I have a cestrum nocturnum to trade - looks great now since its been outside all summer, but I know that by the end of the winter inside my house, it will be in a major plant snit as it has every year since I got it. Not one of my smartest purchases! I'm looking for stuff on my list or an unusual houseplant that is more tolerant of indoor living (have plenty of sansevierias already) Thanks, Frances

Hi Mike. If it were mine I would flush it out in its current container and then repot the next day. Prune the roots and remove all the old potting mix you can. Prune the top for shape and to reduce the total number of leaves. I am not sure what the leaf spotting is caused by, we actually talk about the edible fig in this forum and it is very different from other types of fig.

I'm a native Floridian, too, and to me, I see mostly the same types of changes we've always had. In other words, while the "normal" predictions would be dry winters/springs and rainy summer/fall afternoons, I've also seen years where it was all turned upside down. And I've seen those crazy years throughout my 63 years here. Also, we have NOT had a rainy summer here in the Sanford area at all. We have had the driest June and early July I can remember, with rains only just starting up again about 3 weeks ago. And barring this past week, no all day rains at all. Yesterday, I went to Gainesville, and it rained all day up there, but I came home to find it had only sprinkled here for a short time in the afternoon, and that was all. I guess what I'm saying is that 1) there have always been years when the weather deviated from what's considered "typical" in Florida and 2) it isn't deviating from that typical type of weather in all areas of the state, even this year. This does not mean I don't think weather patterns as a whole are changing, because I do. Just that Florida has always been a land of alternating drought and monsoon, and it still seems that way to me, even though my area has had way more drought and very little monsoon in 2007. Marcia

kobe, if it were mine I would just build a small shelter for the tree instead of stressing the tree more and disturbing the roots. Since its a small tree it shouldn't be hard to make a makeshift "wind shelter". I did this for my lychee trees and kept it there for a little over two years and it made such a difference(until the freeze killed it)...especially on the new growths since they are very tender and sensitive to wind over 15mph. You can use just about anything to build it...PVC, wood posts, fencing. You can use shade cloth, burlap. Check out the picture below...Hope it helps. Here is a link that might be useful: