For onions the first thing you have to know is whether to plant short day, long day, or intermediate day types. The process is different depending on what type you need to grow. In the link below there is a handy graphic that helps explain what grows best where. Garlic is planted in the Fall and left to overwinter. When to plant in Fall depends on your location. What variety to plant also depends on your location. Rodney Here is a link that might be useful: Onion Types

I plant the little seeds that grow up out of the plant when it goes to seed. I dig a little every August for my personal use. When the plant goes to seed, I let the little bulb on top fill out good, then I cut it off, so the energy can go into to bulb beneath the soil line. I save a few of these to replant. Leslie

Thanks everyone for your advice! I went to the library yesterday and found a fairly good book on Mesembs/Succulents indicating where certain species live, when they get rainfall/fog and how much. The major difference is their growing season- summer or winter. The other thing is growers in CA are growing their lithops completely different than growers in the UK/N Europe (for obvious reasons). My understanding is that growers in CA can mimic their natural growing environment, due to fantastic light year round and fairly warm temps. With the UK/N. European growers many seem to push for winter dormancy regardless due to cooler temps and lack of light. There is no clear cut answer, which complicates it further :/. Will have to spend a bit more time doing research on the types Im interested in growing and seeing how I can get them to do well in my environment.

Most people use a bark mixture and the smaller the medium, the more it will hold moisture. Keep in mind that bark will break down and deteriorate in a couple of years. The speed in which it breaks down is determined by the size of the medium and it's environment. The smaller the bark, the faster it will break down. Place a plastic tag inside (on the side) of the pot and mark the date when you replaced the medium. I would check it once a year, and more often if you begin to see signs of trouble .. other than scales and insects. Usually, if there are no physical evidence of what's causing the problem other than lack of water which will be evident by wrinkled leaves, then it's time for some serious investigation. Normally it starts underneath in the root zone area. Please note that wrinkled leaves doesn't always mean lack of water, so if you think you're doing everything right and you're losing leaves right and left ... then it's time to act. One important thing to note is the medium that is currently being used. If the orchid is doing well, then seriously consider using the same medium. Sometimes, changing the environment will seriously impact it's growing condition. JMO