Lol - Chopping the main stem is pretty radical & would pretty much remove 95% of the foliage, yes? ;o) When she said "peel/remove dead foliage. New growth will form on the upper trunk", she either meant to peel off the ratty leaves or was wrong about new growth forming on the upper trunk. Because it is physiologically consistent that new growth would appear after the leaves were removed (but not the dead parts trimmed) from a healthy plant growing robustly, I actually gave her the benefit of the doubt when I took her suggestion to say peal the leaves off the stem. If she meant to say "Trim only the dead parts", wouldn't it have been advisable to say something like "Carefully trim away the brown parts only and leave the live portions to make food for the plant until it recovers?" so there would be no confusion? I'm sorry, but it's another example of advice that makes absolutely no sense. What good is advice if you have to consider several "she might have meants" and after you do, are still left wondering at the crux? It's very helpful to mention WHY we offer the advice we do. If we can't explain WHY, especially when asked, we're probably not being fair to people reading the advice. Meaning well and doing good are quite different. I'm very sure she meant well, but those intentions carried with them the very obvious potential to leave people misinformed and worse off than had the advice not been offered. Consider that: Would the plant be better off if the suggestions were adopted or ignored? I HATE being the heavy, I know Toni is probably a good person, but I also have great difficulty with advice offered that is unsupportable by anything other than "she might have meants". I think I work fairly hard to share whatever what I know - I enjoy it - but misinformation is like the one step forward & two back thing. There are a couple of people who post here regularly, and if you ask them WHY they said something or offered a piece of advice, especially when it hinges on something technical, there is never a reply because they do not know. That is not fair to readers. Sorry, Mr. S. What I wrote was not directed at you, but to the forum in general. Al

As with many plants we leave out of doors and wishing to take them back indoors at end of season it is a good idea to do a serious examination of them so that the bugs are not given a nice place to breed. A day or so in the garage or shed to allow them to dry out should be considered. Whether you think a spraying of an insecticide is necessary is up to you; sometimes a bit of finger brushing can often sight bugs that can be plucked off and washed down the drain. bigger plants, such as hibiscus, should be examined carefully and allowed to sit in the garage where it can be covered with a bag which envelopes it completely, then a spray can be given it to completely affect the whole plant, left for a day, then re-examined before taking it indoors to a sunny window. This is done when outside temperatures begin to fall below 40úF. Often it is taken indoors and put back out when daytime temperatures rebound. Geranium must not ever be affected by a killing frost--it destroys their ability to come back. The geranium plant, even the big ones, can be removed from their pot, the soil from their roots shaken off....no need to wash--left in the garage for a day or so, then taken directly to the coolest area of the basement where it sits....undisturbed--no water, no light, no heat...until about mid February through mid March...when the above methods are carried out. In the basement, whether you hang them up (upside down is the easiest) or just leave them in their pots to completely dry out, is up to you. With any hung up plant, expect to have to clean up debris of falling dried out leaves, dried out soil and any flowers you've left on. For this you can place them then in a paper bag....no plastic, it doesn't breathe....which catches the debris. DO NOT tie the bag closed...leave them open so that air can circulate. Do not water them...not even a sprinkle...let them dry out completely. When you bring them out, remove any old blooms, remove any damaged or recently developed stems, any old leaves hanging on, and cut them back to what you feel is wanted to re-plant. Cutting it back by a third or more is perfectly alright...the plant will resume its former self from how its strength was there before. Where you feel the size of the plant is large...maybe too large for you to handle, then consider dividing it into as many smaller plants as you feel necessary. Simply find the easiest method to untangle the roots while at the same time, tearing it apart to form new plants. Don't try to re-use the old soil---its done its job, throw it into the compost or spread it on the lawn. Give your new plants fresh, good quality, potting soil--do not ever use garden soil for potted plants. Garden soil has too many bugs for any tender potted plant to fight.

Hi Bernie, Thanks for that tip, this potted tree I've actually had going on three years this summer. The first year I bought it, it did not flower. Last year it had a few flowers, but the fruit didn't survive...I am letting just a few develop if the tree will hold the fruit. If not, then it means the tree is not mature enough. Pepa, Beautiful tree!! I agree with Bernie...you have a special Mango tree there. If that tree survived snow! Wow, everything I have read about them is they are all frost sensitive, since they are tropical fruits. You need to take cuttings from that tree or better yet, when you get fruits, save all your seeds and try planting them all. You might just have a new variety that is cold sensitive? Do you know what type of mango variety it was that you bought? By the way did you cover your mango tree at all when it was snowing? Inquiring minds want to know, LOL... You should post that picture with your story on the Tropical fruits forum...I'm sure there are many members that would love to see and hear your success story! Good luck and please keep us posted!

Jeremy, you're right, any vehicle that gets X miles per gallon would have the same benefits to the environment and to owners. But that's one problem with hybrids: To get those benefits with a hybrid, you have to subject yourself to a more complex drivetrain that brings with it scary future costs. (Battery replacement will run $5,000 on a Prius and $7,000 on a Ford Escape.) Then there's the whole control mechanism which switches from gas to electric drive. That's reportedly been causing some problems on the Prius. So the question you have to ask as a consumer is, if I can get 50 mpg with a diesel or 50 mpg with a hybrid, both of which are going to have the same effect on the environment and my fuel costs, why am I going to pay more for a hybrid now so I can also have the privilege of paying more to keep it on the road later on? In addition, the diesel is going to deliver its rated mileage in the city, on the highway, in the winter, in the summer, with the heat and/or defroster on, and in various other conditions which knock a hybrid's mileage down.