Texas goddess, The alpinias are so prolific most people are happy to divide there clumps. Many times on here I have read where people resort to chemicals to kill them or keep them under control. So do ask, they will probably be happy to share. James in Florida

Hmmmm? I never heard of propagatiing them by root cuttings. Interesting. We've had them for years in our yard, and they grow from the seeds that drop off. But, since some of them were so butchered, I wanted to try to save the branches that were cut down. Pb, here is an interesting site that explains root cuttings: http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/mg/manual/prop2.htm I have taken a lot of the branches and put them in 1 part top soil/1 part sand mixture. They were already shriveling up. They wilt very quickly when cut. I hope they will root. Just as an added note, I did find another site that recommended tip cutting for blackberries: http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0705/blackberry_layering.asp Of course, that will not help me under these circumstances.

I bought a Hoya Kerri plant about 4 years ago - it was just a leaf in a pot (one of those Valentine's specials). The leaf remained the same for about 6 months. There was no sign of growth above the soil. I was eventually curious un-potted it and was surprised to see that it had a strong root system going. I then checked on the net and found info that you can only expect it to start showing signs of growth above soil level after about a year. I repotted it into a small clay pot and after about 6 months a small shoot appeared, which then grew steadily and at about 2 years it flowered for the first time. My plant is now about a metre long creeping up a wall, winding itself along a wire i had suspended to help it grow vertically. Maybe I was just lucky....I don't know. I did buy a second plant in its leaf cutting form about a year ago (this one was varieagted). It died after a few months!

Sharon When buying C&S soil get a bag of perlite (or pumice if available). This should be sifted or rinsed (see my comments IN THIS THREAD where I posted example photo of sieves, and described process). If my plant in that pot, I would check moisture of existing mix using a long wooden-bamboo skewer or chopstick or thinner dowel or stick. Stick it deep inside of pot - I would aim to go 3/4 deep, could be all the way. Use stick no thicker than pencil. Long bamboo skewers could be found in dollar store too - just make sure it is long enough to reach deep. If stick comes out dry and clean soil is dry. Depending on when you watered last - deep pot like that holds lots of soil and take longer to dry up. It is little trickier to water correctly. It could be difficult to tell at the begging, you need to learn. If you determine that it drains well, add some new mixl and try to mix it with existing as much as possible, using thinner stick. Maybe you can attempt re-potting next year? I am saying that since plant looks ok (besides needing some more sunlight), so perhaps existing soil drains quite well. Is there any chance of asking previous owner what soil he/she used and when last re-potted? Also, roots of your succulents are not that deep that they would need such deep pot. So it is important for them not to sit in 'muck' - but there are few 'levels' with plants, so I would keep checking soil for moisture couple/few inches below. It may look scary to repot such big plant in such big pot, but you will learn...:) Worse that could happen is that more branches would get snapped - but they can be re-rooted. Sooner or later it will need to be re-potted, and you can start learning by rooting the broken branch. I guess you got it because you like how it grows and trails in that strawberry jar? - It looks pretty good, so I understand. But huge pots like that are trickier to handle when re-potting. It is also recurved on top, making re-potting bit more difficult. I have plant that grows in similar way. It is in much shorter bowl-type pot, wide at the top. I may do some beheading this year, since some stalks are getting too long (last years photo - it is even fuller now): Stick ends A and C into mix. NOT B - if you did, that part of plant would be upside-down, and may have difficulty to grow (some plants do not grow at all). It should still grow; and make sure you do not water it immediately: no roots - no water (you can find more comments about that in BEHEADING threads) Sorry for such long post - that is also why I refer to other threads. Ask should you have further questions.