I've grown both watermellon and cantelope in clay. It may not be ideal, but it can produce good fruits. Any chance these struggling plants were transplants? I haven't had much success with any of the mellons I tried to start early and move out when the weather was right. Seeds directly sown after those transplants were moved are now three times the size of the transplants.

Hi, To followup on a few things. I'm very excited the plant bloomed. A great example of how hardy Clivias are despite our abuses. As for dividing large clumps, sometimes you just have to take a small axe and split the rhizome as best you can between plants. Sometimes you get offsets without roots. Dip in root tone and put these in sand or peat and keep it lightly moist with weak fertilizer solution for 2-3 months undisturbed. You will be amazed at the roots that develop from this previously "nonviable" appearing plant. Furthermore, that exposed rhizome oftens times becomes an offset factory in 2 years. If you take the little offsets too early, it will take forever to bloom (3-5 years). If you let them get to at least 6-8 leaves, they will bloom in 1-2 years. The smaller ones also have a harder time surviving. As for blooms stuck in the crown, keep the plant cool/cold (not freezing) as long as possible to allow the stalk to elongate. Also keep it dark (trashcan over it if large and outside) to make it "reach for the light," finally, some high strength potassium (0-0-30 I think) in theory can help elongate the stalk. The surest way to have a SHORT stalk is place the budding plant in a bright warm spot. Sometimes, we are jsut stuck with what mother nature gives us, though. As for Clivia prices, I'm still amazed they are so expensive for basic plants. Our local big box stores (HD, Lowes, ...) sell "Golden Dragon" for $30 in 1 gallon in bloom. These are a very narrow petal yellow that sell for $15 on ebay. Our local higher end nurseries sell the Solomone yellow (broader petals, sometimes reflexed back, light yellow to dark yellow) Clivias for $35-40 in 1-2 gallon sizes. I can pick these up for about $20 each in either bud or early bloom if anyone is interested. Shipping from California to the east coast is about $10 for 1 plant, $15 for 2-3 (maybe 4) and about $20 for 4+ plants. Likewise, I can get some landscape peaches (not in bloom) in 10" pots for about $50-60, but shipping costs about $30 on something this large. Individual 10-14 leaf offsets from these pots can run $25-30 each, and also cost a lot less to ship. Finally, variegated oranges from Solomones nursery run about $60-75 in bud/bloom for 2 gal sizes. Here is a picture of Solomone' nursery to give you a feeling for the quantities of Clivias available, and why they really don't need to sell for $100 for basic plants. [IMG]http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj154/Heronbayclivias/Solomone%20Clivias/SolomonesApr07.jpg[/IMG] I wish you all good luck with your blooms in the next couple months. Craig rugg1999@prodigy.net

I was given instruction from the vet- this is not his regular vet but the vet from the Emergency Clinic 45 minutes from me. They are open 24/7 have 5 vets on staff and also see regular patients. He was kept on fluids for 4-5 nights with a vet monitoring him at all times and for a day or two, kept in the office on a comfy bed- not a cage. I can call the clinic with any concerns at any time to speak with a vet and am encouraged to do this. I actually like the vet who did the surgery (there were two of them) much better than my regular vet. The one who did the surgery is the one I'll see when I take my dog in tomorrow morning. Restrictions were to basically baby him and leash walk him for 4 weeks ( for potty). To give him chicken broth with his food to increase his liquid intake because his urine was darkish. He would not eat for 2 days after I brought him home and I was told his clavamox? antibiotic might be making him nauseous. I gave him, per instructions, 10 mg of famatodine and stopped the antibiotic. He started eating the next day. He has pain medicines I give him every 6 hours and yes, in the middle of the night. Today, he ate well, but drank little. Our appointment is at 10:00 Friday. I appreciate ALL your advice.

Update: Machine is now working fine. Things I have learned in the last week: 1) Singer machines made prior to 1960ish do not use standard bobbins that are currently sold. I was right that they were slightly curved. Straight ones will catch the thread going across. Also, the entire box of the ones I bought had a rough spot on the top side. So, bending and filing helped a great deal. 2) Everyone says flat to the back, but my Singer manual said the groove of the needle must be toward the front. Since the grove and flat side are on the same side, flat had to go to the front. 3) Old thread, even new bargain thread from Wal-Mart will cause problems. Toss it. 4) The best thing to do is open the plate, place a tiny piece of material and sew it by hand turning the wheel. You will discover where the problem is occurring. After everything else, I discovered my bobbin casing had a slight rough spot that was catching the thread. Could not see it, but fingernail could feel it. Carefully and lightly filed it down with Drummel and machine purred from then on! 5) If your machine makes a sound about every six stitch or so, there is likely a rough spot somewhere. Every time that sound changes, the thread on the machine can get out of place. Even if you know you threaded the machine properly, it can jump and twist. Check and re-thread again.