HA! During WWI, for the war effort, my great great great grandmother would get permission to cordon off short sections of paved streets, on which she scattered rubber bands of varying diameter. Under her miraculous care, within days the rubber bands grew into trees so laden with tires for various types of military vehicles that often she and the neighbors couldn't harvest them all before they became larger than intended; this, necessitating that they be trimmed back to a usable size. She would then have the trimmings ground into powder, which she mixed with white milk. When the slurry of rubber and milk was heated under pressure in small molds (like sinker molds or toy soldier molds, if you've ever made either from lead), the result was Ficus elastica seeds which were sold to tree farmers all over the world and served as the propagules for essentially every rubber tree plantation currently in existence. I sure do miss that lovely and determined old gal. ....... at her 100th in 1966: She sure was something. Sad that we have to wait until next summer to see her again. Michelin has kept her so busy at headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France for the last 49 years, she hasn't been able to get back to the states to see ANY of her great, great, great, great grandchildren. Fortunately for us, her employer is picking up all expenses and footing the bill for her bash back in the states. Keep your eyes peeled for pictures. Al

Thanks i will check up Charles Grimaldi :) Lucy, In dry season (which has just ended) i have to water plants everyday. It takes about an hour in the morning to do some of the plants and about the same in the evening. In rainy season (whihc is just begining) i rarely need to water as, rain falls almost everyday, and lots of rain. What i do need to look out for is plants getting too much water. The canns like the water though :)

Hi Vera, I don't think it's dryness, they're all on pebble trays, & among those that are doing well, there's even new growth (& you being in Jersey, know it got kind of cold lately). I'd guess that dryness would affect more than a few. No, I never did figure out what happened to my other one with severe yellowing (alleged Coronaria), but that one's gone. Well I got kinda crazy abt the Shephardii & did turn it out to look. The mix was weird, so I replaced it. I started using Coir last yr., most of the Hoyas all loved it. Maybe I had too much coir in the Shepardhii, the mix was sort of very dry & dusty crumbly, reminiscent of sawdust, strange. So it's had all new mix, a good watering & now I've just got to give it time. The Pubicalyx that's having a bit of this, was a troublesome one abt a yr. ago. I think I had replaced its mix then & it stabilized for the yr., now it just has that one yellowing leaf, which interestingly, had been holding on tight, 'til I just pulled it off. As to the Kerrii, my original is fine, my rooted cuttings, so, so, still one yellowing leaf, otherwise its other growth & the mix look OK, it's my mix & was only potted up in summer, so I think that's OK. Perplexing ... & thanks for asking.

Jack, thanks for the suggestion! I think the first few leaves that dropped were WLD, but it's no longer a slow drop-- I'm losing 2-5 a day. The tree is small, so it might lose them all! Pip, I stated it in the first post but I know I gave a lot of information. :) I use one tsp foliage pro in a gallon of water. I water with this solution most of the time (I generally end up watering right around once a week, or when it feels dry and light). Once a month I thoroughly flush the soil with tap water (I put it in the shower for a minute with cool water since it's already in the house, then let it drain for a half hour in the tub). I don't think I'm over fertilizing, and I don't think I'm under-fertilizing as the tree looked good (and developed a lot of flowers) until the last few weeks, and I've been following this routine for months. Mike, I haven't seen the root system lately-- when I re-potted in August the roots looked very healthy, with no mushy areas. The roots were small because the tree is very small. I think maybe you are right about the roots (I don't really feel like I've noticed it growing-- just one leaf flush in the early summer this year), but I don't know where I've gone wrong. I made the 5-1-1 mix by sifting out small particles of pine bark mulch (3/8" and smaller), removing the sapwood, and added coarse perlite (shifted out the dust) and peat moss in the recommended portions (5-1-1). I then mixed it up, soaked the whole lot for a day in water, and re-potted the tree, keeping the roots moist. I used a bamboo stake to get the mix into the roots without leaving air holes. I kept the tree in the shade for a week, then moved to greater sun for another week, before putting it back in full sun (again, this was in August, we had a nice streak of cool weather when I repotted). The tree did not lose any leaves during the recovery, and there were no signs of distress. The very top layer of the mix (top 1/2 inch, perhaps) has some slightly larger pieces of pine bark and perlite, I think from pouring in water. It's been ~5 months, and it the texture of the mix feels the same (it's a fabric pot so I can feel the texture). I don't think that the mix has gotten too heavy or that it wasn't mixed well enough. I did notice that the decline seemed to start after I let it dry out a few days longer than normal. Maybe the neem + a longer dry period was too much stress? I'm still at a loss... I watered it today because the stake was dry to the touch (it was pleasantly damp yesterday). Five leaves fell off. There's about 10 leaves left, and I guess my realistic hope is that the leaves that haven't turned any amount of yellow yet (4) will stay on the tree. :p My internet is really bad tonight or I'd post some pictures.