Apprently some folks are very emotionally involved in this issue. I simply have not seen any evidence that tree species are suffering from GW. I do in fact read alot of forestry journals (I am a faculty member in a foretry department at a large research university). That isn't to say that papers haven't been published that claim this to be true. Rather, the data they present doesn't actually support their hypotheses. I challenge the "doomsdayers" to show me a study that proves that tree species are suffering from human-caused GW. If you do this, I will retract my statements. As for your childish rant on my typo, I am pretty certain you knew what I meant by "impirical evidence". In any case, provide a citation for some "pirmicale, I mean empirical evidence" then. Its amazing how much hatred there is for anyone that disagrees with those who claim to "know the facts" and are enlightened on the subject of climate change. It becomes pretty obvious to any actual academic researcher that these folks are thinking with their emotions when they won't even answer the basic questions being asked and begin to make petty comments about the intelligence and/or social status of those challenging them.

Thanks all. I'll address each comment below: "You can purchase pine bark fines, which would be a terrific amendment to a normal potting mix (soil-less) along with a generous amount of perlite. A good container medium might be an equal amount of those three ingredients." I've always had bad luck with perlite - it seems to keep the soil way too dry and has essentially killed anything I've experimented with. Also, with all the soils I've considered, I'm not familiar with a normal potting mix that is also soil-less. What materials do you normally see? I know pretty well that citrus hates to have wet roots, so that was my goal with finally finding some larger pine bark chips. Are you suggesting that I mash some of those up into dime-sized pieces and mix in some perlite? "I don't know why you're using Christmas lights if it's inside. How cold do you keep it inside?? Most citrus actually would prefer to be MUCH cooler than us in our winter homes. Don't know where in NJ you live, but I see 70's by day in the extended forcast and maybe 50's or upper 40's in some areas--this ain't cold for citrus!" My house has some poor insulation in the walls, so I thought the Xmas lights would help give the roots a little heat. The house is chilly but not out of livable temps. "Jer, what's a CFL lamp? Does this lamp put out a lot of heat?" It's a basic compact flouresent bulb. No heat, just light. On a timer, too. That was only over last winter while it was indoors. It is indeed dry in the house, but I don't think that would kill the tree. It didn't bounce back after a summer outside, either. "Let's address the root problem. Does the pot sit in a pan to catch water overflow? You need well draining soil and never let the roots sit in water. I'm going to suggest you find some sandy soil. Not pure sand but sandy soil. It will drain well and dry quickly. Repot in sandy soil and feed with Superthrive. An 8 oz bottle is about $15 but I put great faith in Superthrive. Many folks think it is snake oil but I swear by it. If anything will save your tree, Superthrive will." The wet roots and weaker draining was the reason I finally went with the pine bark chips. It was certainly wet in any part-soil mix I previously was using. Are you suggesting sand + crushed pine back chips? I am willing to try the Superthrive if you think it will help. Will it be much better than Miracle Gro for Azeleas (or whatever the acid-loving brand is named)? Thanks all! I'll have to start bringing the tree indoors soon when it dips into the low 30s at night. I hope I can save it!

Could be cyclamen mites - I've had the same problem on a few different plants incl. an S. Divinorum, pretty bad, actually, and very similar to the pics posted. Well, curled leaves to me is the first sign of someone nesting underneath, so I looked. And saw nothing. Then looked again. And a tincy-wincy whitish thing appeared to move across. Well, out came the microscope, and yep, it's a cyclamen mite, positive ID on a few female species from different plants. Now, saying they're small means understating things by a few orders of magnitude: you need a 100x microscope to count legs, so you get the idea. At this magnification a pin tip looks like a sphere, and you still couldn't read what's tattooed on the mite's butt. Interestingly enough, they manifest themselves sort of differently on mango plants that have heavy, waxy leaves, but the idea is still the same - browning (like in case of a bad burn) and crookedness of the young leaves. At any rate, I've searched the web and those mites seem to be fairly common and - bad news - fairly hard to get rid of, the last resort measure being soaking them in 100-110F water for half an hour, something I am trying literally as we speak (just put plants in pots into a bathtub full of hot water). I'll see how it goes, but I've seen those mites dying in a drop of water under the microscope in about a minute, so it might work. I'm hoping I won't kill the plants. Makes me think - I've read on some funny sites that those symptoms are very common to S. Divinorum, but "it's a bit of a mystery" - nobody's certain, most authors contradict one another and the best advice I've seen was to try changing every variable one by one to see what works. Now, given that they are all derived from a small progenitor stock and the number of places you can get cuttings from is limited - could it be that they are all infested with mites? It's hardly surprising that mites haven't been notices in the past: as I said, it takes some looking. Thinking about the spread of infestation across my plants and its apparent chronology, I can only suggest that mites were brought on the cutting I planted, there are no other possible sources like other plants or soil. If you want to check your plants, get a really good magnifying glass and check the undersides of the leaves for tiny, 0.1mm or less, bugs. Some are moving fast. And BTW, it appears to be highly contagious, so as most sites suggest, step one is isolating the infested plants.

Hi, I know this comes a little “after the fact”, but please don’t blame yourself at all for not grieving for your FIL. You love and loved your husband, which is lots more than I can say. I THOUGHT I loved my husband before we were married, but by the time we got married, I didn’t want to marry him anymore. You’re probably wondering “Why in the world would she get married, anyhow?” Well, the truth is, my husband was a very violent person (which I found out before the marriage) and I was AFRAID to not marry him. He controlled people with fear. I actually feared for my life, and I did so many times while we were married. My mother even saw how bad it was (God rest her soul) and offered to pay for a divorce for me (and she was a “tightwad”). Of course, I refused. What would I tell my husband if he asked me where I got the money for a lawyer, “My mother gave it to me”? He would have outright killed her or threatened her fiercely with profane language. I could go on and on about this—there were so many terrifying incidents. But when he passed away last July, I felt like “the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders” and we were married nearly 50 years. I could not cry at his funeral because of all the HORRID things he did to me. But he was like a “Jeckll and Hyde”, a split personality, as he had many friends who thought he was GREAT. He did always help them and fixed things for them (he was unusually handy), so it is to be expected. In his fits of rage, he broke everything that was important to ME. I made stained glass pieces (I did very well at that) and he broke the two lamps that I had in the house. I also had two organs (I loved to play them but I wasn’t that good) and he broke keys on both by flinging objects at them. He didn’t break my stained glass windows because it would have been too obvious to other people. So please hang in there, I’m sure things with your husband will get better over time. Wishing for a quick passing is one of the kindest things he could do.