The advise to not stake a tree, is good for many situations, but there can be many situations and times when that advice does not apply. Birch trees; especially the 'Heritage'culitvar and others These trees tend to grow in height, along with increase their canopy too fast before their roots can develop and strenghen enough to resist root breakage, when prevailing and gusting winds beat againt them. Lots of nursery pot grown Maples; especially newly planted 6 foot tall 7 gallon size pot grown, Sugar Maple,'Firehouse' cultivar; which if not staked when first planted will become uprooted by prevailing and gusting winds, before it can become established. This tree grows a very dense canopy which seems to catch the wind. Some times the Ornamental peach trees like the fast growing columnar 'corintian' cultivar. One of mine which had seemed fairly well established, but since last winter an ice storm uprooted it, now it cannot withstand strong prevailing winds and gusts, unless it is staked. I have two staggerd rows of Thuja 'Green Giants' which were 5 gallon sized ones I planted late last summer. They began falling over from wind forces and other environmental stresses before they could become well established. currently they need to be staked, because prevailing winds and gusting winds have blown at least seven of them completely over. They are currently 5 feet tall and nicely filled out. I have no choice, but to stake these back up. My sourwood tree: when even though it is not a fast grower, still had such a tendency to take a long time to harden off its new branch growth. Thus that new growth curve down toward the ground more easily. This is the only tree I have had to stake in a manner which did not let it sway at all with the winds. At the time, My understanding that trees need to experience wind resistance to harden off and establish well, stood in direct opposition to me as I stake that tree so closely, and prevented the trunk from bending at all. At that time I had lots of doubt about how I was staking it, but also knew for certian that non of my other more reasonable staking techniques would work better. That is why, once the stake broke and I removed it, I felt so happy and amazed to see my tree had harded off nice and straight; and now displays the strength to resist bending or blowing over in the prevailing winds. Keep in mind that when it comes to advice, there are always exceptions to the even the most sound types of logic. There are so many varibles one can encounter even if planting only one kind of tree, but in different places and evnvironments. I have some Thuja Green Giants growing in a more sheltered area, which I never had to stake, yet the ones described above show all signs that they do need staking. I planted 7, one gallon potted sized loblolly trees out on the a vacant lot and never had to stake them, but my friend planted some 3 gallon sized potted loblolly trees, which she first tried to establish without staking, but most of them ended up proving their need to be staked. I have learned that it is best to keep general rules in mind; such as ones, which suggest it is not good to stake or fertilize a tree; yet at the same time, tweek such advice depending on whatever each individual tree displays that it needs. So now, I have planted many trees I did not stake and they never displayed signs of needing to be staked. I have also planted many other trees, which I did stake, whenever they proved that they needed staking. I usually do not ferilize my trees, but have found that a few of my fast growers and even some slow growers have appeared to need fertilizer and then responded well when I chose to give them the appropriate type of good quality, slow release, non-burning fertilier that each individually needed.

Wichita is kind of a quirky place to plant trees. Some areas have moderately alkaline clay soil which can be difficult to plant in, while most of the city(and suburbs) have slightly acidic to neutral soils with a clay-loam soil where many trees thrive, and other parts have sandy neutral soils which can be difficult to plant in because they dry out so fast. It sounds like to me that the original poster might have the first type of soil I mentioned. If so, their planting site would either need to be planted with a tougher more drought(and heat) tolerant tree than the ones planted so far or the entire area(at least a 20'-25' circle IMHO) would need some serious amending(lots and lots of organic material, preferably acidic organic material, like pine mulch, etc.) to accommodate the needs of a Sourwood tree. Even with that, I wouldn't think a Sourwood tree would thrive. I've grown or should I say tried to grow Sourwood trees on several occasions and they have never done very well here. It seems they struggle with our hot summers, especially days when we have a dry heat(about 1/4 to 1/3 of the time here in Eastern KS, but more frequent in the Wichita area). It also seems they want a more acid soil than what I had planted them in(pH of about 5.7). I've had a Sourwood tree grow little more than 6" over a 7 or 8 year period(and that's with lots of babying) and have never seen one much larger than about 7' tall anywhere in Western MO or in KS, so I really think they don't like our climate. (If someone knows of one larger in this area, I'd like to know!) Also, there are many Korean Dogwoods growing well in the Wichita area, but they aren't generally in the areas with the neutral to slightly alkaline hard clay soils and the ones that are in those areas are either in raised beds or highly amended soil.(again lots and lots of acidic organic material mixed in with the native soil) Soooo....I would say your Sourwood tree is likely to die and that another choice of a tougher tree would be a much better choice. If this tree is warrantied by the nursery, I'd take them up on it and ask for a different tree kind of tree. I'd recommend a Texas Redbud(Cercis reniformis, or some people still like Cercis canadensis var. reniformis). The cultivar 'Oklahoma' is a very nice one which seems to thrive in KS and takes much tougher soil conditions than a Sourwood or even a Korean Dogwood. Or you could go with the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) which also does well in KS. It gets a bit larger than the Texas Redbud and often it's flowers are a lighter shade of lavender-purple than Texas Redbud and it's leaves have a dull leaf surface vs. Texas Redbud's glossy leaf surface(I think the glossy leaves look more ornamental). Another choice could be the Mexican Plum(Prunus mexicana). It's native to most all of Eastern KS (as close as Eastern Butler County), flowers with nice white fragrant flowers in spring, has somewhat interesting bark, decent yellow fall color, produces edible plums, and is relatively tough and drought tolerant. It also doesn't sucker like other plums and grows as a nice single trunk small tree. It also seems to have good disease resistance so it's leaves don't become ratty and battered looking by late summer, like some native plums. Or, if you want more ideas, you should go down to the wonderful botanic garden in Wichita called Botanica (near Old Cowtown and Sim Park Golf Course). They have loads of nice small trees and could give you many other ideas for your spot and maybe some free advice on any potential problems with your site. Good luck! A link to Old Cowtown Museum for anyone curious to what Old Cowtown in Wichita is Here is a link that might be useful: Botanica, Botanic Garden in Wichita(one of the best small Botanic Gardens I've been to)

I'm assuming you mean Pteris cretica or a similar Pteris by "table fern"... if so, I had a Pteris cretica volunteer in a tank with blue-webbed gliding frogs. The thing wanted more light (it was under a bromeliad) but otherwise did fine with multiple mistings a day, constant 100% humidity, waterlogged soil, etc. It was in coarse mulch, though, so Steve might be right that drainage is the important thing here. Temperature might also be a factor--60 degrees sounds a bit cold, for the frogs even if not for the ferns. Dart frogs (those I've dealt with, at least) should be in the low to mid 80's, a little lower at night. Green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea, I assume) I've never kept, so don't know them as well... Patrick Alexander

I agree with poncirusguy. Fungus gnats are indicative of moist soil because they breed in moist soil and so I suspect you may have been overwatering. Commercially available soil mixes, even those labeled as citrus mixes, retain excessive water and often lead to root rot unless one is an experienced citrus grower who knows how to grow citrus in such mixes. You are less likely to kill your tree if you use the 5-1-1 or gritty mix. Before you water, dig into the top two inches with your fingers to see if the soil mix is dry. Do not water if it is moist.