Eric and milehighgirl gave you great advice on when not to order plants. I don't even know of a nursery that will ship blues in the summer. Usually they are shipped in the winter when dormant. It sounds like you received tissue culture plugs. I've had great success with those but as stated above they were received and planted in Jan. I've never waited 6 months to fertilize new plants but I've always used a slow release organic fert. Actually I mix some up in my potting mix and plant it. They have all thrived! The only problems I've run into is N2 defiency from too much wood and or sap wood in my mix. I don't see where the sea weed would cause any harm at all but the iron sulfate may have been applied to hastily. Even so I believe being shipped in the summer is the root cause of your problem.

You are doing great,and your fig is still alive with roots damahged but not dead. Now Use the moisture meter(if you do not have,then get one,from Home Depot),and keep moisture on 5. And in shade just like it was advuiced by the other poster. Doing that your chances are now 60 percent or better you will save it.

Thank you everyone, your complements make it worth my while to try to figure out what to do with two weeks worth of leftovers. Posted by hawk307 "------ DC: Talk about Dinners fit for a King !!! Wheeooo ! ---" Be careful Lou, behind every great king, there is a great queen who actually rules the kingdom. Posted by jasdip "----and now you have a year to plan next year's festivities.---" Yes I know, I hate to hear, "Come on dcarch! Not rib roast and duck again!" Posted by mustangs "Amazing!! How does one get on your guest list? Cathy" Marry me? LOL! Posted by jimster "It's the spectacular food we have come to expect of you, dcarch. And the photos too, are mouthwatering, even the blurred ones. ---" Thanks Jim, but truth be told, there are so many folks here cook with great panache, yet my cooking with sous vide, that requires absolutely no skills, nothing can go wrong, no overcooking or undercooking possible. Just flip a switch, "Set it, and forget it." Ann_t and FOAS, regarding Potato Latkes authenticity, what I went by was as defined by Wikipedia, under the section: Hanukkah Tradition - "Latkes need not necessarily be made from potatoes. Prior to the introduction of the potato to the Old World, latkes were, and in some places still are, made from a variety of other vegetables, cheeses, legumes, or starches, depending on the available local ingredients and foodways of the various places where Jews lived." And I did not invent the Mushroom Wild Rice Latkes recipe either, it was adapted from the KosherEye Web site The Wild Rice Latkes tasted very good because I didn't have Schmaltz, so I used the dripping from the roasted duck and rib roast, as it turned out, much tastier than Schmaltz, IMHO. It is always fun to engage your guests to go out of the regular food boxes a little. They really liked the purple Okinawan sweet potatoes, for instance. dcarch

You've probably already read all the various blogs (some of which contradict others), but here's a short piece from Lithops.net. It's a Lithops nursery. They raise and sell them, so I would think they'd know how to care for them. http://www.lithops.net/lithop7.htm LITHOPS should be allowed to go drier in the winter when the new growth is drawing moisture from the old leaves. At this time, water very lightly, just enough to keep the root hairs alive. Some people say it is easiest to judge if you water as though you are trying to get the dust off the leaves. As the old leaves dry up in the spring, give them more water until the long, hot summer days bring the growing period to a standstill. At this time water lightly as stated above, act like you are getting the dust off the leaves. REMEMBER, you never want the soil to become bone dry. ( The root hairs will all die back and when you resume watering there will be no root hairs to begin using the moisture. ) As flower buds appear in late summer and fall, another watering period begins. Tapering off during winter after flowering has ended. Those growing plants under lights will probably need to water a bit more during the winter when the plants show signs of shriveling. No one can tell you exactly how much water your plants need, you must watch them and learn their growing cycle.