Thanks Jim, actually I think it's rather a case of "better to be lucky than smart". The 'Big Jim' plant has acclimated really well to my growing area, and I've had so much less problem this year with black rot. (so far, fingers crossed). I will sheepishly admit that I've stopped spraying the 'chids with rainwater and am using tap water instead when I have to supplement watering. They get rainwater from the clouds anyway, and well water when I have the automatic system running, if I get busy or go out of town. But I figure the chlorinated tap water cleans up a bit of fungus, and the rainwater that comes off the roof and gutters into the rain barrels could have a lot of contaminants in it that the 'direct' rain doesn't have.
Also everybody got a little douse of Bayer 3-in-1 when the flower thrips attacked in July, so the bugs aren't bothering us so much either. Thanks again for that diagnosis. Making notes as I go along to make that a routine preventative application in the summer.
Ursula
