait tap water: pH 8.2 / PPM 290. I use 1.5mL/gal of PH DOWN(Nitric acid) to bring the pH to 6.3. It has actually Buffered there quite nicely, as I haven't had to mess with pH at all. I Just keep topping off with pH balanced h20 when my PPM's go up. I'm trying to keep the PPM's at 750 right now... Just experimenting I guess. Patusho25 - thanks for the complement. I could grow them in the ground, you're right. In fact, anyone "could" grow them in the ground. I think hydroponics is a lot easier than spending countless hours in the yard chasing critters, pests, weeds, neighbors, and battling the environment. The initial financial outlay is more than that of a "traditional" garden. However, once you have the tools necessary to grow indoor hydroponics, the cost is considerably less than a "traditional" garden year after year. Potting soil isn't reusable... Clay Pellets are. Pests and insects can destroy your crop... they don't exist in such numbers indoors. Birds/squirrels/cats/dogs/children Love to eat/destroy garden fruit... No worries when your indoors. I don't have to change clothes, or set aside an entire morning to tend my garden.... which leaves me more time for my Bonsai. I don't have to pull weeds. I don't have to water. Everything is on a timer. I check my plants and nute tank every morning in my underpants with a hanna combo meter...lol. It takes me all of a minute to read and adjust if necessary. My air is being filtered by these plants. I can grow veggies when its impossible to grow veggies outside. So yeah, its mostly for fun...right now. When I can afford to buy a house with a big back yard. I will probably set-up a big operation and make money using the knowledge I've gained in this setting. Organically grown food commands premium prices at the farmers market here. You never know what you can do till you try.

Andy, use the following code and replace the part in quotes with the image source code you desire. You can find the image source code by right clicking on any image, then click "Properties" and then copy and paste the "address (URL)" text. img src="http://image.weather.com/images/maps/current/acttemp_277x187.jpg" The last thing needed is the brackets on the code above, just enter "" at the beginning and end, respectively.

Thanks for posting this great site. I can do a bit of FM but I am always looking for new easy designs. I will be trying out these patterns. TFS Jeane