Fruitnut: just curious, have you ever used pots that were shorter and larger diameter, say a 15 gal pot that is 2' dia. x 2' tall vs 1.5' dia. x 3' tall? I realize the math is not correct but the idea is to go with a more squat pot to increase the water holding capacity of the soil once the irrigation is shut off. Looking at your pots and reading what you wrote about irrigation frequency just made me curious if you had tried different pots and if they worked to decrease the required irrigation intervals. Back when I was in school and very involved in the greenhouse potted plant business we used very specific dimension pot growing media combination for a given potted flowering plant due to their specific needs for root space, wet vs dry feet, etc.. I remember the hydrangea pots were very short and relatively wide when compared to most any other pot we used and they definitely held water throughout the root ball for some time after the irrigation was turned off. Our teacher demonstrated the water holding phenomenon of tall and skinny pots vs short and wide by soaking a sponge and holding it parallel to the ground, a few drops dripped off here and there; next, he held the soaked sponge vertical and the water poured out of it. I've never forgotten that simple, eloquent demonstration. I'm guessing you've tried lots of different stuff to get to where you are today.

It looks like your potting mix may have some kind of nutrient deficiency, and if they haven't started shooting after a couple months of germination, there is definitely something wrong. Someone on the bambooweb forums with the name Tarzanus claims to know the required nutrient, but I've happened to never have problems after growing hundreds of moso seedlings with my home-made potting soil. You might want to just go ahead an ask someone on bambooweb for a moso division because it is a pretty common bamboo. Mature divisions are much less picky on what they require for soil conditions. Here's a blog with pictures on how I treat my moso bicolor, a variagated kind which is a bit less common, but will also be widely available in a few years. Here is a link that might be useful: My moso bicolor and how it's treated

Thanks for all the feedback :-) My plant is kind of odd on the watering right now. The soil isn't draining well, and it holds water for longer than I'd like - I think it also has wetting agents in it. Right now I'm watering it about once every five to seven days. I prefer to water a well draining soil mix more frequently. This baby is in no way potbound yet - only a few roots are visible at the bottom. It's been in the 3" pot for a year and a half, but it only really started to grow this spring. I'm not overly anxious to have it flower as soon as possible - eventually yes (of course!!!), but first I want the cutting to establish itself into a nice plant. It really does have some nice variegation! So for now it sounds like I should leave it in its current pot, and just change the soil. Are the roots very fragile? When it has become more potbound and I do pot it up, could I take the old stem and pin it to the surface of the soil so that the developing branches may root and have a slightly 'fuller' plant? I have just the one small cutting and it is going to look very lonely and sparse as it grows. If I may ask, what would you guys consider as a fair trade for a Hoya cutting (aside from another Hoya)? This isn't a solicitation for a trade, as I am in Canada, so I probably can't trade with anyone here. But I just wanted to know what an acceptable offer is - I don't really have a feel for how 'valuable' cuttings are yet. I traded a baby Clivia for my cutting. Thanks again for all the help! BP

At least the size of a nickel! 8) I'd use a pot big enough it doesn't need watering twice a day. Perhaps quart sized or so. That should make it a little less sensitive to the watering schedule. I assume you will put it outside in the spring? I'd put the ziplock bag in the fridge to slow the other bulbs down. You don't want them getting moldy either. Putting them in pot now would (IMO) help prevent mold. I've overwintered (dormant) Lilies in pots in the garage. Problem is they take off very early in the year since the garage isn't cold enough.