Hey, there Ajacs. I noticed you had inquired about the care of your Alocasia amazonica hybrids. I don't grow this particular alocasia, and I don't grow them as houseplants. The alocasias I grow are in the garden, or just overwintering in the house until I get them planted in the year in spring (assuming they make it). Anyway, I found some culture information concerning Alocasia amazonica and hybrids that may be of some help to you, from Agri-Starts. Growing Information Temp: below 45F plant may go dormant Light: 65%-73% shade, likes high light, but will do reasonably well in 80% shade Soil: aerated mix containing bark, coarse perlite and peat moss Mature Height: 3-3 ½' Pot Size: 8-14" Hardiness: Zone 9 Major Pests: Mites (Control: Avid, Pentac, and Kelthane) Diseases: Alternaria, Botrytis Blight, Anthractnose, Phytophthora/Pythium Rot, Rhizoctonia Root and Stem Rot, and Xanthomonas Blight Origin: South East Asia Amazonica is an enduring favorite that has been around for a long time. It is a watsoniana x sanderiana. It typically has leaves 12-24" long by 6-11" wide. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green and the midrib is typically a lime-white. The primary lateral veins are surrounded by white-silver zones and some clones have an extensive network of silver veinlets between the primary lateral veins. The lower surface is typically matte purple with a green-white midrib and major lateral veins. Between the laterals on the lower surface the veinlets are pale green-white. The petiole is typically 15" long and is green with dull brown variegation in the lower half. The corms are white with a tint of very pale pink. I have to add that this is usually the dormant season for alocasias and colocasias, and while I wouldn't totally withhold water, you might want to cut back on watering some, especially since it appears your plant is not in active growth. Don't fertilize now. Wait until it begins active growth in spring. You might want to put the plant outside once the night temperatures are in the 60's, in shade. I think Amazonicas like more shade than some alocasias. I have macrorhiza, wentii, and plumbea nigra, and they can take a bit more light than Amazonica, IMO. Anyway, for it to be dormant now sounds pretty normal to me. It may be hardy outside in your zone, but I wouldn't try that now. The bumps you noted, to me, are just part of the tuber. My tubers are kind of bumpy right at the bottom where they enter the soil, so I don't think that is unusual either. Humidity could be an issue, and you may have to deal with spider mites, a common ailment for alocasias in a dry indoor environment. Do you have a cool mist humidifier on it, or do you set the plant on a saucer of rocks (saucer wider than the pot) with water in the saucer, but not enough where the water will reach the roots of the plant? I used to just run a cool mist humidifier on my indoor plants that like high humidity environment, and that seemed to work. Hope this helps you. Susan

Sounds to me like the duct work feeding the ceiling registers are not insulated and are chilled down sufficiently to condense water from the heated air. With my HP the temperature is too low to use an evaporator humidifier in the forced air, such as is common with gas and oil fired furnaces where the plenum temperatures run well over 100 degrees. But I understand you to say you have humidifiers in the heat pump air stream. Perhaps I misunderstand, and that may be all my fault, it is late and I opened this thread seeing no one had responded. I haven't given your post the careful reading needed I'm sure, but offer the above with the suggestion, by all means, lower you humidity setting.

I think what I meant to say was I wanted one that would run without the furnance actively heating. The humidifier will run if I turn the fan from Auto to On right? I tried to research both brands online and the cost of the units themselves are very similar a nominal difference. Since I don't know the technology I really can't tell the difference between the two units. I don't have a digital humidistat which I may call and ask for him to replace instead of the entire unit. I just wish he had been more honest with me and stop acting like he forgot. My husband talked to him and then I called him back with more questions and he was inside the house. He didn't give me a written bid because he said he had to call Aprilair he called me back and gave me a verbal bid. I won't ever use this company again.

Mike, you sound like the expert. So, here is where I am: I like the Honeywell because of several features: 1. The outdoor sensor shows me the outdoor temp and RH. 2. I have the wireless remote which I use on the 2nd floor to control the temp in the summer months. I like it reading from the remote and also seeing the outdoor temp. 3. The color display is cool. I'm currently using it with an old single stage furnace and AC, but it has the ability to control multi-stage and humidifier. The manual says it learns from the RH and outdoor temp readings to best control the furnace. It does appear that if I go with the Infinity, that I should also go with the Infinity controller to maximize the features. My dealer has also proposed the Comfort series, which is a better match for the honeywell T-stat. So, my choice is. The Infinity with modulating valve and replace the Honeywell, or get the Comfort series, which is lower cost, and keep the honeywell. I have an older brick farm house about 3500 sq and it is not energy efficient to begin with. I currently run a stand alone humidifier. The dealer has recommended a Honeywell TrueSteam humidifier. What do you think? Do they work? I have a choice of electronic air cleaner, or media filter. I want clean air, but my ductwork is 130 years old. I'm going to have it cleaned, but I cannot make a new clean dust free house out of my old farm house. Is the electronic cleaner really going to help? Hybrid system. Is it worth it getting a heat pump? Is the combo more efficient than natural gas alone for heating? I know.. a lot of questions but before I spend a lot of money, I need to be sure I spend it in the best way. Thank you very much. Mike C