Dear Purple, I do appreciate your experience, your love for plants, and you concern for helping others nurture their own passion. My feelings are quite the same as yours, but my experience is different. What I've learned is that the critical factor in having healthy, beautiful plants is soil moisture/aeration cycles. Perhaps if anyone has found their plants doing better as soon as they ended the "wet saucer" practice, it was not so much that in itself, but other factors that were allowing the plant(s) to reach more favorable aeration levels between waterings. There are always many variables in operation. What I do know is that by ascertaining the soil moisture throughout the medium in which the plant is growing (meaning all the way to the bottom of the pot), and by allowing the moisture/aeration ration to reach the optimum level for that particular variety of plant, you are taking the first, largest, and most important step in assuring a long and beautiful life for your plants. This is not "arcane anecdotes," but practice established over 50 years, by 1000's of people, and millions of plants. I'm not saying what you, or anyone else, are doing is wrong. On the contrary, if your plants are thriving, if they make you happy and beautify your life, it is totally right. But don't you think people who are seeking advice should be able to consider several possible approaches? What about very busy people; even if they feel they can spare no more than a few minutes a week on plants, shouldn't they be able to have plants if they are willing to spend those few minutes? These are the people I'd like to encourage. Maybe some of them will get "bit by the bug," and end up with a thousand plants in their home ( the 1000 plant thing, as related in the 'first plant' thread, just blows my mind), using all sorts of culture methods - hydroponics, gritty mixes, tree bark, self-mixed soil recipes, exotics in environmentally-controlled cases the size of half a room. Who knows? So, to address a few of the matters you bring up, from my point of view -- 1) yes, newly potted-up plants are susceptible to rotted roots - all the more reason to get in there and make sure the soil has aerated thoroughly. (Also not-too-large pots, more porous medium, etc.) 2) it's not the roots growing through the drainage holes that "suck up" water in liners; the water actually moves back into the soil/root mass from the liner through those drainage holes, and spreads evenly throughout the pot volume, if the medium has a good particle/space ratio, where it is then available to the roots. 3) distinction between corporate and personal plants - (hoping I can shed some light on the interior landscape business here). First of all, it's a business, meaning it has to make a profit or it's out of business. Replacements are costly - therefore the technician must keep the plants looking beautiful (not just "clinging to life") as long as possible, or they cut into an already slim profit margin. Secondly, people are paying to have beautiful plants, and that is how they must be kept, or the customer find a new service. Thirdly, people get very attached to "their" plants - the people whose offices have plants, people who have plants near their desks, and the tech taking care of the plants. Fourth, corporate plants are not generally put into "adverse conditions" "at the limits of their endurance" "clinging to life" - no profit in it; contracts require that plants be placed in adequate light and protected conditions. So it might not be like having some of grandma's plants, but folks still love the plants that help make the corporate world a little less cold. I could go on and on. I'm sure everyone thinks I've already gone on way too long as it is. So you disagree with me? Cool! I love to examine differing viewpoints from varied angles, to try and pick out the threads of insight that knit together seemingly opposing positions. Oh yea, those nasty plastic disks in the bottom of some plants. I honestly don't know why they're so bad, they have holes and all and should just let water through, but they don't. I just know if you find them, you should take them out and throw them away.

Hi All, I just posted three pictures above of the Chinese Fan Palm and the issue I'm having. It is a bit difficult to tell from the pictures, but the white mold/fungus/sap (whatever it is), is in the mulch mainly, about 1-2 inches deep. In Pic #2, look closely at the big chunk of mulch stuck together from the hard white stuff, it's like a big solid piece and I was able to pry it out of the ground. Thanks, let me know what you guys think and what I can do about this. Should I just get a hoe or rake and break it all up or something? Too much water, too little water? I have no clue at this point what this stuff is and what I should do. Also, in Pic #1, you can see the dwarf grass in the lower right corner that is pretty much dead, and the mulch around it is rock hard from this white stuff as well.

"I water it probably once a week" Try not to water on a set schedule-water when the plant needs it. There are many ways to tell when a plant needs watering-one commonly used is the wooden dowel method. Take a wooden dowel or chopstick, stick it all the way into the soil, wait ten minutes, then pull it out. If the dowel is dirty/dark/obviously wet, withhold watering. If the dowel is clean/normal colored/obviously dry, water. "but I don't water it a lot each time" Is the soil pulling away from the edges of the pot? Peat-based soils like MG have a bad tendency to become water repelling if left to dry for too long. They can harden to the consistency of a brick. Any water the grower gives will simply run over the top, down the sides of the dry root ball, and out the drainage hole. If this is happening, then I would take a bucket or a large sink big enough to fit the pot, fill the bucket or sink to the top, then slowly submerge the pot. Bubbles will begin flowing from the soil-this is just stale air in the root system being forced out of the dry soil by the fresh water pouring in. Hold it there for a few minutes, maybe five minutes after bubbling stops to ensure the entire root ball is saturated. I would then lift the pot, let it drain well, then set it back in its usual place. "I purchased some palm tree spikes, broke one up, and put it in the pot." I've read on Gardenweb that many people don't recommend the spikes because they may cause a large concentration of fertilizer salts in one area without properly spreading throughout the root system. I would take out the spikes and switch to a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer, like Foliage Pro 9-3-6 or MG 12-4-8/ 24-8-16. Be sure to flush the pot before fertilizing-first saturate the entire root ball, wait for maybe ten minutes, then slowly pour water so that an amount of water equal to 10 times the volume of the container exits the drainage hole. Good luck! Also, word of advice-the next time you prune something or otherwise use tools to create a wound in the plant (like a cut, etc.) sterilize the tools beforehand. You can use rubbing alcohol-wipe the blades thoroughly or soak the blades for a few minutes, then let dry. This can lower the risk of introducing infectious agents into the plant because of your cut. It may seem unnecessary, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

Did you get help?