Hey Kyle... I HOPE you have a big house..lol Could the F. lyrata that doesn't have fiddle-leaf leaves, possibly be another species? Maybe it's still too young??? Shapes change at maturity. Wowee, 4 Spaths..lol..They are beautiful, my favorite Peace Lily, (beside my variegates) but I just don't have the room. A Mauna loas would look fantastic in a large bright room. If you have pics, please post. Have they ever bloomed? Guess what? lol. Last Fri, I spent a couple hours looking for a variegated Philo/Monstera. While trying to help a friend find an African Violet, I browsed one site..this woman sold nothing but AV's, but has added other plants the last year or two. Sure enough, she had one variegated Philo.. I emailed her ASAP, lol, then ended up phoning..she has one left, but it won't be ready for a couple weeks. I can wait. It's P. Imbe varigata..ever see one? The reason it won't be shipped for two weeks is, before shipping, she wants to be sure roots are full. I respect her honesty..some people would ship a plant, root-less or too young.' Just to get the money. I also found a seller, selling a gorgeous variegated Monstera, on Ebay. He's in Thailand. Problem is he wants 30.00 for shipping, plus the cost of the plant..I was the first bidder, then suddenly, 5 more people bid. Think it was 36.00 last time I looked, plus 30 for shipping..Don't know the final bid so I decided to pass it up. It was BEAUTIFUL, though.. There's one more Philo I want. P. elegans. It's a split-leaf..the leaves are very fragile. Thing is it's impossible to find. I'd prefer variegated, but would invest in green. When young, shape of this Philos leaves look nothing like they will at maturity..they're slow-growing. My Philodendron window is pretty full, so except for the variegated and if I can locate elegans, guess that's it for thie beautiful Aroid. Some of my Philos are super-root-bound, and need repotting. Once they're in larger containers, my Philo window is really going to be packed..lol. How's your new Philo coming along? Toni

Kyle..about your Obelisk..it depends where you bought it. I can't tell you the number of 'arbors and bird feeder/hanging basket poles' I bought, hoping they were strong enough to hold an outdoor vine, feeder, plant.. stand erect. They sent thin metal that wouldn't hold a flea. lol I finally bought a decent arbor that's held a number of years. More expensive, but if I added what I paid and would have continued paying for cheaper versions, I could have purchased three expensive types. lol Pics online/catalogs look strong. What a farce! lol Logees. I won't express my opinion, since you have plants on the way. However, I will say, in the mid-90's, Logee's was my favorite, non-local nursery. That's awful about your H. Lauterbachii. I was given one as a gift, purchased from Logees. It wasn't bad. Expensive--stood about 9" tall, several leaves and well-rooted. It's still around, but very slow-growing. Don't know if I'll be on earth when/if it blooms, lol. I hope your Monstera is nice..LMK, okay? I checked Ebay..only green. The seller I bought from with both variegated types, usually sends healthy plants. I was so disappointed when the two variegatas arrived. Think I have a pic, but would have to look for it. Thankfully, prices weren't too bad, each under 15.00. Still, that's more than I prefer to pay, unless a plant is in great health. Many of GlassHouseWorks prices increased. I once phoned, asking for a certain variegated Schefflera..he said, he might have some the following spring..cuttings..175.00..Sure, I'll take a dozen. lol. But GHW's sends healthy plants, or they did..it's been a while since I ordered from them. Kyle, are you growing Lily of the Valley in a container or garden?? Danny, I'd like to walk down your alley, Free plants..The price is right. lol. Seriously, I don't browse through alleys..When we first moved here, walked our dog down alleys, people tossed Azaleas and other flowering plants that could have been grown indoors. I was too embarrassed to grab them though, lol. Someone discarded a brand new plant shelf..They assembled it backwards..so it fell foreward. I got that shelf, re-assembled..it's fantastic..Bet it cost 50.00-75.00 nowadays. I agree, Adansonii is a super fast-grower..Mine is a few yrs old, growing up a swerved, metal stake, but it needs something stronger. The metal tilts. It's leaning on plant shelves before a window. Toni

Hi robin98(NZ(9b)) thanks for your help! *I've had the plants for approximately 2 years. *I repotted them approximately 1-2 months ago. *Both were in terracotta pots, now just the larger one is. The smaller one is in a plastic pot now, there's been no change in either plant other than getting worse. *I water both when the top 2 inches are dry, I use my finger or a wood dowel to tell if the soil is damp, mainly my finger. If the top 2 inches are dry I water until soaked, with the water draining freely through the holes. I never let them sit in water for longer than maybe 30mins, after watering. *The build up was before I repotted, it looks like salt or water hardness. I removed them from those pots and placed them in fresh pots that had been disinfected prior to use. There's some build up since that time on the rim of the terracotta pot (can be seen slightly in photo below of the top of the pot) I'm still sad, but learning to cope with it! ;) Well, I'm trying to learn from this experience. Thank-you so much! I've included some newer photos, please feel free to ask more questions if necessary. I'm considering removing the large one from it's pot, to repot again, but into a smaller pot after I remove some roots. It smells from the top of the soil now, and although when I repotted previously there was no indication of rot I'm thinking this is either leaf disease of some type or root rot. I removed these leaves: Then this started: Here's a picture of the top of the pot: Thanks everyone in advance! Let's hope we can save these guys!

Yes, a node is the bud, the bump which is usually just above the line which divides sections of the stem. In your marked picture, you've indicated the brown section division line as a node rather than the bud, which isn't correct. You did identify a bud, which IS a node. Once a node breaks and produces a new growth, it can't regenerate again if the growth dies. If that growth dies but not all the way back to the parent stem, there could be a node that could grow. This is what has happened on your stem sections 4 and 5. So look for the nodes, the bumps on the stem, rather than stem sections. The node you cut into is high and obvious, sometimes they're flat with only an encircling indentation to show you where they are. I'm not of the opinion that cutting a stem with a node away from the parent plant will encourage it to grow. By doing that you cut off energy the main stem is providing to that stem sections with the node, making it weaker. You also introduce an open wound where rot could start. So there's no benefit by cutting in my opinion and I would leave everything alone, just be patient. It will grow whenever it's ready, it might even wait until spring. It's possible node 3 could grow, it hasn't turned black so that's a good sign. I suppose it depends on where the cut is on the node, hopefully it's on one side or the other of the microscopic tissue where growth comes from. There's a node between where you indicated Node 1 and Node 2. The node, the bump, should be just above the lower brown ring. I can't tell which way the short stem with Node 4 and 5 is growing, but there is a node in the section that comes off the main stem. The next section attached to it that terminates with a cut may or may not have a node. Looking carefully with a magnifying glass for the bumps might tell you. On watering, if you can't tell for sure if the medium is damp then it's pretty dry and I'd go ahead and water. These are tropical plants and don't like being completely dry at the roots.