Yes, wrong soil, in too large a pot. Cacti need as much sun as you can give them. The cactus should send out new growth just below the cut. Christopher

That's a great question that are definitely making my wheels turn lol..... I do 100% believe in shampoo (surfactant) aeration which did greatly improve my soil compaction, and significantly increase water absorption. However, the core aeration made overseeding extremely easy and effective as it loosened up the soil, and left plenty of holes, loose dirt, and space for the seeds to naturally find places to grow with great seed to soil contact. This means that I really didn't need to roll, or rake the seed in. I am definitely now an organic advocate because I see now that it yields longer results, better results, and a more consistent quality of lawn. The best comparison I can give is a saltwater vs chlorine pool. My new house now has a saltwater pool (yay!!) which functions on the same basic principles of a traditional chlorine pool, however the saltwater system is much lower maintenance, requires very few chemicals, does not need to be tested and balanced for chemicals and ph constantly, and the water is nicer on the skin. Like an organic lawn, the saltwater pool creates its own balanced eco-system. My only job is to maintain the eco-system by adding basic things like salt, water, etc..... Anyway, I know I'm getting off topic but my point is that chlorine vs salt water pool is very similar to using chemical synthetic fertilizer salts vs organics. The question is what was the biggest difference maker? What worked best? What was most important? Organics + Water for the soil would be the answer. After a year of organics, I would find an abundance of earthworms and a few small mushrooms in the morning, where before I had none of this. My weed re-occurrences were also very few and far between, and my lawn flourished. I created a very healthy environment for my lawn... I think the most important thing I learned is creating great soil conditions (which includes, amendments, liquid aeration, mulch mowing, appropriate amounts of water each week, etc) = BEAUTIFUL LAWN. This sounds obvious, but it wasn't to me. Before discovering you guys, I only thought things like "grass is yellow. add liquid iron" "grass in not thick and growing fast. dose it with nitrogen" "I have bare and thin spots. Throw grass seed on it" If you just focus on the soil quality, everything else falls in place. Thanks again for all of the advice

New to the container thing, which means now I have these god like powers to save plants from the winter - not an option I'm used to having in New England! I keep forgetting they're not all sentenced to death like their earth-bound brethren, and realize there's more to it than just chucking their pots indoors. Hoping for some enlightenment regarding plant&pot prep for the transition indoors, such as pruning, repotting, and determining who's worth saving. Some questions I've come up with, in no logical order - I'm scouring the archives as well, so feel free to link to a good explanation of any of this: Treatment vary based on fruiting/flowering/foliage type? Which are okay or better off left outdoors, or in the barn/garage? Cut back fruit/blooms/new growth to conserve energy for the environment change? Pruning to cut down on size, how to decide what to cut/keep? Repotting / refreshing medium / root pruning - too much stress, or helpful? Will seed still on the plant continue to mature one the leaves drop? What about if cut from the plant? Obviously those are a bit generic, and I'm cool with generic answers to get me headed the right direction. Much easier to answer in detail knowing what I'm working with, so I'll add some photos once the uploader decides to play nice. Thanks! ---- Edit #1, c'mon, pictures... So, meet some of the candidates: -a bell pepper plant with a slow start to life as a volunteer; discovered under a squash plant late last fall, potted and brought in and nursed along; spent this summer on the patio. A bit pathetic in the shape department, currently has two fruit on it. Nearly drowned a couple weeks ago with the deluge of rain when exterior container drainage clogged, so its extra pathetic looking. two habaneros sprouted indoors early this year, one main trunk, HUGE leaves, and a shit ton of tiny new leaves, flowers, and fruit at the tops. I'm thinking the huge leaves are a disadvantage as are the plethora of buds.

Oh, they're so young. It's actually easy to imagine them doing selfies in another era. :) The room is really, really nice. Great new rug. And great idea to just put it over the old one, especially if it could be larger, for "extra warmth" until someone with colder feet needs the old one. Definitely bring in something like those wonderful blue-trimmed curtains, and perhaps a cushion for the chair, to make it clear you're doing blue in there. Just so the right rug goes missing. "And we all make our own "contributions" to the decor from time to time and things move around occasionally. We all just try to go with it because we know it's always done with good intentions. The most upsetting thing is when the corkscrew goes missing!" Lol and lovely.