I have tomatoes-many varieties, bell and jalapeño peppers, eggplant(many varieties), pumpkins, squash, beans, carrots, lettuce(many varieties) and more. All of these seeds are organic and were purchased this year Brent

A few things to consider: I think the one on the right might be a graptoveria. I have something that looks very much like it that was identified on this forum as such. I also have a sedum rubrotinctum cv. 'Aurora' that looks similar. Either way, the care would be similar. It could easily go with the echeveria and even the aloe (which I think would make a nice backdrop to the two smaller plants), but I would keep the haworthia alone. The aloe looks a bit leggy which could indicate it is not getting enough light. It's leaves have doubled in length because they might be stretching for light. I am not sure if it has been indoors or out, but my common aloes are much more compact than that. The aeoniums grow when days are shorter so it is going dormant right now and will not need as much water as the above four will need right now. Keep it separate. It will still need water - just not as much. You could include it in the pot, but put it in its own pot sunk into your planter and take care to only water it every other time you water the rest. They stay pretty when they are dormant; they just don't grow and so don't need as much water. Lastly, I urge you to read the attached post on suggestions about soil. I would also urge you to the container gardening forum where you could do a surge for "Container Soils- Water Movement and Retention". There will be five post- V being the latest. These are scripted by Al, a genius in container gardening IMHO. He has science behind his postings and soil mixes. I use them and they are wonderful. You will learn from these post that having rocks or broken crock pieces in the bottom of your pots is actually counterproductive. Soil, unless it is a very course mix, always has something called the PWT (perched water table) which is the bottom inch or so of soil that always stays wet. The finer the particle of soil, the larger the PWT layer. If you put in this so called "drainage layer", you simply raise the level of the PWT closer to the roots, which is exactly what you don't want to do. Al's soil mix will stay moist not wet, and this is the ideal thing. Roots do NOT rot in moist soil. They rot in WET soil. There is a difference. Al's mix allows the roots to colonize the soil. The soil stays aerated and holds just the right amount of moisture. The vermiculite and Turface in the soil release water as the plant needs but allows the soil to drain freely and leaves a very small PWT if any at all. Many say that cactus and succulents have a very shallow root system, and I believe in nature that is true because they have to in order to absorb water. But roots are adaptable even within a single species and will search deep for water if that is where the water is. I have my C and S growing in a variation of Al's mix from his first post, and they have been in this mix for two years now. The soil is getting a bit compacted as it is left out in all conditions and has broken down. It has some peat in it (but won't with Al's new mix) too. However, all of the pots (azalea pots, not regular) are COMPLETELY colonized with the root systems of the plants. These are cactii and succulents that in nature would have very shallow roots systems. This mix allows for a much healthier plant IMO. There is NO peat in the succulent mix Al recommends, which you will find in almost every commercial mix for cactus and succulents. It is useless. It stays too wet and when it dries is impossible to rewet. Adding perlite to it, in my experience doesn't help much. It just makes the perlite float to the top that much quicker. Everyone has an opinion on soil and what works best. I urge you to read the attached post and find the above mentioned one to learn more, especially if all you do is container gardening. Forever learning, Tanya

Awesome!! Thanks so much. I've was looking over pictures of this genus and tho I agree it's definitly a Cylindropuntia, I'm not to sure on prolifera. But it might be because mine is still small. I did find one picture of mine at http://cactiguide.com/graphics/o_johnsonii_600.jpg The tags are from the same place tho ^^ Thanks again cause I never would have figured out what this was!! Ross

The prickly pear is the large padded spineless one. It's a collection of pads that broke off some bigger ones last year, stuck in a 3 gallon pot. It's been neglected and forgotten way out back, but they're all rooted well and growing. Can't kill them. I have eaten moringa leaves, flowers and green tips. Quickly sauteed/steamed with a bit of garlic and oil. Tastse a lot like broccoli raab to me. Very nice. Mine's blooming now too. Unfortunately I forgot to pick the "drumsticks" when they were green, so I missed out on trying those this year. But I've got a bunch of seeds now! Need any? Anyone? I'll plant a few for trade parties, and probably plant another one or two here. Gonna try to keep them trimmed and bushy, since they do like to grow tall and loose. I'd love to try one of your good papayas. Been eating a lot of them lately myself. Audrey's got lots and I've got lots of the small red fruited Hawaiian variety. I'll trade ya. Yesterday I made a bunch of carambola jelly! It turned out perfectly! Golden, clear and delicious. Had to do something with so many ripe at once. Even with 4 neighborhood kids coming by daily for a few each, we couldn't keep up. I wonder if the tortoise would like some? And you too of course.