Morning, Tiff..I know what you mean. Dh goes to work, comes home. I serve him dinner, he takes the dog for a walk then sits in front of 'his' tv w/head phones until bedtime. Plus my family and I had an argument, so I no longer call them, or accept their calls. And winter is just, plain depressing. Going on a week w/o sunlight. It seems the most exiting thing I do is go to the grocery store and doctors..and the docs isn't very entertaining..I despise going. I ended up taking most of my TC's and potting them in a hanging basket..several stems broke, so doubt they'll produce more flowers this year. See what boredom does??? End up doing stupid things like repotting budded TC's!!! Tiff, can you, your dh and dk's move w/your mom? Please understand I'm not trying to nosy myself in your business, just a suggestion. You do need others to talk to. Adult conversation, or at least people who enjoy plants, kids and any other hobbies you're into. There are many here who like talking to you, so if you ever feel blue, sign into GW.. :) Marjie..I didn't know you had twins..Oh you poor thing.. :) Twin babies? Oh Lord, when do you find time to think? God bless you, girl. How old are they? Ha, your Sadie sounds like our dearly departed, Mastiff, Sam..Forget tennis balls..they lasted two seconds..when dh took Sam to the woods, Sam saw a cute dog playing w/his tennis ball. Sam ran over, stole his ball and chewed it to smithereens. The owner laughed, but his poor dog lost so many tennis balls because of Sam. I bought a bag of tennis balls for the man, or rather his dog to replace those destroyed by Sam..lol. I love Labs..How much does Sadie weigh? Is she high-strung? I worked as an asst vet. When it was time to spay Black Labs, 'not so much neutering males,' the females needed extra sedation. Their breed was so much fun to work with..lol. j/k. Labs are extremely intelligent, loyal AND beautiful.. After surgery, Labs couldn't wait to see mom, dad, brother or sister, ready to take them home. lol. Yep, rubber rings last longest. Even w/love to chewy-teeth dogs, and mid-extra large breeds. Sam had a rubber, U-shaped band called Pull & Tug..One toy he couldn't chew to pieces. lol. Marjie, if you're serious about running away, I'll go along. As long as we can bring our pets, children and plants! We'd have to buy a couple buses though. More like five. lol. Hey JoJo..wow, a chicken named Hawk hanging around you..You should go to YouTube, seach for chicken sounds..Wonder what Hawk would do?? lol. How nice. What a lucky chicken!! AWWW, why are the other chickens pecking on her? Are they plucking her feathers? Funny she hangs with the dogs..maybe she thinks she's a canine...lol Poor kitty..wonder what's going through his mind??!! I can imagine..no wonder he seeks a higher level. lol. JoJo, only the best for our feathered/furred family, right? Bet your zoo pets are as spoiled as ours..lol. Don't blame you for investing in a jeep..Can you imagine trying to haul all that food in a Fiero? lol. I don't know much about quail. How do they behave and what do they eat? Are they in or outdoors? I remember you said you got a new turtle..how's he/she working out? I forgot, is he/she a water or land turtle? 3 dogs..wow! lol. Does your gecko have an English accent like the commercial? lol. The gecko commercial is one of a few I don't mind watching...makes me laugh. JoJo, I know you addressed to Marjie, but I too bred Betas. Wasn't it amusing watching the male spitting a nest for babies? But, poor moms. JoJo,, what type of plants are you looking for? Wow, you wake before the roosters..lol..Toni

DEFINITELY mulch them. And yes, heat-stress. Remember -- we have had record-setting heat for weeks now. I know it's worrying to water water water, when everything you read urges you to save water, BUT there are things you can do. When I wash dishes, I use a dishpan. I use a very mild dish detergent -- "Eco-sensitive" brands. The RINSE water from all pots and bottles goes to the nearest roses outside the door. When I'm done washing, DH carries the dishpan out into the garden, and empties it onto our less-sensitive plants. Not one bit of it goes to waste -- or goes down the drain. If you boil corn-on-the cob (or other vegetables) let the water cool, and then give it to your plants. That's exactly the way my Great-Step-Grandmother watered the roses in her farmhouse garden in rural Texas of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The minutes I spend outside, dumping rinse water gives me a quiet early-morning garden visit that's priceless. I'm sure it was the same for Grandma Mintice Cain. Any roses that come up with spider mites or aphids get the dishwater tossed directly at them.

Hi Ann, I just bought a Lacunosa yesterday and for what its worth, I also just repotted(removed 90% of the old very wet EA Peat soil). I repotted it in the original 8" pot that it came in...I have done this with all the EA hoyas I ever bought. I know we don't live in the same zone, but I don't like the EA soil, and replaced it with a very fast draining soil. It will be living outside under an Oak tree 95% of the time. Our rainy season is in the summer(if we're lucky...I hope we get a lot of rain) we are in severe drought right now! I can't afford to leave it in that wet Peat soil getting rained on often, so I had no choice but to remove and change the soil. You and I will might be in the same boat, as I wasn't aware that Lacunosa's roots are sensitive, so I will be keeping a close eye on my plant also. This was w/out a doubt one of the hardest one to repot, very messy process, LOL... Mine was labeled "Hoya Snow Caps, Lacunosa Alba", its the speckled version of yours...Wally world special for $10. Good luck to both of us and hope we did the right thing? Here's a picture of mine after I repotted...Speckled Lacunosa

Callous tissue is the first step to roots, so by cutting that off, you set yourself back several weeks. It wasn't a good idea to add verm. and peat to the supersoil. Supersoil already contains some peat and by adding more along with verm. your mix may be retaining too much water and could rot the cutting. What's done is done. Just don't water again, until you have at least 2 open leaves. You can mist it if you like, but no more water! The lights you have are fine, but bottom heat from a propagation mat or heating pad really help with the rooting process. I am still a fan of 70%perlite or pumice and 30%peat. It works like a charm. Later after it has a nice rootball and leaves, then repot it in a mix of 60% Supersoil and 40% Pumice. Regarding spider mites, yes they can spread and they are difficult to get rid of when the plants are indoors. Air circulation helps and they hate being sprayed with water. Good Luck, Tony