The hanging pot does prevent good draining IMO by design it's a complete disaster lacking in bottom hole size for draining to it's snap on bottom over flow catch. Inside there where some plastic disk with some more holes for they are used to hold the soil and plant away water in the lower part of pot which is is used as a water retaining reservoir. Depth of pot isn't the worst of your TC problem right now it's just your TC wont need that depth for a while A long whilesuggest you just toss that pot in a recycle bin it's all wrong for any plant The slightly rotted rooted piece in your hand: Agree you shouldn't need to fuss to much over it. If it's gone it's gone but to help it I would water rinse the root remainders clean of any soil on them now and let set in a covered plastic catch dish one upside down on the other think of this as a very small hot house for a single TC Also thinks you may want to use two of the the small catch dish temporary hot houses one for each type of TC you mentioned you have. Soil: not that your nearly exhausted with holiday shopping there are one or two more stores you might want to stop in and pick up an item or two Your looking for items that will provide better draining with moisture retaining for the more natural epic jungle cacti in a pot setting 3 parts meduim / small sized Orchid bark or reti bark found at petco 1 part more or less part perlite rinsed and sifted found at HD or Lowes 1 part filler, items here can be pumice or turface as an example. If hard to find for you then NAPA Oil Dry When collected mix items soak and rinse again then allow to damp dry on a towel or paper over night before re-potting a hopefully better looking section or rotting as seen pot my suggestion 4 inch Terra-cottar or plastic You will loose ends off of the piece you hold keep us posted every couple weeks with progress or other wise best of growing to you

Esmé, If I understand you correctly, your bin was half full of scraps before adding the worms ? It sounds like your bin is indeed composting by the sounds of it and having the worms in a hot bin like that is not ideal for your new residents. The heat from the composting process is driving off you moisture at least on the top. I would suggest to recue the worms from the bin while still possible then remove most of the hot composting materials and read the below post from our worm GURU Kelly. TC Posted by: Kelly_Slocum sw WA state (My Page) on Thu, Jun 2, 05 at 9:23 Many of the suggestions you read on how much a worm can eat and how much the bin can/should be fed are misinterpretations of recommendations that come from Mary Appelhof's book "Worms Eat My Garbage". Many of these recommendations were not based on scientific research, but were generalizations Mary had to make to aid a public demanding answers that science had not yet found or about which could not make general statements. As such, she intended them as guidelines to aid people in beginning a bin, as she recognized better than almost anyone that how much a worm can eat depends on the character of the feedstock, the environment, etc, etc. The internet turned Mary's generalized guidelines into "facts" and "rules" for worm behavior and worm bin management, however, and have now become so overstated as to be incorrect. When beginning a new bin, following the guideline that the system will process a weight of feedstock roughly equal to the weight of worms for the first week or two is a reasonable expectation. As the system matures, however, it will be able to process more and more, dependant, of course on the character of the feedstock and the environment. The wise vermicomposter will feed their bin not based on the suggested feeding rates found in a book, but on their own observations of how quickly their system is managing new feedstock additions. Each time the worms move into a new addition of feedstock this should be an indication that more feedstock can be added. The first feedstock does not have to be fully processed, it simply has to have worms actively working in it, indicating that it is sufficiently biologically active to be available to them. Adding new feedstock at this point gives the new stuff sufficient time to become biologically active while the previous addition of feedstock is being processed. The average healthy home worm bin supports about 1.5 pounds of worms per square foot of bin surface area on the average. The most populous vermicomposting system every documented supported roughly 4 pounds of worms per square foot of bin surface area, but that population density could not be sustained indefinitely. Don't get too caught up in the question of "how many worms are possible in the bin?" or "how many worms should my bin hold?" as the worms will populate based on the amount of available food and space. Put some worms in the bin (hell, you could begin with just two, or, believe it or not, even ONE, and end up with a maxed out population in several months), keep it moist, add some feedstock and they will make more worms for you at just the right speed and to just the right population level for the system as you are managing it. As to recommendations to add "decomposing material", that is exactly what you are adding when you put feedstock in the bin. Some folks suggest "pre-composting" the feedstock before adding it to the system, but I have to wonder what they perceive is the advantage to pre-composting it in a bucket separate from the bin over simply allowing it "pre-compost" IN the bin where there is massive biology to aid in the process. Sometimes the suggestion to add "decomposing material" refers to the use of compost or worm castings as a part of the bedding in a new bin to ensure the system has a relatively high level of biology at the outset, and this is actually good advice, though is certainly not a requirement. Compost in the bedding often helps the worms settle into the new environment more quickly than they would in a bin full of shredded paper and kitchen scraps alone. I know, I know, this is another of my long-winded posts, but the answers require some explanation if what we want is a truly educated vermicomposting public! I am working on brevity (you should have seen this post before I edited it!), so please be patient with me; brevity is not a general part of my nature and at 43 changing takes some time! Let me know if you have more question, Robin, or if any of this needs further explanation! Kelly S· Posted by: Kelly_Slocum sw WA state (My Page) on Thu, Jun 2, 05 at 12:59How to determine when the bin is ready to "harvest" depends on whether you are pocket feeding or top feeding. If you are pocket feeding then it's time to harvest when essentially all of the bedding has been converted to castings and is no longer recognizable, and the bin volume has decreased by roughly half. Top-fed bins are harvested when the bin is filled all the way to the top. Time to harvest is usually shorter in pocket-fed bins than in top-fed systems, and (surprise!) is widely variable, dependant on bin size, how much the system is fed, environmental conditions, feedstock, blah, blah, blah, blah. You've got a better grasp of this than you credit yourself with, Robin, if your questions are any indication. You are asking the right ones, have clearly not bought in to everything you read on the internet, and are thinking critically. Fascination and common sense are the only real prerequisites for effective vermicomposting on the part of the human involved, and you appear to have these in fine measure! Kelly S

A couple of thoughts. "It's happened about once every 8 months or so." How often do you use the ice? Does the maker sit full (and idle) for long periods of time? Maybe if you jyst emptied the bin every so often so it has to work, then it won't get a chance to freeze solid. Also, I assume that the freezer is a self-defrosting unit. The self-defroster works by turning on heaters to melt the snow/ice on the walls. Maybe by design it is also supposed to warm the ice maker lines? Is the frost-free system working properly? Having the supply line freeze doesn't sound right to me. You'd expect the designers would think of that. HTH

Thank you everyone so much for what you do with your plants. Rina, your plants looks so happy, I really adore those aeoniums & echeverias! I like the motto SOS! I need to do that during the next downsizing. I wouldn't want to move all my plants either unless of the most severe storms (tornado warnings). Margaret, your weather sounds very comfortable, and what a typical Spring would be like in New England. I'm not usually in the super hot weather for a long time as there is AC indoors. When I'm in the pool the heat is great, just trying to avoid sunburn. I guess my plants and I have a lot in common, lol. Crenda, your tricolors remind me of past problems that I am trying to avoid, so I too feel they do best away from high humidity. It's like years of growing them and a few days of humidity turns them ugly. Maybe this is why some folks choose not to grow them.... so darn fussy. Ewwmayo, agreed on that shade cloth, love having it....what percent are you using? Mine is 30% but is doubled at the moment, when I get a chance later I will make it one layer. Pagan, too funny, I hope the mesembs are happier under that tough love...seems like it :) Mike, what is this about sitting back and enjoying the plants?!? Ha... I was just thinking the other day I don't have a chair in the gazebo, it's full of plants! I keep meaning to grab a chair and I forget. I collected rain water last night and earlier today I watered the 200+ plants. Looking around I have A LOT of repotting at least 50 to a 100! I do worry of older mixes being compact or they simply outgrew their pot. I'm going out soon and will get more potting mix. I'm sure the gazebo blocks more light than the plants could take. Western sun facing the shade cloth side, mostly jades and random succulents get the brightest area. CC/TC/Rhipsallis are further inward, they get some morning sun though on the other side. -Nancy