i have delt with spider plants quite a bit and always read up on anything before i buy it or grow it so i know how best to handle it so i dont kill anything, but ive always noticed i learned more from experiance... what ive noticed myself from trying to get my plants to sprout shoots on command is this - very very little water, like hold off watering it until the soil is completley dry and then i soak it down, also it sounds like you may be over fertilizing it, you shouldnt really ever have to fertilize it or if so once in a great while, like once or twice a year. also one thing i did with a GIANT momma i had, which already had lots of shoots but i wanted to see what happened was i put it outside and stuck a banana on top of the soil around the base of the plant, about a week or so later it had like no kidding 30 shoots comming off of it. that was like i said a giant momma that was probably around 6 feet long, i had it hanging over the railing of my porch and it didnt touch the ground. it had probably 20 or so shoots on it, but when i added that banana im guessing the potassium kicked it into gear. but anyways, ive read quite a lot about it plus from experiance ive noticed that with holding water seems to make it sprout (i think it sprouts during the dry seasons in its native areas). hope this helps at all.

I noticed some leaves curling the last few days and today found that the young shoots were totally contorted. It's been hot and dry here for several weeks, but the plants had been putting on good growth and looking good. It's happening to quite a few of the plants - most in fact - even though I planted some varieties for their extreme disease resistance. Last year I had a similar experience but had my tomatoes near some uncertified potatoes. This year I have certified potatoes and they are as far away as I can get them - 30 or more feet. I hope someone can offer a diagnosis. I have looked at the common diseases and don't see anything that looks quite like this. I will try to post some photos.

We've been having afternoons in the upper 40s F - Much above average for SE Wisc. The weather service is predicting the return of normal winter tomorrow. They expect it to start snowing by 3 am Thursday and throughout the day drop 5 to 8 inches of snow and then turn colder. My snow shovel is tuned up and the snow-blower is ready. I walked 2.75 miles today for exercise - I know what I'll be doing tomorrow for exercise! Next week on the 18th, I hope we don't have a winter storm. That's the day I ferry my friend's car to O-Hare Field (Chicago) to pick him up. He's flying in from half way around the globe from the southern hemisphere.

The little lizards are everywhere lately lol. I just took one out of our bedroom yesterday and put it outside on the ginger plants. I looked out the bedroom window and saw this green form bouncing up and down and it was a lizard inside our window lol. I also found a little pinkish lizard with suction cup type feet (maybe some kind of newt??) trying to get into the clothes dryer last night. I couldn't catch him. I have been finding the tiniest baby green tree frogs in all the rose flowers here lately. They are feasting on gnats or something that fly around the blooms. As for the huge roaches or palmetto bugs...our Key West rescue hens love to get them and rip them apart! They actually fight over who gets to devour them first LOL! They must have got a lot of roaches on Key West because next to bread, roaches are their favorite food lol. I have a phobia of those big roaches so I was delighted when we got those Key West hens because they gobble up every one they find. ~SJN