My opinion is to leave 'well enough alone.' The plant looks fine, the leaf loss is normal. If you are careful with your watering, the mix should be okay. Just don't over-water. Your plant doesn't look sun-burned so leave it in the bright light. Use your judgment, if you think the leaves are getting burned, move it back a bit. The greyish growth is a root which is normal for this orchid. Just remember how these plants grow naturally - clinging to tree trunks, getting rained on and drying out quickly. Their roots are adapted to be in the air, not soil. If it sits in water, it will rot. When the flowers finish, it is up to you what to do. You can cut the spike off and let the plant grow new leaves over the summer (that is what I do)and then it will send a new spike in the Fall. If the old spike remains green, you might get a few more flowers, but it won't look as nice as a new spike. Please check the FAQ's on the main page of this forum for more info. These are tough plants and can take beginner treatment. You will be fine. My sincere condolences on your loss, Jane

Make sure you bring them all in if the temp falls below 10 c (50 f)! Other than that, the only advice I can give is below: make sure your potting mix is very well draining. I use 1 part perlite (3/8 inch), 1 part orchid bark (3/8 inch) and 1 part pebble stone (3/8 inch). I have to water my more thirsty hoyas every few days in this mix, as it drains very well. My other hoyas that can require a bit of drought are watered once a week. When watering, add a balanced liquid or water soluble fertilizer (I use Miracle Grow with an NPK ratio of 12:4:8 and contains iron and other minor nutrients)to your water at 1/2 strength (meaning if it says one teaspoon per gallon, you would only use 1/2 teaspoon per gallon) in the summer with EACH watering, and at 1/4 strength in the winter. In the spring/summer, feel free to use a bloom boosting fertilizer, again liquid or water soluble, (I use Dr. Earth Organic Bloom Boosting fertilizer which has an NPK ratio of 10:15:24) once a month. Follow directions for half strength above. If you get mealy bugs or other pests on your hoyas, you can mix 1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol, 4 teaspoons of 100% neem oil, and 1 teaspoon of dish soap (not detergent) in a gallon of water, and spray. Alternatively, there is a product called Safer 3 in 1, that I use, that is neem oil and sulfur and is an insecticide, miticide, and fungicide, all in one. I use this once a month or two, just as a preventative.

CEF, Molly is adorable! I want to kiss her snout. She sounds like quite the little rascal. Love it. You definitely are a busy one, I am so impressed with all this building of things. Are you self-taught? I wish I knew how to do some of that. Kitchen cabinets! Awesome. Our kitchen is original (not a good thing, 1973) and I'd love new cabinets. Reworked, recycled, whatever! Just different, pretty and CLEAN. I planned to paint ours when we moved in last year-- bought all the supplies, watched some videos... just never did it. I underestimated how long EVERYTHING would take. Every room had wallpaper and I figured I'd take a weekend or two before we moved our stuff in and get that out quick. HA!! It took 2 months, just to get it all down. And half the walls still have spackle. It's been 13 months and we have two rooms done. Two! Whatever. I'll get to it. I am a hairstylist and only work Fridays and Saturdays (til the kids are both in school anyway) so it's difficult to take time off. I do it now and then though and if I'd known about this plant swap sooner, I probably would have. Is there a website I can bookmark so I will know early next year? Our rancher is brick. I'll post a pic of it when we bought it, with the row of yews. I couldn't wait to get them out but now that they are finally, I'm a little overwhelmed at how much work it is to get that area in order, long before plants will even be concerned. Right now the dirt is all turned over and weeds are everywhere-- I pulled up all that I could see last week (almost a full day of weeding!) and then we had that crazy rain and few days later, weeds everywhere again. I posted about it on the soil forum but nobody responded so today I went out there with my pump sprayer full of vinegar and covered every square inch. I know that can kill the stuff I want as well but there's nothing out there but weeds so I figured I'd give it a go. Edge out a bigger bed tomorrow with my new edger (SO EXCITED) and then maybe mix in some topsoil and turn it over before mulching. I may not plant anything this year after all. Use containers so I can make sure the soil is good first, move things around for a bit til I get a feel. Who knows. I want to paint the shutters too, not liking this green. Medium-darkish taupe maybe? With just a hint of green/blue? Leaning more toward the brown, less the grey. I'm off to research fertilizers for my new maple, and perhaps my Mikawa Yatsubusa, if it's not dead yet. I know Al has some good stuff on here about it, found another member recommending him when I was google searching a few minutes ago ; ) oh and p.s.- you mentioned liking the weathered look, have you considered making raised beds out of pallets? Saw something on pinterest about that and it looked great, plus they are usually free somewhere.

Alrighty! :O) Vina, if you think you know without a doubt who it is, wait until at least a few other ladies have guessed first, OK? That will give everyone a fair chance of guessing & winning! :o) LET THE GUESSING BEGIN!color>size> Only one guess at a time, please! The correct guesser of the secret agent will receive a prize (a surprise prize, of course!). Have fun!