As weird as it sounds, China dolls are meant to be tall and leggy. when you buy them from the store they are actually given a hormone to keep them short and stumpy. But after a while that hormone wears out and they grow tall, losing leaves as they grow. China's are suckers for humidity, i believe this is a jungle plant... i could be completely wrong but i digress. If you would like your Doll to grow back thicker then you should cut it back to where you want the growth to start from. Once the growth occurs try doing the pinch back method to promote more branching and less height growth. I wish you luck in whichever you do!

It's not much of a secret that my primary focus is bonsai .... and I tend to gravitate toward plants that are unusual and that I can manipulate into something unusual or more attractive than they would end up being if left to their own growth habit. I really didn't BUY those plants. We had a guest artist do a workshop for our bonsai club, and the selection of plants she had for the plantings was very limited. Those were the most attractive of what was available, so I just grabbed those, but I was really never pleased with the appearance of the plants, which, as you can see from the pictures above, quickly became unruly & to my eye not so attractive ....... so I was just looking for an opportunity to give them away. Using them in a demonstration allowed me to keep the tray they were planted in, so it all worked out. Some of you might be surprised at how much root pruning you can do without concern for the plant's survival. Here's a little boxwood I've been working with before root pruning: and here's what it looked like before it went into it's new pot: Plants are plants, whether they are houseplants or trees normally found in the landscape. They grow the same way and use the same nutrients in the same proportions as other plants, so 95% of what applies to trees applies to houseplants. If your houseplant has a branching root system, don't be afraid to bare-root it and root prune. You'll find it has a significant rejuvenating effect for the whole plant. There is a physiological reason for this that I've explained before, but I won't go into it now because I've already strayed a long way from my original intent, which was to thank you for your kind words. - Al

I meant sphagnum as THE media, yes. It's used in pots to grow neps and VFTs quite a bit, so why not in terrariums? Live would obviously be superior to re-wetted dried moss, but since dried moss has a tendency to 're-grow' through spores, it's still a good idea. Vermiculite, et all would be examples of substrates on their own, as with the sphag. moss for CP terrs. Vermiculite can also be added to a soil mix, but I use just bark, and I love it! All of my plants also love it, from the selaginella to ferns to broms to orchids, terrestrial or epiphytes. It is just a good substrate, that's all. =) CHC would be better than bark (doesn't break down as quickly), but it is much more expensive. DianaMay's post much have slipped off the edge! I really do hope someone copied it. . . I may have, I'll have to check tomorrow. Sterilization: Media: all good potting soils are sold already sterilized. This does not, however, guarantee that you won't get mold growing in your terrarium after you have set it up. But you might also get little ferns and mosses growing (I did), so perhaps it's not such a bad thing. Bark chips/mulches/CHC, etc. are not sterilized to the best of my knowledge, but I have not found sterilization to be neccessary for these substrates. Driftwood: if the piece is small enough to fit into your largest pot, cover it with boiling water and boil it for at LEAST 5 minutes. Make sure the wood is wet through, so that the entire piece of wood reaches 100 degrees C for at least 5 minutes. If the piece is large, I have found soaking it in a chlorine bleach solution works. Put it in your bathtub (for truly large pieces) or in a rubbermaid container, and cover with water and bleach. Let it soak for 24 hrs, then drain and rinse. Soak in fresh water for another 48 hrs, doing at least 2 complete water changes in this time, to leach out any chlorine residues. One could try adding a dechlorinator to the rinse water as well, to detoxify any remaining traces. The wood itself may actually bleach (turn white), so if you would not find that attractive, don't do it. Try soaking in soapy water (will kill bugs and eggs) instead. Do more rinse water changes if you use soap, because soap residue is more harmful to vivarium animals than chlorine. Rocks: just wash them like you would dishes. If they are textured and/or have lots of ridges, use an old toothbrush or similar item to scrub every nook and cranny. If you're really paranoid, you could also bleach your rocks. Again, make sure everything is well-rinsed. David: aquarium silicone can be found at most pet stores, and if not, then all specialty fish stores should have it. It is more expensive at a pet store though, so if a hardware store has it, get it there! Low light plants: pothos (aka devil's ivy), ferns (eg. Lemon Button Fern), Fittonia, lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderana), parlour palm/neanthe bella (Chamadorea elegans), China doll (Radermachia sinica), Dracaena deremensis and cultivars, english ivy, Ficus (?), most non-variegated (plain green) plants. Med. light plants: african violets, selaginella, java moss, anubias, ferns (eg. Rabbit's Foot Fern), some variegated plants (white only, yellow and other colours need more light), many bromeliads, syngonium, green tillandias, Pilea (aluminium plant). High light plants: 'low light' orchids (Phals, Paphs, some species; anything rated at 500-2000 ft.c. of light), polka-dot plant, nepenthes, other carnivores, silver tillandsias, cryptanthus (to keep good colour), anthuriums. Very high light plants: more light-demanding orchids, like oncidiums, cattleyas, etc. It should be noted that most 'low light' plants are merely TOLERANT of low light. They will grow much faster, and more compactly, in better light. Do NOT go by how bright your tank looks to you, as the human eye is easily deceived. Pay attention to your plants. If they are leaning or stretching towards the light, or have very thin and gangly growth, or variegated plants revert to plain green (on new growth), they need more light. If plants look compact and robust, are growing at a good rate, keep their colour, or even develop a 'tan' (some orchids will get more purple in their leaves), you have good light. And no matter which bulbs you choose, always use a good reflector, or you will be loosing 50% of your light (the half of the bulb that faces away from your terrarium). As for watts/lumens per gallon, I have about 1W (CFl)/4W (Incandescent equivalent) per gallon, or 66 lumens/gal. That's four 23W Philips Daylight screw-in compacts evenly spaced over my 85 gallon terrarium. That is high light, enough to rebloom my Paph orchids, and low-light species like Bulbophyllums, but not enough for a polka-dot plant to maintain good colour. (Not good enough for me, anyways). Feel free to add more plants to my examples.

Thanks guys. I have decided not to plant one. My husband remembered his boss planted one years ago where they used to work so we went and had a look. It's huge already (it's no more than 14 years old) and it has big roots that are lifting the bitumen. I think I'll give it a miss. Beautiful tree though. Donna.