I don't know if this is of any help, but I sterilize all my clippers in a can or jar of alcohol, between each cut... I keep a large open-mouth jar full of alcohol, in a pail, with my clippers, and dip the clippers between each cut...and put the cover back on the jar of alcohol when I'm done.... I have a large rose-bed and learned to do this the hard way--- several years ago I would just do my pruning with the same clippers, no sterilizing-- until I was hit with canker and it spread like wild-fire, it is spread by cutting, wounds to the cane, cross-canes that scrape each other--etc.also the weather contributes, cool and rainy and overcast... and I lost a lot of my roses--- it was just the straw so to speak that woke me up to my carelessness, an expensive lesson! So now I keep a pail for the roses, and another pail for the orchids, both with the jar of alcohol and their own clippers... and have not had any problems since.... works for me, LOL, sally

Missha, this is the place where people post photos of their you-beaut orchids. You will get better response if you post on the Discussions page. What is wrong with the flowers? Perhaps nothing, they might be dying of old age. How long have they been in-bloom. Where are you in the USA. Is this your first Orchid? How long have you owned orchid? Temperatures? Sunlight. Anyway, repost with more information or add to one of the existing Problem Phal. posts to get help.

Hi Mollie, I'm a little bit concerned by your questions because it sounds like you didn't know a lot about the "behavior" of soapstone before you chose it, and I don't want you to be surprised by, or disappointed by your wonderful new counters. Soapstone is unique in that it combines the following 4 characteristics: 1. It is chemically INERT. That means it won't react with any acids. No worries about tomatoes or lemon juice. 2. It is incredibly heat resistant. It won't suffer thermal cracks. Fireplaces are built out of soapstone. Frozen meat?? My goodness no! Traditional soapstone is praised for its ability to thaw frozen food quicker than other stone materials. I haven't ever been able to find out the scientific reason for this. 3. It is incredibly dense. Thus, it will not stain. Some substances will "mark" it (some stone experts refer to this as "soiling" vs staining. For example, a Sharpie marker will "soil" the surface. It might not wash off with soap and water, but it will not be able to penetrate the stone to stain in. It will sit on the surface, and can be removed in various ways (e.g. sandpaper). For everyday purposes, foods like grape juice left on the counter will have no soiling effect. 4. It is SOFT and it SCRATCHES. This is the area where I am worried that your stone supplier didn't fully educate you. Those of us who love soapstone love the patina (a nice way of referring to scuffs and scraches--tho patina encompasses more than just that). If you have soapstone on a writing desk area, you may very well get marks on the stone from, say, pressing firmly on paper with a ball point pen. This will depend on your stone. Some are harder than others. I'm not sure which scratchy pads will scratch your stone. I use 400 grit sandpaper to refinish the surface of mine. Sliding a ceramic plate across the surface of many soapstones will scratch them. I hope this helps a bit (and is clearly written--I don't have time to proofread b/c my 4 year old wants me to read to him now), and I do hope you will continue to love your stone as it ages and changes! I recall one stone supplier on the stoneadvice website saying that he believed a "good" countertop is one that looks the same 10 years from the date of installation (therefore he dislikes soapstone!). Soapstone might look different 1 month from installation! And that is what so many of us love about it! :-) francy

The goal should be to grow a nice flowering display. I remember my first Phalaenopsis. It actually lived next door and it rebloomed for years and years from the one flowering stem. How do you tell a new grower to cut the old spent flowering stem off at the base and with good growing conditions it will grow a brand new flowering stem from the base. I certainly do not think that Phalaenopsis are easy. They certainly are not here in the sub tropics where the homes are not centrally heated. A few years ago the local orchid society we had a Phalaenopsis grower who grew them in a glass-house with annual climate conditions set just for them. Phalaenopsis benching at an Orchid Society meeting