Sorry hadda run off like that.....Moby was playing (don't know if you know him, but has sentimental value.... : ) As far as falling off a truck, I doubt it. It's in a pot like anyone would repot a plant in. Has one of those 'connected' bottoms so water sits in it unless you tip it sideways. Friend said it just looked like someone just threw it out in front of their house and I can't imagine why no one grabbed it up before him. Maybe like an eviction situation? I never really got details. Just know I know plants and this poor guy had been laying out there for at least a month. That's how HARD he'd tried to grow upright. He was downright 90º angled up to the sun from his pot. Friend did good taking care of him, getting him growing right, except for turning after he'd righted himself. Like I said, we were of two minds on that one. Friend grew up on a farm so I imagine he was used to only natural growth. I tried to teach him about consistently rotating plants, but to no avail. Probably why this guy STILL looks so funky. But that's part of his charm. I will definitely try to take pics outdoors tomorrow. We're calling for low 50's, which is really GREAT for our time of year (VA east coast, near Va. Beach). I see we're on opposite coasts. But I know our weather is MUCH different. In fact, if you don't mind me asking a non-plant related question.....why is it when I watch TV shows filmed on the CA coast that one person has on a sweater and long pants yet another has on a tank top and shorts? I mean, we have strange weather here where one day you wear shorts and flip-flops and the next you need a sweatshirt. But (and I know it's TV) from what I can see, people in your area have all kinds of different clothing on all on the same day??? Plus, I see shows with real estate with the homes with no screens in the windows? Don't you have bugs? We have nasty mosquitoes, being so close to swamp lands and wet lands (which I guess you don't have??) If this is too "off topic" feel free to email me in detail. This has been a question I have been wanting to ask for soooo long now and never knew where to ask it. Didn't want to Google.....ha ha ha. Bonnie aka brit5467

When you (meaning me) don't know where to start, you have to fall back on the basics. When we garden in containers, we need to take responsibility for making sure our plants are getting a full compliment of nutrients in the right ratio and at a concentration neither to high or too low. I'm going to link you to some basic information that will hopefully leave you feeling like resolution for your plant's problems is within your reach. Becoming a good grower doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't even come automatically with years and years of experience. The key is to learn enough, fast enough, so we can avoid being bit on the butt by our mistakes, and by our shortcomings relative to our understanding of the basic needs of plants. If you want to start a conversation that will almost certainly leave you with some fresh ways of looking at how to make your plants happy, we can do that. First though, let me suggest you read the thread I'll link you to below. Hopefully, it will leave you with questions and the feeling you'd like to learn even more. Al Here is a link that might be useful: An overview

These plants are survivors, very tough if given proper care. I was given one that was over water for how knows how long. It started dropping leaves, I was careful with water it drooped more leaves , I then removed it from the pot washed all soil off and removed all the rot I could. It was left with one small piece of root. I repoted it and babied it watering only when the top of the soil dried out. It not only survived but I have taken many cuttings off of it over the years.. Don't give up on it is my point. All of what I said above happened in January, the worst time of year to try and save a plant from such dire circumstances. As Dave asked: what exactly do you mean by repot? Did you look at the roots? Change the soil?

Thx for the advice, both of you! Tiffany, my main inspiration for the idea is a ton of stuff from GardenWeb member petrushka re: ficus. And I've read some of al's threads on the topic as well. Also, I had forgot inosculation, it's a word I learned from you (via GardenWeb) :) I do enjoy words like that, will try not to forget this time. It's not about just inosculation for me, but this particular plant since I ended up with so many (tropicals are often such a deal!). Now it's a mission. So there were 6 plants shoved into a shallow 4 inch pot, moved them to 2 6 inch pots for the summer (both still quite full), hope they gain some height this season (will be outside as soon as they recover from repotting a bit) and maybe next year I'll attempt insoculation. Could probably have used more pots, didn't have enough. Plenty of space for roots for now. Used a combination of pine bark and pumice (about 50/50), with "some" turface thrown in. Because that's what I had... Daniel