Deburn, try not to worry about mites; if you do you'll never have another plant in your home. lol. Most, if not all tropical plants attract mites, though I admit some plants are more susceptible than others. On a scale from 1-5, 1 being the least chance, MOO's come in about 2. As long as a MOO is cared for, 'like any other plant,' you'll have nothing to worry about. I don't know what type of plants you have, or how many, but you can bet any plant can attract mites. Everytime you bring a new plant home, there's a chance of hitch-hiking mites and/or other pests on the new plant. This happens quite often. One well-known nursery, 'perhaps I shouldn't name it now,' is notorius for sending plants with bugs. One member here purchased plants from this nursery, and found four different types of insects on one plant. He isn't the only one who's dwelt with this problem from the same nursery. Although I detest mites, 'who doesn't except for other mites, lol,' there are many other insects much harder to rid/kill, like Mealy. Ohh, Chaz..how scary..Did your plant have more than one hornet or a whole nest? What did you do? Let me tell you what happened to me this summer.. I keep small plants in window boxes on a picnic table. Although there are holes in the window boxes, they sometimes clog. Sure enough, one window box, holding succulents, was filled with water, to the brim of the box. I removed the succulents, then tilted the box over, to toss water out. A good portion of water fell on another plant beside the table. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain on my leg, then a second. I started screaming. I didn't know what was happening. I ran, and felt another pain, this time on my hand between thumb and finger. My son was standing outside while this was happening. I was in a state of panic, so I ran in the house, screaming and crying. It turned out, a nest of, I think honey bees were living in the pot beside the table. Guess they got scared when water landed in the pot/their nest, and attacked me. I got stung 5 times. The worse was the one on my hand..That thing swelled. Never being stung by a bee, I checked the puter, for remedies..That's when I saw Danger and Warnings. Bascially allergic reactions. I got so scared, I blacked out! My son called 911..lol..Well, turns out I frightned myself, which is the reason I blacked out. The paramedics assured me I was okay. If I had been allergic I wouldn't be talking. Anyway, sorry didn't mean to write a short story, lol. One lesson I learned, NEVER check the puter for remedies after something happens. lol..Learn ahead of time. Anyway, I think those darn bees are still living in my pot, though they're weak. I don't know what to do. I don't want to leave the plant out to freeze, however, I sure don't want repeat stings. Allergic or not. I don't use chemicals..Do you know how to tell if bees are living in the soil, and how I can rid them, organically? I really don't want to kill them, just get rid of them. Years ago, I feared bees, later, ignored them. After getting stung you'd think I wouldn't want to be near another bee, but I don't feel this way..Spiders are another thing..if there were a nest of spiders living in a plant, plant and spiders could winter outside. I HATE spiders. So, do you have any advice? Did the queen live? Is she still in your pot? Or, did she fly elsewhere? You flavor water/tea with MOO flowers? Is it sweet? Do you let sit before drinking? That's interesting? They're not poisonous? lol.. Toni

Yikes, I sure do disagree, JimR! Forms of hydroponics have been around and known to be successful for generations. Some people would argue that taking the soil OUT of the equation makes it easier, MUCH easier. It simply requires veering off the beaten path a bit and learning some new principles. After all, plants have very few requirements....water, light, air, dissolved nutrients. They can get all of those things without the benefit of soil in any form. I've not experimented with hydroculture, hydroponics, or aeroponics myself, though I daresay that my years of growing in a completely soilless medium (Turface, granite grit, bark fines) might qualify. But I know many that have, including successful commercial growers of leaf crops, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I've spoken with hydroponic growers of cut flowers for the florist trade, which is becoming more and more popular. I visited Epcot about 30 years ago and remember being really amazed at their underground aeroponics system. For some reason, the huge squash plants stand out in my memory, suspended in the air with roots hanging below...covered with ripe yellow crooknecks! So, not a gimmick at all but tried and true agricultural methods that have been around for many, many years. It's only natural that the methods have been down-sized for use in basements and small greenhouses. Here is a link that might be useful: Take a look at this.

Yes, excess moisture will do that. It is a fungus and I give mine a squirt with neem to knock it down. But my relative humidity is rarely above 20% in summer and usu around 10%, so my job is a little easier than yours. My smaller Veronica don't do that. Shame to give them away as their reliable blue during this time is valuable. Dan

It's important to know when the plant needs water and when watering will harm the root system. The easy way to check is to push a sharpened dowel all the way through the soil to the bottom of the pot, and only water when it comes out dry. Of course, this only works if you water thoroughly until 10-15% of the pot's volume drains from the pot when you do water. Please know that I don't mean to be critical, but if that pot is as big as it looks, there's no way a cup and a half of water moistens more than a small portion of the soil, which would mean that part of the soil is likely too wet and roots are drowning or dead because of the highly water retentive MG soil, while other parts are bone dry, which also kills the fine roots that keep the plant alive. Here's how I water the plants that are still in MG soil. They still take a long time to dry, but the plants are doing much, much better since I started draining them properly. Watering: First, I begin watering by slowly moistening the entire surface of the soil, then I leave it for a few minutes. Second, I slowly water the entire surface until water begins to drain from the bottom of the pot, then leave it alone for about 20 minutes. Third, I repeat the second step. At this point it usually takes more water before I see any drainage. Draining: I use blocks of wood to prop the pot up to about 45 degrees from vertical for about 10 minutes, then set it upright. I mostly use plastic pots with holes around the edges of the bottom, so excess water starts to drain from them while their propped up. I've found that the large pot that has a hole in the middle drains it's excess water when it's set upright again. I hope that helps!