That does look like chemical misuse there, Warren - I would have worried if it was a black colour and smelled rotten, but that doesn't appear to be the case with your Selenicereus. Your plant would benefit from being in more porous soil. It will grow in what you have it in, but it's not happy. You wait until you repot it in more porous soil - you'll soon have a medusoid sprawler. This plant should be in full growth now.

Corpsman - worry not about snakes. Having lived here all my 63 years I've had snakes in my backyard frequently but never been harmed. In fact, just about all of them will scatter at the first sign of humans. The only aggressive snake is a cottonmouth; they will advance on you if threatened, however, they are a diminishing species, mostly in the swampy areas. Now, if you want something really to be frightened about, I submit to you the penultimate danger in Florida, a species so scary that even grownups cringe, women recoil, babies cry; to wit, a Canadian tourist wearing bermuda shorts, sandals with black socks, sunburned from head to toe, driving a rented car while trying to read a roadmap. It make me shiver and want to curl up with a snake for safety.

This guy appears to be a Yellow Striped Armyworm, a common caterpillar with plenty of variations of color. Here is a link that might be useful: Click for comparison

Again Seysson, your opinion ONLY on no so called black Tomatoes, which I refer to as red/blacks if they have a yellow epidermis, such as Carbon or Black Krim and pink blacks if they have a clear epidermis such as Cherokee Purple or Indian Stripe or Black From Tula. to. What is purple? No consensus on that at all, and it's more important these days with many varieties having antho shoulders or spots. The word purple was used up until perhaps the 30's to indicate a PINK tomato, so that unt Ginny's Purple, is pink for instance. Very few varieties dohave a bit of true purple and Orange Smudge and Red fleshed Orange Smudge are examples. You listedabove a Purple Heart and the Only true Purple Heart I know of was via the breeding efforts of someone in Germany whom I know well, who just released a purple, a green and chocolate heart, no, he doesn't sell seeds, and I was sent the seeds and they are being grown out this summer by my seed producers for my next seed offer elsewhere. But you said Purple Heart (DWF) and for those who don't know what that means, it was one bred by members of the Dwarf Project at another site. And here is a link to the one you are growing and if you look at the parentage it might or might not make sense in calling it Purple Heart Carolyn, who knows how much you miss me, oh well, I do stop by, but infrequently, and almost never post now.