Hi Lisa, my opinion is that there's as many "things to do" with it now, as there are people who compost. Try something, see what happens, see if you like what happens, and if not, try something different next time, and if you do like it, keep doing it! :) If it were my pile I would: 1. keep adding adding adding until it gets to critical mass or more, and 2. turn it every few days. Of course others will/may disagree w/me - but that's how I like to do it. Sometimes I decide to "fill up" my pile all at once & add nothing more until it is "finished" - and just turn it to add oxygen (which it needs more of b/c it's in a rubbermaid), and sometimes I decide to just keep adding on a daily basis, even when it's full, b/c as stuff disintegrates there's room for more & more stuff (usually browns) still need to decompose. All depends what's going on in my home/garden/area & what I "feel" like doing, that helps me decide which path to take. And personally, I fall into the category of "love to turn" - again in part due to the container issue - and in part, b/c that's how I've had success & thus "bonded" w/the "art of composting." So, try something, and let us know how it goes, and soon you'll develope your own favorite ways! :) All the Best, Tree

I wouldn't worry too much about it - the flowers will likely just drape down from the top. This is an old picture (2010) but shows a group 3 that hadn't been pruned hard in 7 years! I took this picture shortly before we cut everything off the arbour in order to remove the beautiful but vicious (those thorns!!) New Dawn rose that shared the arbour with it... (The odd angle in the photo is because DH took the picture while standing on a stepladder so he could see the top of the arbour too....) I like the 'abundant' look so don't do the recommended hard pruning - I just take off obviously dead stuff and maybe neaten up a bit. This is the same arbour from the other side last summer: And the top of the same arbour, viewed from the pantry window last summer!

Forgot to add that it's a Night-blooming Cereus type, either Epiphyllum hookeri (syn. E. stenopetalum) or Epiphyllum oxypetalum (commonly called Queen of the Night). A picture will determine which... E. hookeri is unscented and has a carmine-colored style while E. oxypetalum is divinely fragrant and has a white style.

The biggest issue is fungus gnats. Tiny black flies that love to live indoors or out and infest every single plant even if its in a pot. They are smaller than fruit flies. Outdoors, I use a form of Bt and also benefical nematodes as I used to get a LOT of these fungus gnats, they even get inside the leaf layers of brussles sprouts, which are not good eating when you see tiny back flies in the cooking water. Indoors, when I start seeds, I use a mix of seed starting soils, like Natural Beginnings from Gardens Alive, as well as a Jiffy mix that is sold by the bag through sevral web sites, and even shreaded coconut husk fibers called coir. These are all quite 'clean' and have little to no real soil in them. They help hold just the right amount of moisture too. The fungus gnats usually come from outdoor soils, lay eggs in the soil that turn into tiny maggots and these feed off the tender roots of any plants. Thats one reason you see house plants suddenly dieing for no apparent reason. To check indoor plants, I use yellow sticky traps that rest horizontally on the edges of the pots. After just a couple of days, these traps can become loaded with tiny black gnats! Outside is where I use a form of Bt and also water in the beneficial nematodes that live in soil and go after the fungus maggots. My garden soil here isn't perfect, but if I can reduce harmful bugs from killing plants, its a big help. I use scent lures and sticky traps for my apples, peaches, and even cucumbers. Each sticky trap has a scent lure that attracts the pests common to these plants. Some plants and trees are highly resistant to diseases and bugs. Asian pears, asparagus, and blueberries to name a few. It may be better to head to a nursery/garden shop, as Home Depot and Lowes tend to offer a very limited amount of organic supplies. Here, we have only a very few products that are organic and most are for bugs (Neem) and disease control (Serende). The bags of soil offered by Miracle Grow tend to be a bit harsh as they simply use chemical equivilents to the real soil nutrients. I have a small leanto shed that stores corn gluten, fish meal, humate, kelp meal, and a few others. I use these as natural nitrogen additives, or in the case of humate, many minerals and micro nutrients. If you do plan to spray for any bugs that might be feeding on the leaves, try Neem. I wouldnt spray any herbs with anything unless the bugs are chewing holes in the leaves however. Bt, is a liquid mixed with water and has several different strains, of which one is for the gnat control. Ever hear of squash vine borers? These bugs bore into the base of squash vines and destroy the insides which cause the plants to quickly die. I have used another form of Bt and actually injected it into the main stems of squash plants, by using an insulin syringe. The Bt attacks the borers and kills them. Imagine a garden thats a living thing like us, it just can't survive all by itself if you want good yields and quality crops. I have only 2000 sq. feet of garden space, and there is also areas all around the edges of my garden that have fruit trees, or some permanent plants like asparagus and horse radish, which I harvest every spring. For your pot of cilantro, add some seeds every 2-3 weeks, so they can give you more than 1 or 2 harvests. Only thing is, if they are clumped together, they are hard to seperate if there are two stages of growth within each other. Indoors, I start about 60 petunia plants, 60 or so impatien plants, peppers, tomatos, basil, and a few others about mid April. This year, seedless watermelons with a necessary pollinator, as well as a few cantaloupe types. Brussels sprouts again too, but will be covered with a light weight white plastic fabric to block out the bugs, then my big batch of corn, which I plant every other year. I have a small tractor and a big rototiller to turn the soil over every spring, and work in any soil ammendments needed. Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Beginnings