Staccato blow bends

[Fred S <fsstov@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

After many years of practice (chronologically, not consecutively), and
thanks to the very helpful advice from the folks on this list, I am
making progress on blow bending.  I can now get reasonably smooth and
consistent 9b-9b'-9b, 8b-8b'-8b, and (almost) 10b-10b"-10b transitions,
and am beginning to work them into my playing.  All pucker playing on
the high end.  But hitting the blow bends from the start is still an
issue.  Today, I tried an excercise I thought might help - playing with
a "ta" articulation the following riff - 8b--8b-8b'--8b.  I found this
to be impossible.  With a staccato (or "ta") attack, the 8b' (or 9b')
immediately kicks back to the unbent note.  I can play it legato, but
not staccato, so I am losing hope of starting a phrase on the blow
bend.  So I thought this diagnostic (inability to hit a staccato blow
bend) might help you all point me in the right direction.

Ok, I know you folks get ~$30/hr for private lessons, and this is not
harp-on-line-lessons-l.com, but it doesn't hurt to ask :)  Plus, I find
it extremely interesting that staccato playing seems to make the draw
bends a lot easier for me, but it doesn't work that way on the blow
bends.  Finally, when playing several blow bends in a row, I find the
corresponding draw note to be balky.  Does this mean the high-end draw
reed gaps are set too low?

The check's in the mail.
Fred S