I don't know one best deals with officious Aussie bureacrats, but here, after an initial round of trying it the "nice" way, I'd send a letter (real letter, typed, formal, with proof of delivery, etc.) asking ("demanding") for references to specific laws or regs that justify their position. Send it to the head of that quarantine facility and copy it to whatever central authority governs them all. It may or may not work, but given what I've heard about the nature of the "care" plants often get in quarantine, you don't want to pussyfoot around for a month while they leave your flasks sitting around in possibly/probably poor conditions. In the letter, mention that your daughter wasn't stopped and that as far as you can see, the inspection people were basically making up rules as they go along. If it seems like it's not going to happen any time soon, I'd try to have them returned to the nursery - if only to be held there under better conditions. It might cost you more $$ as well as aggravation, but it's better than losing the price of all the plants entirely.

I year ago a friend of mine and I jointly purchased a 13 cane plant from DUNU who delivered it to us in Santa Barbara. I had to sell on of my grand kids to pay for it. I got the numbers of canes wrong in my initial blurb. We split it into 7 cane and 6 cane plants and I won the coin toss and ended up with the 7 cane piece. As I said the last 2 canes were tenuous, leafless and poorly attached to the plant. It took major soul searching but I eventually separated them, they immediately fell apart and I now had 2 sorry looking canes. They sat there for a year and now are sporting a new growth each. Both my main plant and my friend's have a strong new growth and seem to be well on their way. It will take a couple of years until the 2 new plants will be worth looking at but maybe then I can recover some of my cost or make some very strong trades. In the mean time there is another Australian FCC making waves. D spec Yondi Tina Goliath FCC/AOC etc apparently was cloned and the small plants are now on the market. I got one for relatively little and have both the FCCs sitting side by side. The Yondi has 3 juvenile canes and is making a new one. My friend also got one. Because of the cloning I think we will see a lot of them. The Daylight Moon is still much more difficult to get so hopefully my 2 newbies will still be worth something when they are old enough to sell or trade. We have a few D speciosum nuts in Southern California so I'm sure there will be a demand for the plants. I have my eyes on a guy who has a nice collection of Avril's Gold and there is someone in San Diego who also has outstanding D speciosums. I'm keeping ny fingers crossed that the 2 new growths will thrive as that is not always the case. They represent the reason why one should never discard a worth wile orchid piece until it is truly dead. I'm also not a believer in the sphagnum in bag trick. If the cane has neither roots nor leaves, I believe it should be left to its own devices and water will only rot it. I mounted mine without moss or any other media and they got sprayed daily but dried off immediately after. Nick

Here's something interesting from the Colorado State extension site: Choose a true potting media and not something labeled compost. Composts are best used as organic amendments for outdoor soils. The two composts trialed, Great Plains Compost and Mushroom Compost, produced poor results. Second, Hyponex All Purpose Potting Soil and Green Charm resulted in poor plant growth. Both of these media contain sedge peat, a fine particle material that tests to a low porosity. There simply isn't enough space within these media for the water and air that plant roots need to grow successfully. Black Gold All Organic Potting Mix resulted in significantly less plant growth in one out of two years. There are definite benefits to growing annual plants in media that may be more costly but result in better plant growth. Chose a media from any of the following. The study showed no significant differences in plant growth among these products: * Home & Garden Showplace Professional Mix * Fertilome Potting Mix * Nature's Yield Potting Soil * Southland Potting & Plant Mix * Black Gold All Purpose Mix * Permagreen General Purpose Potting Soil * Schultz's Instant Potting Soil Plus * Sunshine All Purpose Here is a link that might be useful: Consumers Beware Potting Mix Choices

I'd guess the age was the principal factor. Cucumbers have such a high water content they become unsuitable for canning very quickly. Two other factors are not trimming off the blossoming end (which contains softening enzymes) and over-scrubbing the cucumbers which damages the skin and can allow spoilage organisms to enter. Cucumbers need to be washed very gently. Overcooking might soften the pickles a bit, but not to the degree you mention. The bad flavor and downright mushiness tells me they were spoiled and excessive cooking just won't do that. I'm glad you're not giving up. It is a learning curve. One reason I buy cucumbers from a local grower is I can get a large amount picked in the morning and process everything that day. Unless you have a very large garden, that can be hard to manage with your own cukes. Carol