Rhizo, I pay little attention to the fertilizing of them as I have stated yes, but to the watchfulness of insects your wrong. By my posts, I would think you would could see what I am like the minute I bring them indoors! I am more vigelant, even overboard, when it comes to the insects though. Ask the people that live with me. I spend hours looking for just one mite or pest. I even bought a 80 dollar magnifyer last year. Everyday, I mean everyday, I was looking at my plants for insects. You could say obsessed. Read last winters posts..lol No matter what I did, they came back EVERY day. I rinsed them, sprayed them with neem, ordered natural prdators, over 200 dollars worth, tried to create the perfect enviroment for no pests, then sounded like a fool going on this site every other day frustrated with the pests that haunted my plants like a plague everyday not going away until I was finally able to put them outside. Now they are all PEST free, I hope, because I was quite vigelant with that, but not so with fertilizing I did admit. So, I have this fear that all that hard work to keep my plants clean, not fed, will only be corrupted by a lack of proper proceedures for bringing them back indoors. I want to do what's best for them. I will say that you have been of great help. Also thanks for the concern in your response to someone else suggesting I spray chemical. The problem is, is that I can not even handle the slightest infestation, not an explosion. It was my worst winter last year with insect, even with my vigelance!! The problem was caused by infected plants I brought home from a greenhouse last November. I know better now. But I pretty much know how to keep the population down. I just want to make sure I am doing all I can, and just want to, I guess, be told that I will have no pests if I use the correct pesticide. I am begining to see that there are no guarentees and that is the world of indoors plants, even if never brought outdoors. These pest could be in the crevices of our floors for petes sake. I guess no matter what we do, the chance of mites or any stupid critters sitting on our plants is part of the game. If we don't want any at all, then quit the hobby right? Thanks rhizzo for everthing, you make alot of valid sense. Remember though,this is me, and you know that I am not only "parinoid" of pests, but very vigelant at catching even one. That is my problem. Fear of just one. Just seeing one, kills me. That's why all the fuss. I would hope after all this great advice I might not even see ONE with my 80 dollar magnifier. In fact sometimes I am afraid to use it. I start from the day the first plant comes in. Mike

Morning, Everyone, Pet...AWWW, Mr. Frog sounds adorable. Yep, I'm sure the frog is used to warm areas. A FL native. Too bad you couldn't keep it as a pet... :) A. fasciatas are beautiful Broms, and will live forever, if babies are removed, placed in seperate pots. Neoregelia's are also gorgeous, but I've never had luck removing their children. Do you see babies? Is it flowering? Good luck, Pet.. PrairieMoon, The thing about lemon is, the scent deters insects, including ants, roaches and fleas..and of course, house plant bugs. Lemon won't kill bugs, however they dislike the scent. One site advised squeezing lemon juice in holes/cracks where insects hide out. lol. Lemon is used for cleaning, whitens laundry and supposely kills mold, bacteria and germs. Which is also beneficial to plants.. Listerine works like lemon..deters bugs..Optional. Before my plants are brought indoors, I add generic Listerine. Believe me, I HATE insects..plant bugs and outdoor types. Spiders, Earwigs, etc. I don't know if EW's dislike lemon and mouth wash, but spiders can't stand it..BTW, vinegar kills spiders on contact. I'd rather not use chemicals, so when a spiders get inside, I grab my vinegar bottle and spray away. Spiders roll up then died. Sorry, to all you spider lovers.:) Do you purchase plants at different nurseryes/green houses/stores? I've seen employees spray, 'surely not plain water.' A local gh has sprayers that lightly mist plants every half an hour. Ever notice residue on leaves? You can bet the residue is from insecticdes. I wash plants off ASAP. Can't stand touching chemicals. Eggs are hard spotting, especially if ones vision is not 20/20. Still, when I buy plants locally, I check upper and lower leaves, stems and near plant base. Sometimes, mold is present. You're lucky you have a room to isolate..Don't worry about proper light the first 3-days to 1-week. I've done a LOT of online ordering. 98% of the time, an info sheet is included. So far, every article I've read says the same thing. Place new plant in shade the first 3-days to 1-week. After the plant is situated, it can go in its permanent location. So, no need to worry about light while plants are isolated. Write a note to yourself reminding you to water. lol. Does 'g' stand for grin??? Cheeseclothe is a great idea, but I can't find it. lol. Can't tell you the number of sprayers gone bad when I chopped garlic and placed in mixture. Even tiny hot pepper clogged the nozzel. I had to remove cap, then wash and remove particles with a tooth pick. lol. That's the reason I now add a clove of garlic the night before spraying Still have difficulty with red pepper, 'when smaller misters are used,' but it's worth a few seconds to clean ut. To top off misting, I buy inexpensive, crushed hot pepper. .99 a bottle or two for 1.00, then sprinkle outside plants with hot pepper. Also, when I mix soils/mediums for repotting, I add Cayenne Pepper in the soil mix. lol. Prarie, we've had ants problems 4-5 years. I spray with vinegar which kills on contact. Remember ants and mealy work together. I also add 1-2 drops of dish soap in plants kept in shallow saucers w/pebbles and water. One last thing. I have 15 or so old, 'cleaned' milk and vinegar containers filled with water. So, when a plant needs a drink, water is room temp, ready to go. When containers need refilling, I add a couple drops of dish soap. Please don't think I spend a million dollars on dish soap. lol. I buy generic soap for 1.00 sold at Jewel Grocery Store. Considering the amount of soap and vinegar used, the cost isn't much....safer than Raid, etc. Prarie, when my Hoyas had mealy, I dumped every last piece of soil and pots. Once winter arrived, plants inside, mealy returned. Yep, Rhizo knows about spiders. She found a Black Window in her LR this last summer. GROSS and SCARY.. Don't like spiders, pedes, or small bees..think they're called Honey Bees..those stingers got me good one day when I turned a window-box filled with water, over another plant. I didn't know bees made a home in the drainage holes. After water was dumped, those stingers were everywhere. Other bees don't bother me. Not really. I used to be terrified of all bees, even though I was never stung. As far as spiders and pedes, I've been terrified of those long legged pests since childhood. And will to the day I'm in heaven. :) PM, Good luck. I hope thie recipe works. You may need two applications, one week apart. Toni

I left most of my 'Wyoming' in the ground this winter, mulched with straw and covered with plastic to keep the soil from getting too damp. Since a large clump of it I forgot about last year survived the winter and did well in '06 I though it was worth the experiment (and tubers of it can be had via online order here for $1 apiece).

Spider mites are barely visible with the naked eye. Usually the back of the leaves on affected plants will feel gritty. By the time the webs appear you have a full blown case. Check the back of the leaves with a magnifying glass. I've had good results with spraying the plants with insecticidal soap, such as Safer's or using Trounce, also made by Safer's. Yes, spider mites will kill your plant if you let them. Here's a link to the houseplant forum. There are very some knowledgeable people there who will surely give you good advice. I don't know how to make it a clickable link; you'll have to copy and paste. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/houseplt/ Good luck with your plants.