Hi Al. I have to use my phone for Internet. DM is auto-corrected from DE - diatomaceous earth. Sorry about that. Yes, I bare-rooted it, washed the roots, and spread them out in the pot. It is all grit, no soil, no bark. I don't have a place to sift messy bark fines in my tiny apartment, so you and I discussed it and left them out. I use exactly the method you describe to get the excess water out of the bottom of the grit after I water this plant. (It seems an enormous pot to me). I don't do it hard enough to get more than a couple tablespoons though. I don't know why I hadn't thought to do that when it wilted. I have done the dowel test though, a number of times, and it comes out dry. I use meat skewers, which are actually bamboo, but that should make little difference. If I leave the skewer in the grit and just pull it out when I'm testing the wetness, the skewer is always damp. If I just shove one into it for a few seconds to test it, it comes out dry. I don't know the optimum amount of time to leave it in. Suggestions? When it wilts, I water it, so I don't know if it would perk up on its own overnight. That's an interesting observation though. With soil it's easy to tell why something wilts. I've been watering it every two days since it last wilted, so I'll return to the previous twice weekly schedule and see if it releases any water with the shake test before watering it again. It is growing surprisingly fast. I cut a broken leaf off of it just a week or so ago, and I'm surprised to see the leftover stub has grown about 1/2 inch. That seems a lot for a Draceana in mid-winter in this climate. All but my succulents, Sansevieria, and Beaucarnea have been growing quite fast all fall & winter though, despite the cold and gloom here. The only exception was a pothos in straight DE, but that took off after changing to 2:1 mix. Thanks for your help, Al. I'll let you know if I get any water out of the pot in a couple days. In case anyone's following this, the thread Al's referring to is below. Here is a link that might be useful: Draceana and increasing disenchantment...

Sec - I'll go look. BTW - I'm glad you found the old thread. I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you on the other thread ..... It's just that it was already soo far off topic I hated to start any cross chatter. The cherrystone is called just that, and that's what it says on the bag. It's actually quartzite, and a little bit of Fe in the stone is what makes it pink/red. I like it better because of it's appearance. It's mined in MN by New Ulm Quartzite Quarries. http://www.cherrystonegrit.com/index.html Remember it's a concept you're trying to implement. If you can find 2 ingredients, one that holds a lot of water (Turface/calcined DE) and one that holds almost no water (like the grit) in the right size, and you combine them with fir bark, you've got it made. The ingredients I use are just the best I've found so far. If you get rid of the perched water in your soil, I promise your plants will be MUCH happier. I'm serious when I say I water my succulents every 3 days, right along with my other plants, and they do exceptionally well. They may not be as exotic as what you guys grow, I have bonsai to fill that niche, but they ARE healthy. You'll have the whole C&C forum on the stuff within a year. Best ..... Al

I finally got an old dug well going a couple months ago and have really gone wild with giving my water-starved plants and trees some moisture. Some are thriving and others, while initially responding well, are responding with smaller leaves, almost shriveled in some cases. The citrus trees don't seem to like the water whereas pineapple guava, the nut trees, geraniums, avocados, etc. do seem to like it. Bamboo I'm not sure yet. Lots of yellow leaves but this could be leftover from this summer's drought. Besides watering the ground around the plants I've been shooting streams of water onto the leaves and branches for foliar feeding. Maybe that's not a good idea in this situation. My groundwater is known to have high levels of Total Dissolved Solids, notably magnesium and iron and other salts. It's possible I've got some chemicals in the water too - need to get it tested and see just what's in it and what the pH is. Everything has always responded well to city water so obviously there's something in the well water which isn't good, at least for everything. If anyone knows of other forums on Gardenweb which relate to well water for irrigation, please point me there. The search function on Gardenweb seems very much a shotgun approach. Thanks, Mike

From my very own, yet admittedly non systematic experience I can conclude that the suggested temperatures will not work INDOORS, where the light conditions are deficient as compared to outdoors. My experience indicates that under artificial light, a Substrate temperature with the very emphasis ON "Substrate!" of 25 degree Celsius will have Hippeastrums thrive, flourish, prosper, boom - you name it :) The air temperatures can if not even should be lower, that is. The best results which I ever obtained was when I TRAPPED the heat of/from the central-heating Body under my totally 4 square meters of area on the windowsill and two adjacent tables on rolls in my living room, THEN. The only Hippeastrum I experienced which does not benefit from high Substrate temperature, is H.aulicum - BUT as regards bloomable bulbs. Other than that I thank you, Pterodroma, for your valuable suggestion.