The thing I like about about a 50-50 sand and peat mix is the sand never breaks down and drainage is assured, but I'm guessing if pH is a huge issue, pure peat's lack of drainage may be an advantage- especially where there's not much rain during the growing season. You needn't add as much alkaline water to keep soil moist. Until I started reading about using pure peat for blueberries on this forum I'd never known you could use peat by itself as a suitable potting medium. It's hard enough to even get wet without a wetting agent. Last year we were discussing a southern grower's good results in pots and he put small plants in large pots with 50-50 ground pine bark and peat as I recall.

Hi everyone, Hi Lamora, hi Laura in VB -- nice to "meet" you. Toni, thanks so much for the welcome. I'm glad to be here. You know, that anthurium was my last order from Black Jungle, now that you've got me thinking about it. I didn't stop ordering from them for any reason other than that I ran out of room. I also got a Philo. gloriosum in that last order, which grew and grew and grew and grew and grew until I finally gave it away because I wanted the space for hippeastrum. (Now I have the space for the P.g. and wish I had it, but...such is life as a plant addict. :) ) So I can't comment on their quality in recent years. Do you still have the calathea? My scindapsus was about 2' away from a S-facing window over the summer. It grew a LOT there. As the window started to get sunnnier this fall, I moved theplant to what I thought was a too-dark location, but it seems to be doing well. It's It's about 10' from two E-facing windows in a room that has N-facing skylights. I put it there because that's where I had a place for a heating mat, which I think will be key to this plant's survival over the chilly winter in my house. We'll see what happens. I think we need a reality TV show for our plants. One winter, I brought my sweet potato vines indoors. They grew beautifully...until the spider mite and aphid infestations. I think they tend to have pest trouble indoors, but I haven't re-tried, after that one experience. Another year, I dug up the tubers, stored them, and replanted in the spring. That worked much better. Toni, did you get all your plants in? This is the time of year for eating take-out! I am very proud of myself: I actually got all the plants out of my kitchen sink! I have a little problem with other areas, though...the dining table is totally covered in plants, and the kitchen counters are, well, I mean, what else do you do with horizontal space when you have to bring all the plants in in a hurry? There was a point, last week, when the stove was, um, "employed" as a plant stand, too. :) Amanda

Hello Gardenmom. It sounds like you have been keeping very busy. I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mark and like you I am a new gardener here in Forida, (Although I have lived here for 30 years now). I have been married to the same wonderful woman for 24 years. My wife is a school teacher here in Port Saint Lucie. I have 3 grown children, and a 4 year old grandson who is my partner in crime in this gardening project. He, (as well as my children), are absolutely loving learning everything involved with gardening. He's learning all the plants, and how to care for each of them, (Soil PH, water and light requirements, ect). He helped me plant all my seeds, and has been here everyday watching them grow and flurish. I was so happy to see that you are teaching and including your children in what you are doing, as I feel that it is very important to teach our children these skills that have been lost in many ways to technology. It's very nice to meet you and I look forward to seeing your progress over the years to come. Mark/Patmark Heres a link to my progress so far if you are interested. Take care and I will talk to you soon. Here is a link that might be useful: My garden progress

I have found the book on Amazon and it is ordered, thanks for that info! My farmhouse was built by Mennonites so things are very basic. The wallpaper in my dining room now I really like but want to paint with a color very close to it. There is chair rail all around the room and they papered it the same below that.(the top layer of paper is peeling off and there are two other patterns under that and then a layer of periwinkle paint!) I have a beautiful built in corner hutch that was painted white over top of a finished wood I just recently dis covered. I want to slowly figure out how to remove the paint without removing the finished wood under it. One thing I really wish I had was a pantry...I have a cold or root cellar that I haven't ventured into but one time. The window only has bars on it and is open to the outside and I need to research why. Things would surely freeze. Just past that little arched room is where the original hand dug cistern well is but has since been filled in with stone. Lots of bigger projects to do but definitely want to get rid of all the white, I feel like I'm in a sterile hospital room lol.