fallingwaters; first of all, know that your you and your dh, and his hea lth care prov iders are in my prayers. Your priorities are in the right place, although I know there is some disappointment after getting so much in place for the renovation. I, too, put off my kitchen for a year. My MIL fractured her hip and was having repeated complications, my husbands workload increased at work and by being the primary healthcare surrogate for his mom. I sensed that just having the stress of ripping out the kitchen -- but also of not HAVING a functional kitchen, was a bit more than our family could deal with. My kitchen is a place of respite, even if in it's current state it isn't perfect. My experience has been like needssometips and jreuter. I saved up some more $$. I'm not putting that extra into the kitchen, but it is giving us a bit more of a cushion. 2. I've gotten just about every wee decision made, down to the gar bage di sposal, and what I'm lining the drawers with. Except for the darn faucet. Still trying to figure it out. In the next few months as you go thru this with your husband, there will likely be times when you feel out of control. Looking at pulls and such and making a few decisions unrelated to the health aspects may help you get a feeling of control back. And in the middle of the night, when you can't sleep, no doubt someone has posted a tittilating post (I know that isn't spelled right) that may take your mind off the stressors for a few minutes.

Hi tropicbreezent, I live in Boynton Beach west of the Turnpike, I have never had my soil tested. Realistically that would be the logical thing to do to determine what type of nutrients and ratio to put back into the ground. My trees produce very well and the varieties I grow are delicious. I would fertilize monthly from March - October perhaps a quarter of the reccomended amount each month up until October at which time I would apply a larger amount with a heavier ratio of potash. TB, my thinking is that I probably only need to fertilize the trees 2 or 3 times a year and water as needed and cutting back on watering from October to February. This winter we had near record rainfall in Palmbeach County. I don't know how that extra rain will affect production this year. I often feel that I throw everything at my trees but they would do just as well with less. I'm trying to find the right balance of fertilizer and schedule to go by. In my surrounding area there are several of us that grow mango trees. Our fertilization plans are all almost the same except one neighbor who does much less but yet has high productivity and very tasty mangos. tropicbreezent thank you for responding and giving your advice, I certainly appreciate it.

Thank you all for your responses! I will monitor the plants in the skylights very closely as we approach late spring and summer with my indoor thermometer. Hopefully, in the next month or so I can just leave the skylights wide open all the time so they get plenty of fresh air and air circulation and it will help to keep the day temps down since they open up about a foot. I think I am also going to get some fake plant(s)/tree branches that I can use to diffuse the lighting a bit for them as well while keeping the natural look. Sorry if I seem stubborn on leaving them there- they just look so great! The skylights are also my only natural light source on that side of the building and I need to be surrounded by plants. I am interested in moving some of my plants outside for the summer. I have plenty of space. I live in an apartment above a garage, so the only other person on the property is my landlord and he loves plants as much as I. My real concern is with wildlife. I live in a very rural area, which means everything from squirrels to black bears, plus the flock of chickens my landlord has. I've seen some posts of squirrels running off with orchids and I am concerned. I am currently at war with two grey squirrels and two red squirrels over my bird feeder (they are winning). How much should I be concerned about this? If I keep the squirrels well fed, do you think they will leave my orchids alone? I think my oncidium would really enjoy being outside and I would like to spur some growth from it. It's endured a lot at my hands and I am amazed it's still alive. I want to try to make amends with it. What would be the "ideal" outside location? Morning sun and bright shade the rest of the day? Would it be okay on the ground or a plant stand or should I try to hang it from a tree? I agree about the sphag potting. I was actually very disappointed when I opened the shipping box from Norman's. The shipping receipt said not to repot the plants for 30 days as this could "severely damage" them but the plants already looked like they were on the downward slide to me. I repotted them all. The Cattleya and the Ren. are now in a potting mix with bark, a dash of fresh sphagnum and a dash of Black Gold orchid mix. I mounted the Bulbophyllum on cork bard with sphag. I know in the winter I will need to do something about moisture. I am probably going to do a terrarium and artificial lighting for it. The little seedling's main roots probably won't live- it looks like they were rotted at the base of the plant. I left them because they were still firm and plump and I hope I am wrong about the rot. The Cattleya had lost probably over 60% of its roots but still had some healthy ones and the Bulbuphyllum was held in the mix by buried, dead and rotting pseudobulbs. The rest of it looked shriveled. I think I may have lost the seedling if left in that sphag much longer. Needless to say, I don't think I will order from Norman's again between this and what I've read about them. It makes me sad because I got plants from them 8 years ago and they looked phenomenal (they have since passed). Thanks for the Phaius suggestion, James! I really like the look of it and have put it near the top of my wishlist. My pony-tail palm may be getting evicted from its spot in the not-to-distant future. It looks like its terrestrial. What kind of growing medium do you like to use for it? Thanks again for all your suggestion. I really appreciate any help and advice I can get.

Rooting stem cuttings seems kind of hit-&-miss with me, Aloha. The "book" on rosemary is to start cutting in the fall. I have had about 90% success starting them several times in the spring. This spring, it was about 10% success ..! The greenhouse is used and the cuttings sit on the floor out of the sun. I don't run heat in there in the fall so I didn't follow the book. The book also told me (online sources .... altho' I may have referred to something here on my shelf), fig branches are easy to start and did not need rooting hormone. Always use it on the rosemary. I tried that on 5 or 6 fig branches one spring - not one set roots. (I've tried air-layering fruit trees, also. Total failure ... :o( Steve