Hi Whitecat8 -- If nothing else, you sure are thorough! With that going for you, these setbacks can't keep you down for long! ;-) Don't take your Aerangis fastuosa outside. There are too many hostile variables outside, especially if it's unprotected. I have a roach problem in my gh, and unless I spray and track down the little monsters where they hide, they seem to particularly enjoy munching on the fresh new leaves of this species. You wouldn't have roaches, but perhaps grasshoppers, a stray sunbeam, etc., could spell the end for your baby. This species doesn't have much in the way of roots, and they tend to be small and fine. It doesn't appear from your photo that it has attached itself to the mount, unless there is some attachment underneath the pad of sphagnum. Andy can grow his "orchids on a stick," but unless you have gh conditions like him (or duplicate those conditions in a terrarium), that type of mount is much too small and thin for an indoor grower. What you need is a 5"x6" cork slab. Don't remove the sphagnum that is already in place. Just snip the fishing line, press the plant and pad into position onto the cork, and pack more sphagnum around it without approaching the lower leaves. Not a lot more sphagnum, but a bit more. If there's a little nook or crevice in the center of the slab, then take advantage of it and nestle the base of the plant into it. Having air only circulate around one side of the mount, as opposed to all sides, will keep it from drying out quickly. Also, the additional sphagnum will help. Sometimes it takes a helping hand from a friend to get fishing line good and secure around a piece of cork. Tie a small loop on one end of the line first, make one loop around the mount, then feed the other end through the small loop. After you snug this up tight, you can wrap as needed easily, and then when you're ready to tie it off, gingerly hold the mount between your knees to free up your other hand. Knot the loose end against the small loop that should be on the back side of the slab. It doesn't take that many wraps of fishing line...usually four or five will do. More than that and you risk compacting the moss too tightly. Is your water heavily mineralized? When I was using municipal water in south Florida (just about the worst water you can imagine), I never had problems, and never was concerned about flushing. Now I'm on well, with low TDS, and that's not even a possibility. Unless you're noticing white buildup, don't fret about this. You may want to consider a large terrarium at some point, although if you've ever seen MrBreeze's pics of his setup, that's a dangerous path to go down! LOL! I think Calvin is doing this on a smaller scale for his angs. Low humidity, all by itself, is not generally a "bad" thing. It's how the increased evaporation rate affects the substrate and exposed roots on mounties, as well as developing buds. Low humidity with high air movement = bad. Low humidity with no/low air movement = probably OK. High humidity with no/low air movement = catastrophic. High humidity with high air movement = great. If you have high air movement and your humidity cycles between 30-50%, that's probably acceptable if you make the change I suggested above. If you allow your plants a seasonal dry rest in the winter, then your air movement wouldn't be as necessary most of the time. It's helpful to dry excess water off of leaves, but if your air is otherwise dry, and you water in the morning, that shouldn't be a problem. Most indoor growers don't do seasonal changes, however, so you probably would continue to run your fans throughout the year. The only reason I can see to run fans day and night is if you're using a terrarium. It certainly wouldn't hurt to run your fan over plants during the night in an open room, but, again, if you water in the morning, it shouldn't be necessary. You may reconsider running your humidifiers. There should be enough treatment in your water to eliminate issues, but if you have a concern about bacteria/mold, then treat it yourself. I don't know the capacity of the units you have, but eight drops (or so) of bleach per gallon should eliminate the potential for any problems with pathogens. Keep in mind that as the humidifier is throwing out mist, you don't want that settling on plants when there isn't air movement. I don't believe the bleach smell will be that noticeable at that concentration, but you'll just have to experiment. Also, if you want to avoid having to clean the filter, de-scale, etc., then just purchase R/O water at one of those dispensers at the grocery store...30 cents per gallon around here. Hope this helps. -Bruce

Here is a three clump planting of Elegans under a 40 year old Schwedler (Norway Maple. Growing hosta under maples is not impossible. You have to choose a hosta that is up to the task. Planting Mouse Ears or Halycone would be futile. I have Elegans under the Schwedler and another planted under a Crimson King Red Maple last year. The Red Maple planting is doing well, but one year is not a true test. Hosta thrive under my Pig Nut Hickory trees (clump of 4) which is a member of the walnut family. White pines seem to be no impediment to any hosta I have planted. The roots are shallow, but not very dense and hosta roots seem to have no problem going deep and surviving well. Many of these pines are 80-90 feet tall. Obviously if they produce deep shade it would be difficult to grow anything under them. Jon

Papou, I would be happy to take those two off your hands. Just let me know how much postage is. That applies to anyone who has undesirable hostas as I have just begun collecting. :-D *innocent grin of desperation* Of course, we are in the middle of a major drought. All the rain keeps going north to PA,NY or south to VA,NC. :-( My water bill this quarter is going to be truly scary!! Jen jlsmith0519 at gmail dot com

Be sure to include soil pH as one of your questions. GE tends to grow fine in highly acidic conditions (lower pH) vs alkaline conditions. If the water you use to supplement your hostas is high in Calcium then that will also have a higher pH and limit the solubility of nutrients. I'd start with this measurement first when comparing GE in different gardens. The thought used to be that you should grow GE in a pot until it was root bound and that the container had something to do with it, but I always felt it was the peat based, acidic growing media most people used that helped it more. There are so many different factors that you will want to think about, but the big ones, in my experience, are available nutrients (this is tied to the soil pH), available moisture (and is it natural rainwater or only supplemental water), and amount of soil aeration. The amount of sunlight is not as big of a factor unless that sunlight also increases the soil temperature too much. Some things to think about. I'd be curious to know the soil pH of gardens like Don Rawson's and others who grow monster plants. Chris