Happy Anniversary all around! Mine isn't until November, but we don't usually celebrate... a small vocal acknowledgment, and the day goes on... lol! I'm, also, experiencing deafness these days... age is catching up, I suppose. We constantly fight over the volume of the television, but if it's not loud, I can't hear it! And don't even get me started on teeth! We've both been blessed with genetically horrible teeth, and are both at the point where root canals and crowns are not an option... yank them out, I say, and save up for a new set! Abscesses are common, as are infections in the jaw, for both of us... and the list of items we can eat without problems is getting smaller! I do know that tooth and gum infections can actually affect blood pressure, so be careful! Get an antibiotic, and use it until the infection is gone... then, get that tooth pulled! :-) I'm not worried about the "Plant Police" coming to my home to see if I'm properly using chemicals, but I AM worried about killing all the good bugs along with the bad when using them! I've got a wonderful Praying Mantis population out in the gardens, but they can't seem to eat fast enough! How do we get rid of those annoying, voracious Japanese beetles? They're destroying my roses! They seem to multiply overnight, and picking them off by hand is too big a job! Any suggestions that won't kill my beautiful Praying Mantises?? Oh my... I just realized... this is the Houseplant Forum! See? The memory is going, too! I'm falling apart, I tell ya! Well... I'll still take any and all suggestions regarding those beetles! If there were any more, they WOULD be trying to get in my house for my plant collection!

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.

Thanks for asking doraville! My painter tried another light tan. It was awful but I let him take his turn. For my turn, I chose SW Dried Thyme.....perfecto! If it didn't work, I was going to go through with a professional consultation...... It's a dark-ish green (thanks alabamanicole!), slightly on the cool side, I'd call it a fresh tone. Not warm, not really a cool either IMO. So, the green will go in the kitchen and breakfast nook. The kitchen is separated from the main part of the house by 2 doorways and a big pass-thru. I'm going to get an almost match off-white for the trim in the kitchen and breakfast nook so I don't have any bright white near my cabinets. I'm feeling good about it again. My backsplash material was brought in today and now I'm back to being terrified of tile. What if it looks terrible, ugly, weird? etc. If I could rewind, I'd consult a KD for sure............. If it weren't for this forum and the bath forum, I'd be institutionalized by now! lol.

I assumed that since both switches were in the same box that they were on the same breaker. Wrong. Last night I decided to give up on finding a solution at least for awhile. I only use this light about 4 times a year. In the middle of the night, I began to think what if it is on another breaker. We have 2 200 amp breaker boxes- one in an upper garage and one in the basement garage in the tool room. This morning, I checked the upper garage breaker box for the umpteenth time. Everything was turned on. I went to the 200 amp breaker box in the lower garage. A breaker was off. It was not labeled. I turned it on. I went upstairs and flipped the switch-the bulb came on and in a split second went out. I have no clue as to why the bulb went out so suddenly. I replaced the bulb with another 45 watt bulb and so far so good. All of the other first floor lights are on the upper garage breaker box. I had no reason to think that each switch in the same switch box was on a different breaker and a completely different breaker box. I think the initial positive reading I received with the voltage detector pen must have been a mistake as the voltmeter always registered 0. I have labeled the breaker as going to this can light. When the house was being built, the electrician forgot to label some of the breakers or forgot to label all the lights on a breaker. Several breakers were marked incorrectly. Over the past years, I would spend time turning breakers off to see what went where so I could label everything correctly. This one I probably forgot to turn back on as I do not use it often- thought the bulb had burned out and assumed the recessed can was on the same breaker as the chandelier. I access the upper breaker box 99 percent of the time and only need to turn off items in the lower breaker box maybe once a year. Thanks for all of your help!!