Wow, Ivan, thanks for the excellent, thorough reply!!! I really do appreciate it and will take your advice.
On the B issue. My original lab test showed 83 ppm of B and a pH of 8.6!! I called the lab and they said they didn't think the B level would be a problem at that level. In any event, the soil test was done in Feb 2008 and I would expect a lot of the boron to have leached out by now. The compost is used extensively by commercial growers in the area and is entirely composted greenwaste - no municipal water or sewage processing stuff. I'd forgotten to mention it, but a product I have used in my gardens (and am sure many others in our area use too) is Terro Ant Killer granules you water into the soil. Its active ingredient is sodium tetrabromate, decahydrate 5.4% No need to comment (unless you think you need to alert me to some dangerous situation), as I agree it would be a never ending story <g>. Just thought I'd mention it now as a point of interest.
At the moment, I'm VERY satisfied with my production so I'll just proceed as I have been - but will try to leave the fruit on the vines a bit longer unless the squirrels and birds start eating them again.
Thanks again for your help (and hope you're not being affected by all the horrible flooding in central Europe!).
Anne
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