How-to and Informational
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Raised Bed Gardening Basics: Soil, Drainage and Design
Raised bed gardening offers a flexible way to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers, especially for gardeners dealing with limited space, poor soil, or mobility concerns. With proper planning, raised beds and containers can support healthy plant growth in a wide range of settings. Continue reading the full article here.
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Gardening in 5-Gallon Buckets
If you don’t have the space or time for an in-ground garden, planting vegetables in five-gallon buckets is a great option. UT Extension County Director Walter Battle shows how to plant a tomato in a five-gallon bucket. Make sure your bucket is safe to use. Don’t use a bucket that has been used for chemicals or oil-based substances. Walter recommends using a new bucket. Walter drills holes in the bottom of the bucket and places a piece of landscape fabric in the bottom to keep the soil from running out. He adds some rock to the bottom for drainage and then soil. He also adds some manure for nutrients and plants a tomato plant. Tomatoes like to be planted deep, so he adds more soil around the plant. He also talks about how to water the plant and take care of it. Walter talks briefly about growing other vegetables like peppers and squash in buckets.
Related Videos: Planting an Herb and Flower Container Garden Building Raised Bed Related Resources: DIY Basic Bucket Garden Container Gardening Growing Vegetable in Containers |
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Getting Garden Beds Ready for Spring and Summer Planting
Preparing a garden bed for a new planting season begins with building a healthy soil foundation. Before introducing new plants, preparing the soil helps ensure they perform at their best. Organic matter, such as compost, can be added to improve soil structure, encourage earthworms, and provide nutrients. While compost is beneficial, it should make up no more than about 20 percent of the total soil volume. This balance allows plants to access nutrients from the native soil while still gaining the benefits of added organic matter. Continue reading the article, and find a list of all the annuals planted in this bed over the years, here.
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Setting Up a Bird Feeder
Debbie Bruce from Wild Birds Unlimited shows how to set up a bird feeder on a pole. The pole system she is using allows for two feeders to be hung at the same time. One feeder she loads with bird seed and the other feeder with suet. This selection will attract a range of birds to the feeders. There are squirrels and raccoons that live in the area so Debbie installs a baffle to keep them from climbing the pole and also sites the feeder at least 12 feet away from trees so squirrels cannot jump to the feeder.
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Refilling and Replanting a Raised Garden Bed
Over time, raised garden beds can lose soil due to settling, erosion, and regular plant turnover. As the soil level drops, plant performance may decline because roots have less space to grow and access nutrients. Refilling a raised bed restores proper soil depth and creates better growing conditions.
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Planting Strawberries
Master Gardener Tom Mashour shows how to plant strawberries in the garden. Tom uses white plastic over the soil. This is to keep the strawberries off the ground, retain moisture, and reflect the heat from the hot summer sun. Tom uses a shower curtain liner from a dollar store. He plants two rows of strawberries. The rows are 12 inches apart with the plants 12 inches apart in the rows. The rows are offset 6 inches from each other. Tom cuts an X in the plastic where he wants to plant the plant. Then he digs a small hole in the soil under the X and plants the strawberry plant. The plastic he put down is in two pieces. When the plants need watered he can open up the plastic between the two pieces, then close it back up when done.
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How to Mix Soil for a Raised Bed: A Simple Guide to the Right Ingredients
Creating a good raised bed soil mix starts with combining a few primary ingredients that support plant growth through structure, drainage, and nutrient availability. A balanced mix typically includes a mineral base, materials that improve soil structure, and organic matter that supports biological activity. Keep reading and find Kyle's Soil Recipe here.
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Groundcovers
There are many options for ground covers in the garden and UT Extension Horticulture Specialist Carol Reese talks about some of her favorite options. Groundcovers are often used to cover areas where grass won’t grow but there are also design reasons to use groundcovers. Carol warns against fast-growing groundcovers. They will quickly outgrow their spot and spread into your lawn and other areas. Carol prefers clumping groundcovers that stay put and spread slowly. Carol talks about some of her favorites like sweet flag, vinca, ajuga, and phlox. She also talks about the two kinds of monkeygrass: Liriope muscari and Liriope spicata, and the different kinds of mondo grass including some slow spreading types. Carol talks a lot about sedums. There are many kinds and not all make good groundcovers. She names some sedums that will do well in hot southern summers. She also talks about creeping raspberry.
Related Videos: Sedums Planting Petunias, Vinca, and Salvia Related Resources: Ground Cover Plants Ground Covers for Georgia Landscapes |
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Choosing the Right Soil for a Raised Bed GardenOne of the most commonly asked garden questions is what type of soil should be used in a raised bed. A successful raised bed begins with understanding the role of true soil versus amendments, and how the two work together to support plant growth over time.
A reliable starting point is to include a significant portion of mineral soil, or soil from the ground—often around 50 percent. This soil will be a mix of clay, sand, and silt, the three components of soil. These soils provide structure and hold essential minerals that plants rely on. Without this base, raised beds made primarily of organic materials may lack stability and nutrient retention. Over time, organic materials break down and settle, requiring frequent replacement. Keep reading the full article here. Related Videos: What is Soil pH and why is it so Important? Building Raised Bed Replacing a Wooden Raised Bed with Concrete Block Starting a Square Foot Garden Square Foot Gardening Basics Amendment Composting Related Resources: Soil Health in Raised Beds Raised bed gardens |
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Cactus Care 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Light, Water, and Soil
Cacti are well known for their ability to thrive in dry environments, making them a practical choice for a low-maintenance indoor plant. Understanding a few basic principles can make growing cacti straightforward, even for beginners.
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Perennials for Blooms all Summer
Perennials typically bloom for a short time each year, but with the right selection, your garden can have blooming perennials all season. University of Memphis Director of Landscape Joellen Dimond gives a list of perennials that together bloom from spring through fall. All the plants Joellen describes thrive in similar soil conditions in full sun and they require minimal maintenance.
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Planting a Container Flower Garden
Even if you don’t have any place to grow plants in the ground you can still have a beautiful container garden. Tonya Ashworth shows how to plant a container flower garden in a barrel. She shows how to arrange the plants for visual appeal using a tall central thriller plant, filler plants and spiller plants that hang over the side to break up the edge of the barrel.
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Houseplant 101: How to Water, Repot, and Grow Healthy Plants
Houseplants bring the greenery of nature indoors. Successful care begins with proper identification. Knowing the plant’s name allows growers to research its specific light, water, and growth requirements. If a plant does not include a tag, you can often ID the plant using reputable gardening resources or plant identification tools. Continue reading the full article here.
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Planting Bare Root Roses
Bare root roses can provide an economical rose option. Rose expert Bill Dickerson shows how to plant a bare root rose. He talks about how to prepare the plant for planting and then removes the packing to show the root of the rose. Ideally the roots will be about as large as the top of the bush. He then plants the rose using native soil, amendments, Epsom salts and fertilizer. He talks about the flowering process and care of rose bushes.
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Choosing the Right Plant for Your Flowerbed
Choosing the right perennials and annuals for the flower garden can be a challenge. Rick Pudwell Director of Horticulture for Memphis Botanic Garden gives some tips on choosing and shows some examples of each.
Annuals are plants – usually grown from seed that live one season, set seed, and then die. Because they only live a short time, they tend to flower most of their lives. Perennials on the other hand are plants that live several years and usually only flower once a year at a specific time. If you deadhead perennials, they may produce another set of flowers later in the year. You need to think about the conditions where you are going to plant – sun, shade, wet, dry – and pick a plant that will do well there. If you would like flowers blooming all year around, visit a nursery every month of the year and each time, pick a plant that is blooming. Some perennials even bloom in the winter. Proper soil preparation is important. Add organic material and get a soil test to see if you need to change the pH or other conditions for the plant. If you are starting a garden, start small. Plant where the plants will be easy to water and maintain in the hot summer. Rick shows a few examples of different plants. Related Videos: Perennial-Annual-Biennial Annual Flowers for Full Sun, Part-Shade, or Shade Perennials for Blooms all Summer Summer Flowering Woody Perennials Related Resources: Growing Annual Flowers Growing Annual Flowers: Planning, starting and caring for a garden Growing Perennials Gardening with Perennials |
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Build a Small High Tunnel Greenhouse
Common materials and a few minutes of time is all you need to build a small greenhouse where you can get a head start on your garden. Gardener Peter Richards shows how to use PVC pipe, U bolts and a sheet of plastic to build a small 5x10 foot greenhouse. The greenhouse will keep tender plants from freezing on cold nights. After measuring the area, Peter drives pieces of 1” PVC pipe into the ground. Then ½” PVC pipe is slid into the pipes in the ground and bent into arches. Another piece of pipe attaches the arches together. A piece of plastic is put over the top and secured to the ground either with a piece of lumber or by burying the edge of the sheet.
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Propagating Ferns from Spores
Ferns are one of the most primitive vascular plants in the world today. Gardeners can propagate ferns by dividing and sometimes with cutting rhizomes, but in nature ferns reproduce by spores. Kim Rucker the Greenhouse manager at Dixon Gallery and Gardens tells how to propagate ferns from the spores. In the late summer or early fall the fern spores on the back of the leaves are mature. Kim collects some leaves in an envelope and shows how to get the spores to release. Then she prepares a small container with germinating mix and vermiculite and dumps the spores in. After several weeks a moss-looking green covering will be seen on the soil. This is the gametophyte stage of the fern’s life cycle. If you continue to let it grow the sporophyte stage will grow, which is what we know as a fern.
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How to Propagate Tradescantia Using Cuttings and DivisionTradescantia plants are commonly grown for their trailing growth habit and their ability to root easily. While there are many types within this plant group, including forms with purple, green, or golden foliage, they share similar growth patterns and respond well to the same propagation methods. This makes tradescantia a practical plant for gardeners who want to create new plants with minimal effort. Continue reading the full article here.
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New Blackberry Cultivars
Blackberries can be a great place to start if you want to grow fruit. UT Assistant Professor of Residential and Consumer Horticulture Natalie Bumgarner talks about what options are out there. Blackberries traditionally fruit on floricanes or second year canes. But, there are now primocane blackberries that fruit on the first year cane in fall. Primocane plants can make management easy and reduce diseases. Natalie shows several new cultivars of blackberry developed by the University of Arkansas.
Related Videos: Planting Blackberries Building a Blackberry Trellis Related Resources: Growing Blackberries in Your Home Garden Blackberry Planting, Spacing, and Trellising |
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Changing Soil pH with Elemental Sulfur
Soil pH plays a central role in how well plants are able to use nutrients in the soil. Even when nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are present in adequate amounts, an incorrect pH can interfere with nutrient uptake. When this happens, plants may show deficiency symptoms despite proper fertilization. For this reason, maintaining an appropriate soil pH is essential for plant growth across many types of gardens, including vegetable gardens and ornamental plantings. Continue reading the article here.
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Fish for Water Features
Andy Williams from the Lichterman Nature Center talks about the different kinds of fish for water features in your yard. The three main kinds of fish to consider are minnows, goldfish, and koi. Fish such as bluegill and bass need more space and are more suited for a large pond. To support fish in your water feature you should make sure you only put fish into the water feature so you have one square foot of water surface per inch of fish. The fish will grow but that is a good starting out rule of thumb. Andy briefly tells the history of each kind of fish, how big they will grow and the different varieties available. He also talks about what to look for when purchasing fish.
Related Video: Basic Pond Maintenance Related Resources: Ornamental Ponds & Water Gardens in Texas Water Gardens Species Profile: Koi and Goldfish Ornamental Garden Pools |
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Winter Cover Crops
Master Gardener Carl Wayne Hardeman talks about the benefits of cover crops in the garden. Cover crops are planted to cover bare ground. They can be used for erosion prevention or adding nutrients and structure to the soil. Soil microbes are important to plants and live on the roots of plants. Having bare ground can starve the microbes, cover crops can feed the microbes until the next crop is planted.
Good cover crops for the winter are cold hardy plants like turnip greens, rutabagas, annual rye grass, winter wheat, clover, vetch, and peas. The cover crop also helps choke out weeds that might try to grow. Legumes can be especially valuable as a cover crop because they fix nitrogen into the soil that is available for the later plants. In the spring winter cover crops can be tilled in, but also can be left and the spring planting made through the cover crop. Related Videos: Winter Garden Vegetables Fall and Winter Flowers Planting Cool Season Vegetables Related Resources: Cover Crops for Home Gardens Cover Crops Cover Crops in Missouri: Putting Them to Work on Your Farm |
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Boxwood
UT Horticultural Specialist Carol Reese talks about boxwood. There are several species of boxwood. The most common species is the English or common boxwood. These are frequently, and incorrectly, called American Boxwood – which is not a species. It comes from North Africa and western Europe. It is a picky plant. It has very specific sighting requirements regarding heat, cold, and roots. Korean and Japanese little leaf types are more tolerant to the hot summer sun. It is important before you plant to make sure you research your site and boxwood that will tolerate it.
Boxwood are most often pruned to a shape by shearing the outside branches and leaves. This is not the best way to prune boxwood. They should be pruned by plucking inside branches, opening-up the plant to light to encourage growth on the inside. This method will also allow you to reduce the size of the plant. Do not prune boxwood in the fall. If you really love boxwood, there a number of societies you can join that specialize in boxwood. Related Videos: Boxwood When is the best time of year to prune boxwood? How do I do it? Related Resources: Boxwood Boxwood Diseases & Insect Pests The American Boxwood Society |
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Building an Inexpensive
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Spiders
Andy Williams from Lichterman Nature Center talks about spiders. Spiders are beneficials in the garden. He talks about the different kinds of spiders we find in the garden. In the South there are three types of spiders and they differ in their body shape, web construction and hunting methods.
Related Videos: Beneficial Garden Bugs Beehive Tour Related Resources: Common Spiders In and Around Homes Spiders Spiders |
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Garden Rodent Control
Mike Dennison talks about moles, voles and chipmunks. They can be garden pests. He shows how to set a scissors style mole trap. He also talks about methods for controlling voles and chipmunks.
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Buying Garden Seeds
Growing garden plants from seed gives you a huge selection to choose from. Master Gardener Tom Mashour talks about how to choose the right seeds for your garden. He reviews the advantages of seed catalogs, retail stores, and feed stores. Seed catalogs allow you to get your seeds early and offer a massive selection and have descriptions of each variety, but if you are only growing a few plants they can be expensive. Retail stores have a small selection but lower prices. Feed stores have a small selection but very low prices as the seeds are sold by weight. Tom gives tips on picking the best options for you.
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Transform a Bare Mulch Bed by Planting Tulips, Daffodils, and Pansies
Starting a new flowerbed is not hard and tulips and daffodils are an easy start. Horticulturist Joellen Dimond shows how to take an unplanted bed and turn it into a beautiful flower bed for winter and spring. She prepares the soil including incorporating compost and bone meal. Then she talks about bulb placement, spacing, depth, and orientation, along with planting patterns that create an even, balanced layout. The planting is completed by adding winter pansies.
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How to Prep Garden Tools and Equipment for Winter
Winterize your garden gear with practical, step-by-step advice for cleaning, oiling, sharpening, and storing hand tools, mowers, tillers, and sprayers. These tips protect your investment, prevent corrosion, and reduce maintenance headaches in the spring. With the right care, your tools will be ready for action when the next gardening season begins.
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Microgreens
University of Tennessee Assistant Professor of Residential and Consumer Horticulture Natalie Bumgarner talks about how to grow microgreens. Microgreens are young edible plants that can be used as garnishes for other dishes or used as an entire salad. The plants have developed their first true set of leaves before they are harvested, usually about two weeks after they are planted. Anything that has an edible leaf and stem can be grown as a microgreen. Some of the commonly grown plants include: Cabbage, Broccoli, herbs, lettuce and amaranth. Natalie uses a soil-less germination mix that already has fertilizer in it. Because the harvest time is so short you usually don’t need to add more fertilizer. They need to be grown in high light locations but not in direct sun because they will dry out and die. Under porches or even in a bright window will work. Because the plants are so close together it is important to keep the stems dry to prevent disease. Watering from the bottom of the tray keeps them dry. Microgreens are best harvested by a pair of scissors. They do not store well so harvest them as you need them.
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Home Mouse and Rat Control
Retired UT Extension Agent Mike Dennison talks about how to keep mice and rats out of your house and how to get rid of them once they are inside. Mice and rats have skulls that can compress allowing them to squeeze through very small spaces. Mice can get through a hole larger than ¼ inch, rats can get through a hole larger than ½ inch. To block possible entry points on your home use sheet steel or hardware cloth with ¼ inch spacing. Mike shows many different kinds of traps and bait stations including snap traps, single use traps, and humane no-kill traps. He also talks about the different kinds of bate and safety precautions that should be taken with baits and poisons.
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The History and Symbolism of Plants in Christmas Traditions
Plants have been part of human culture for centuries, carrying meanings tied to belief systems, seasonal cycles, and community rituals. Many of the plants associated with modern Christmas traditions trace their origins to pre-Christian practices across Europe. As Christianity spread, early Christian monks often adapted the familiar symbols and customs of surrounding cultures, assigning them new meanings that aligned with Christian teachings. Over time, these blended traditions formed the foundation for many of today’s holiday decorations and practices.
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Build a Holiday Evergreen Display
Jason Reeves from the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Jackson, demonstrates how to make beautiful holiday greenery displays using large pots and cuttings from evergreen shrubs and trees. Large plastic pots work best because they will not crack in the winter like clay pots may do. The existing soil and roots in the pots work well to hold the greenery in place. Jason adds many kinds of evergreen cuttings including junipers and cypresses. He cuts the branches at an angle and pokes them into the soil. Once he has an evergreen base he uses holly, magnolia, and branches from red twig dogwood and twisted willow to add pops of color and different textures to the arrangement. The greenery will last up to a month depending on the temperature and humidity of the air. Watering the arrangement will help it last longer. The branches stuck in the soil will draw the water from the soil and help the arrangement last.
Related Video: Making a Fall Pumpkin Display Attracting Winter Birds Related Resources: Holiday Decorating With Fresh Greenery Pruning Evergreens |
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Preparing Garden Tools for Winter
Retired UT Extension Agent Mike Dennison shows what he does to take care of his garden tools before he puts them away for the winter. Taking care of tools will make them last a long time. Mike shows a hoe that was purchased by his father in the 1960s and was used for years on the family farm. It still has the original handle and Mike shows what he does to preserve the metal and wood. He uses oil on the metal and linseed on the wood. Leaving dirt on tools will encourage rust which is the enemy of all metal tools. Mike also talks about what he does to get his small engines ready for winter.
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Winterizing the Vegetable Garden
Master Gardener Tom Mashour talks about what he does to get his vegetable garden ready for winter and planting in the spring. He likes to have his garden weed free in the spring. He talks about the pros and cons of three ways to get rid of weeds: herbicide, tilling, and hand weeding. Also, there are lots of leaves in the fall. Tom takes his leaves and grass clippings and dumps them on his garden to decompose over the winter. He also talks about planting green manure.
Tom talks about planning next year’s garden. He rotates his vegetables and explains how and why he does that. He starts his seeds indoors six weeks before it is time to plant. Tom referred to the following UT Extension publication about when to plant vegetables: Growing Vegetables in Home Gardens Related Videos: Tilling and Amending a New Garden Easy Winter Weed Control Related Resources: Preparing the Garden for Winter Getting Your Vegetable Garden Ready for Spring |
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Ornamentals and Trees in the Winter
TSU Extension Agent Joellen Dimond talks about how to help your shrubs and trees survive the winter and be ready to thrive next year. She starts with leaves, there are tons of them in the fall. Trees that live in the forest mulch themselves with leaves. In a home landscape setting the leaves need to be taken off the grass, but you can use these leaves to mulch your trees and shrubs or to compost. Using leaves as mulch encourages worms which improve the soil. Joellen also talks about lasagna gardening. By layering leaves and garden waste on top of a piece of cardboard and letting it compost over the winter you can have a fertile bed next spring.
Young thin-skinned trees can suffer from sunscald from daily heating and cooling cycles. Joellen encourages wrapping at-risk trees with tree wrap or even fabric strips to protect the bark from the freeze thaw cycles. Mulch is good to help regulate the soil temperature, but you should not pile mulch up next to trees and shrubs. The thick mulch allows voles and mice to eat at the base of the tree. If you need to protect tender perennials on cold nights, cover the plant with an old bed sheet and a piece of plastic. Make sure the plastic touches the ground on all sides. If you have deer or rabbits, putting a fence around young trees can protect against damage. November and December are the best times to plant bulbs for early spring color. Fall is a good time to divide perennials. You should not prune in the fall and winter; early spring is the best time. Related Videos: How to Make a Lasagna Garden Effects of Sunscald Kinds of Mulch Composting Ornamental Related Resources: Preparing The Garden For Winter Checklist Preparing the Garden for Winter |
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A Season-Long Look at Five Mulches: What Worked, What Didn’t
A head-to-head garden mulch comparison puts cardboard, pine bark, cypress, black plastic, and bare soil to the test across 175 days, tracking changes in soil temperature, moisture, and weed pressure. The results show differences in performance, including which mulches reduce weeds and a few surprises that shift expectations about which materials actually hold up over time. The results show the best mulch for the garden. Clear standouts emerge and reveal which mulches stay stable, which fall behind, and which ones deliver benefits for vegetable gardens. Read the full article here.
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