Promix is mostly peat and with time - it being wet - the acidity goes up. That's probably the cause. If the soil is acid they cannot absorb Nitrogen... here you go... I would get them out, remove old leaves and pot them in individual appropriate size pots with a fresh soil. You can either leave the gravel on the bottom and wick the pots - so they will be sucking the solution from gravel - or what I prefer - vermiculite. It holds water well and looks neat. You can load enough vermiculite into your fishtank so you can submerge your pots in. I do not think you will need the gravel - just be suure that pots have wicks - and you add fertilizer solution to the vermiculite when it gets dry. irina

Aegis, Leaves vs. plugs. I don't have a strong success rate with leaves that arrive in the mail. I heard Annie say to order leaves, so I did try. Terri, I believe I have a similar crocheted piece. I like your Rex Begonia. Before I got into AVs in a large way, I grew Rex Begonias, or any begonias. Both of your comments and sharing are delightful. And D Barron's. Everything having to to with AVs seems complicated lately. It is complicated to order them across country. The AV mag has been showing various gesneriads. D Barron, if you have not tried to grow AVs for ten years, you might find that at the field had changed a lot. There is a great deal of diversity that many find fascinating. If you have a local garden club in your area, you might stop by for a visit and bring in one or more of your plants to show and talk about. The sharing might interest you and others.

While I agree with all of the above statements, my take on it is this. First only one person waters the plants just in case there is miscommunication in who watered what with what. Take off a good leaf and start it. Just in case you lose your mama plant. Second and this seems to be the most important in your statement. it sounds as if you are "yoyo" watering. Being inconsistent in watering. This forced the plant to alternate between too wet and bone dry. Kind of like feast or famine. Many mediums soak up water at different rates depending on what they are made of. If they are mostly peat you can water and the water will run through but that doesn't mean the entire root ball got watered the way it should have. In your case you may not have watered enough from the bottom to the top. If your plant is having trouble soaking up water put ONE drop of liquid dish soap (no it doesn't matter what brand.) in the water you water with. You don't want bubble bath, but the soap breaks the surface tension of the soil, allowing the plant medium to soak up water better. Bottom watering should mean you place the plant in a pot bigger than it is, add ONE drop of soap to the water (also keeps bugs away.), water the plant from the TOP and let the excess drain into the pot. Then let the plant soak up as much as it can in about 1/2 hour. Drain and don't water again until the plant is ALMOST dry, just a little damp. Don't let your plant go so dry that it is bone dry. When you do this you will lose fine feeder roots that sustain your plant. You should water again when the soil medium is still slightly damp. If you take your dry plant and put it in a larger container and literally water it from the bottom without wetting the top first, it may work if you have a good soil mix. If you don't have a good soil mix, it will work eventually but it may take a loooooong time to get wet again. Also run a small fan to circulate the air around your plant(s). And space them apart. If you only have one plant this won't apply. But make sure you are consistent in watering. As far as tea or coffee, I put my left overs in my plants. I dilute it with a little water first just to be sure. (of what I don't know! lol) I don't think it hurts but make sure there is no sugar or cream in it. Don't laugh, had a friend who put coffee (with cream) in her plant until it started to stink! Rosie

Any symptoms in your plants that have these bugs? Like pale or wilting leaves, not flowering or very slow growth? If not, hopefully that means it isn't soil mealies. Have you tried using a magnifying glass to look at them? Irina or others, correct me if I am wrong but don't mites spend their time in the plant and not in the soil? I wouldn't think to see them crawling around in the saucer, dry or not. Springtails, perhaps? (Which are pretty harmless.) Doctor Optimara page that may be helpful