slingstone

I have posted here from time to time about my lowly Kia Soul from 2015. We're currently at 91,450 or so in mileage. I just found out thanks to a helpful Valvoline tech that we're burning oil at an accelerated rate. Apparently, my stupid behind doesn't know how to properly check oil, because when I checked it 2 weeks ago it appeared to be full. However, yesterday the guy said the oil was barely registering on the dipstick. There's absolutely no sign of leaks, so this mother freaking GDI engine has to be burning what's missing.

This is all backed up by the fact that towards the end of an oil change interval, I'm getting a periodic knock on acceleration. It appears that this was my poor 2.0L engine starving for oil. After the oil change, there's magically no noise at all. In the back of my mind I kept thinking that the noise sounded like sucking too little fluid through a straw, and it seems like that's very close to what was happening.

I have an offer in hand from CarMax from an appointment yesterday, and they'll give me $5,500 for my current car.

This leads me to go looking for alternatives. I'm trying not to have a huge payment, so I'm trying to stay under $10,000. That prevents me from considering any Toyotas or Hondas unless they are very old or very high mileage.

Looking around, I found a 2015 Ford Fusion hybrid ( titanium edition) with 115,000 miles for $11,000 from a local Honda dealership that I trust. I also found a 2017 Ford Fusion hybrid at a Ford dealership that I do not know about 40 miles away at $9,880 with 109,000 miles.

I know Fords are not generally well regarded these days, but all my research points to Fusion hybrids being reliable, lasting up to 250,000 miles or more. Given that I've put less than 92,000 miles on my Kia in 10 years, it seems like either of these might be a good buy for me that would be well within my budget.

With all that said, I invite you guys to play: Is it better than my 2015 Kia Soul?

Just came in today! Love it!

In addition to the veggies and herbs I'm growing, I've also got flowers in pots and planters on my front porch. My marigolds are filling out like crazy and buds are appearing. I was advised not to thin them out as they grow like weeds, which seems to be the case in these pots. The only issue with them is that I see some leaf borer activity. I'm currently looking for a spray that will kill the pests but not harm bees and beneficial insects. Neem oil is recommended by many. Pyrethrin is organic, but it appears it has to be applied very carefully to avoid hurting pollinators. Does anybody have any thoughts? My Shasta Daisies are finally coming along. My main question: do these need to be thinned out? I understand that these are larger plants, and the instructions seem to be that a lot this size should have no more than two or three. I've got two planters like this with Zinnias. They're largely thriving, and the larger plants have buds. However, one side of the pantry above has plants that have leaves that have wilted or dead light brown parts. I don't see any pests. What's going wrong here? The other end of the same planter has some of my strongest of these flowers, so I'm really confused. Also, do these need to be thinned out?

Finally, I've planted some marigolds in my back bed, but they're struggling. The ones from seed are stuck at about an inch tall and turning purple on the leaves. The full grown plants I transplanted are turning purple, too. What gives? (Sorry, no pictures of these right now.)

I appreciate any guidance.

Things are progressing fairly well since my last post. It rained for about a week straight, which made me fear for my plants--I've been warned heavily about over-watering. Some seem like they're doing great. Others not so much.

My "Whopper" tomato plant, the only one in a container, flowered and it's producing fruit:

I think we've been anticipating that this would be the first and best of the tomatoes. It's got the best starting medium (Miracle-Gro potting soil) and the most depth to grow. It's gotten tall, as you can see. The question is when I'll need to fertilize further. Miracle-Gro says it'll be good for six months. Should I add fertilizer before that, since it's fruiting and using so many resources from its soil?

This is two of my cucumbers growing into a kind of tangle. They're blooming in spite of their small size. I'm thinking my shallow bed is limiting them, as feared. Is there anything I should do? Per my last post, I did add the 10-10-10 Scott's fertilizer about two weeks ago. The instructions say to wait two months. Is there some sort of fertilizing I should do in the interim?

Here's two of the four tomato plants in the bed (the first is my Celebrity variety, the second ones of two Romas). They seem fairly healthy, but remain small. Several are flowering. I did prune branches that were dragging on the ground, as I've been told those could be vectors for fungal infections. Only the second plant above still has many branches close to the ground. Do those need to go, too? The leaves seem healthy.

As advised, I pruned the flowers on both my basil plants. The sweet basil, shown above, has some leaves that are yellowing. Do those need to go, too?

My dill is looking fine overall, but it's had yellowed leaves toward the bottom and one side since I transplanted it. Do those need to be trimmed?

Finally, my loose leaf lettuce sprouted weeks ago and is stuck at this size. Given what I've seen from everything else I've planted from seed elsewhere, they're way behind. I did not fertilize for fear that it'd be too much. Is there anything I can do for them?

That's all the major developments. I'll post my nascent flowers another time--they're growing at an insane pace.

As always, thanks for any guidance y'all feel like providing!

I want to thank everyone who responded with advice for my last post.

Per the advice I received, I went ahead and found a 10-10-10 Scott's fertilizer. I tried to apply it or the instructions, mixing it into the soil, and watered it in. I'm hoping for good things. One thing I'm curious about: the instructions indicate this particular product should be applied every two months, which seems like a long interval. Shouldn't I be fertilizing more often? Did I choose the wrong kind?

Also, I finally got some straw and used it as mulch. It seems like it's keeping the soil wetter for longer.

As for my plants:

My potted tomato plant is taking off, more so than the ones I have in the actual bed. I installed a stake and a cage. I had primed of the first flower, but I believe it may be ready to bloom again. Do I need to keep trimming the flowers until it gets bigger?

The onions I started later are taking off, too. I planted them as far apart as my instructions suggested, but I'm wondering if they need to be thinned out. The container is small, I know, but I'm hoping it's just deep enough for them to succeed. I do worry if I'm keeping them too wet--the container is self-watering, so I've watered them less, but the soil is constantly moist. Will this be a problem later on?

My herbs (rosemary, dill, African and sweet basil, and peppermint) seem to be doing well. The African basil is flowering--do I need to cut these back for any reason?

My cucumbers are growing, but slowly. Three of them are definitely bigger, though one lags behind. I'm thinking the shallow depth of my bed is coming into play here. I wonder if I should try to transfer them to a deep pit like the one tomato I have already mentioned.

The four tomato plants I have in the bed, determinate and semi-determinate, aren't gaining a lot of height, but they do seem bushier. Again, I wonder if the shallowness of my bed is already holding them back. Stakes and cages are in place for the semi-determinate varieties, but I only have stakes for my two Roma plants.

Here's the peppermint I was warned would take over my bed given a chance. Do I need to go ahead and transfer it to a separate area or pot now?

My loose leaf lettuce seeds have sprouted, which is cool. I'm watching them closely to see how it grows. I didn't fertilize these plants since they're so young for fear of hurting them.

Also, the marigold seeds I planted along the edges between the mature marigolds I planted have sprouted, as well.

These pots are on the front side of my house. The small and medium size ones have more marigolds I planted from seed. I'm wondering if they're getting big enough that I will need to thin them out.

The big pot at the bottom has Shasta Daisies. They took a while to sprout, and are growing much more slowly than my other flowers.

I've got two planters with Zinnias I sewed on my porch, and they're really doing well. I'm wondering if and when I should think these too.

I appreciate any advice you guys may have as I progress. I'm trying to learn as much as I can, and you all have been an important part of my education so far.

If everyone is okay with it, I'll continue to post updates. Thanks for your help!

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind advice on my first post.

I've got my plants in the ground, and I figured I'd give updates on my progress so I can get more guidance and contribute to the content available here on Lemmy.

From the back of the bed by my chain link fence, I've got two pairs of two varieties of cucumber, with some lettuce planted in the back corner. I intend to train those cucumbers onto the fence to ensure they didn't take over the bed.

In the middle, I've got one each of rosemary, dill, African basil, sweet basil, and peppermint.

On the front, I've got some determinate and semi-determinate tomatoes to include one Celebrity, two Roma, and one Green Zebra plants.

I've lined the front and left side with Marigolds, transplanting six plants and seeding some more in the spaces in between.

I've also got an indeterminate Whopper tomato plant in a big planter a short way to the left of the bed, and a container with onion starts.

I realize that my depth will likely not be enough for the larger plants, but I'm trying, nonetheless. I'm particularly hoping the determinate tomatoes might work out.

I've got pictures of most everything, but I wasn't sure if it would be obnoxious to post them all.

I watered daily the first week with a can, then deeply watered at the end of the week with a new wand I bought for my hose. The next week, I backed off to ensure I didn't over-water, but I made sure to do the finger test daily to ensure the soil was staying moist.

With rain over the last few days, my tomatoes have started to flower, though they haven't gotten much taller. The marigold seeds have broken ground, along with the lettuce and, surprisingly, my onions, with I had started much later.

I'm considering what I need to do next. Two weeks in, I'm thinking some fertilizer is in order. I'm also wondering whether I need to do some sort of spray or something for pests. A few of my cucumbers seem like something is eating the leaves.

I did prune some tomato leaves that were dragging on the ground. I've heard it's important to do that to avoid fungal issues.

One issue I'm concerned about is that there's a lot of shade in the morning. However, the bed does get full sun in the afternoon for 6-8 hours. I'm hoping the early shade will offset the brutal summer sun here in South Carolina. It gets terribly hot and the UV seems high here, and I've seen at least one gardener I follow on YouTube just to the northeast of me who recommends shade cloth for tomatoes and cucumbers as temperatures rise

What do you guys think so far? Would you like some more pictures?

I've just put together a 4x8 raised bed in central South Carolina, USA. It's about 12 in deep. I filled it first with branches and larger limbs, then a layer of dead leaves, and finally a mixture of compost, manure, topsoil, and garden soil. I'm planning to start planting this next weekend. I'm trying to put together a plan for what to plant. The picture above shows kind of a first shot at putting it all together on the veg plotter tool.

I've got marigolds on the corners with tomatoes in the back, alternating with lettuce, cucumbers on either side. I'm thinking I'll have some carrots interspersed with some dill, garlic and basil. The rest is rounded out with yellow squash and zucchini.

So I know this is probably way too crowded, but these are all plants I'd be interested in potentially cultivating. The tomatoes and cucumbers are definites, and the herbs and marigolds are meant to be companion plants to keep away pests and attract pollinating insects.

Please tear this ridiculous amateurish diagram apart, and let me know what I should do instead 😅

I've had this car for the last 10 years, and I'm up to about 86,000 miles. I recently had to have the catalytic converter replaced, because it was completely blocked. The dealership wanted to charge me $4,300, but an independent mechanic got me up and running for less than $1,200 with non-OEM parts. Before the catalytic converter blockage, I had tried to clean out the engine with CRC intake cleaner as I've seen done online. I'm concerned that that cleaning may have led to the catalytic converter blockage, or at least exacerbated it.

Before that, I had to have my crank position sensor replaced.

I know I have the 2.0L 4 cylinder engine, which is generally considered better than the 1.6 that is more liable to failure, but everything I keep reading online keeps me constantly concerned that this vehicle is going to fail in a catastrophic way sometime soon. After the recent repairs, it's running pretty well, and my gas mileage is going back up to levels that I expect from this car. However, I'm wondering if I shouldn't get out of this vehicle while it still has some value, and maybe buy something that's widely considered more reliable.

I'm especially concerned because of carbon buildup potentially accruing in this notorious GDI engine.

Thoughts?

It's got 250,000 miles and is $5,500. It's a former taxi service car, apparently. Obviously, a pre-purchase inspection would be a must. I've heard these cars are very reliable, but the mileage, accident history (3, not sure how serious), and potential status of the high voltage battery give me pause. I'm leaning against traveling to look at it, but I'm wondering if the model is just so good it's worth a try at that price point.

It would be replacing a 2015 Kia Soul with about 80,000 miles--Kia's engine woes have me spooked, so I'm considering trying to get something more likely to go for several hundred thousand miles. Any thoughts?

I'm looking to replace the HDD on an HP Pavilion dv 6 6130-us. It has an i-3 2330M CPU. I know it's old as dirt, but I'd like to use it to run old games. It's also the only thing I own with a CD drive.

I've upgraded the RAM to the maximum it will support (16 GB). I'm thinking an SSD will help it run a great deal faster, but I'm stuck on what to get. So far, the Crucial MX500 seems like a good choice, but I'm wondering if any semi-reliable cheap SSD will do for something this old. I have to stick with something with a 2.5 inch form factor that uses SATA. Thoughts?

I'm getting a lot of parts in languages I can't read. Can I filter for just my native language?