Terpguy, I'm grinning about the Dr. Bronners. In the 70s, when all the back-to-the-landers first got going, anything "natural" was way in, and nothing was more way in than Dr. Bronners peppermint soap. We used it full strength for showers - poured on rough loofahs, of course. :) Washed dishes with it, cleaned floors and windows and cars - it was ubiquitous. I feel more grounded w/ a small bottle in the cabinet at all times and have never minded the strong aroma - probably still influenced by the mindset of the time. When the eucalyptus and almond Dr. Bronners came out - well, the stratosphere was a better place. That said, a commercial grower offers this recipe for a homemade insecticidal soap: For a gallon of water - 1/2 to 1 cup alcohol 1 tbsp cooking oil - Canola being preferred 1 tbsp Dawn dishwashing soap One question - what are people's thoughts about 1600 X-clude? It's also recommended by one of the commercial growers. The label says active ingredients are Pyrethrins; Piperonyl Butoxide, Technical (equivalent to 1.76% [butylcarbityl] [6-Propylpiperonyl] ether and 0.44% of related compounds); and N-Octyl Bicycloheptene Dicarboximide. All these are under 3%. It's swell to use - in the garage (if it's gotten too cold outside), outside w/ no wind and in late afternoon (no direct sun), or in the greenhouse, put a lot of plants together, stand a couple of feet away, and spray with a few sweeps back and forth. Repeat in a week. Supposedly, it's okay to use in the house, except for fish and birds, but I won't do it w/ our 3 cats and 2 dogs. The can has those warnings about if it's swallowed, if in the eyes, if on skin or clothing, and if inhaled. Nope. The label says it kills just about everything that attacks indoor/outdoor plants and ornamental trees, including ants and gnats, plus kills cockroaches, spiders, flies, crickets, silverfish, fire-brats(???), and moths. There are several pdfs available online that give complete label info, but I don't know how to link to them here. This last summer, my plants stayed inside. The 2 summers before, they got sprayed w/ the 1600 X-clude twice before coming in, plus a couple of times during the summer. This year is the first time I've had problems w/ pests. Dunno if it's cause and effect. Spider mites got going before I even knew it - barely beyond newbie grower. Since then, I've used lots of Safers or equivalent and have wiped a lot of leaves w/ alcohol. Another factor may be that I used to wash leaves w/ my fingers under running water whenever plants were flushed, and I've cut way back on that for several reasons - too many orchids being one. Bottom line is so far, I've been reactive, rather than pro-active. Good topic, Kevin, esp. because orchids have to be inside in the Northland. Whitecat8 Here is a link that might be useful: 1600 X-clude

Hi HS, My guess as to why the plants got leggy in the first place is because they simply were not getting enough light; they had to reach for more light. Most folks leave their fluorescent lights on at least 16 hours a day and probably more often 18 hours a day. The distance of the lights (3 to 4 inches above the seedlings) was probably okay, but a little closer (2 to 3 inches) may have been better. I just don't think 12 hours of light was enough. Regarding your thoughts about trying to "simulate the same daylight they will get when moved outdoors in April", you really can't compare artificial lighting to the amount of sunlight they'll get when you put them outside. When moved outside, it's true the amount of time they will receive light will be reduced (from say 18 hours to 12). However, the amount of light will be increased. The sun will supply more light in 12 hours than your lights can do in 18 hours. Blooming and fruiting, of course, will be influenced by whether the plants are short-day or long-day plants, but I'd leave that to the plants once they're outside. They know exactly what they're doing :-) My suggestion is to increase the length of time you leave your lights on. But whatever you end up doing, I wish you the best of luck with starting your seeds indoors for the first time. Sounds like you're off to a good start! Art

I wouldn't bother misting the plant. It does more harm than good. Secondly, the best way (for me at least) to separate container pups is by removing the entire plant. I shake off excess soil to see the entire corm. Then I take a sharp knife and slice off the pup. I make the cut fairly close to the pstem. Once separated, keep the soil slightly moist but do not over water the plant. You'll lose some roots when you remove the plant out of the container but don't worry about it. Bananas are really resilient plants. I just separated a D. Cavendish a month ago. My dog jumped on the mother plant and broke the pstem in half. It had 2 pups. I separated both pups from where the main pstem was and planted the remaining corm. 2 new pups sprouted where the main pstem used to be. Now I have 4 D. Cavendish.

I'd recommend Sesleria caerulea, Blue Moor Grass, or Festuca glauca, Blue Fescue. They both grow easily from seed, and are relatively low growing grasses. Neither will survive your winters outdoors, but should survive indoors, provided you give them enough moisture and light.