Hi there, Today a friend gave me some cuttings from her bamboo. A black bamboo and a realy tall one (I know this won't help much in figuring out the latin names). They are not full Culms, they are branches from the main culm. I have them in water, soaking with some compost juice for nutrients. It works much like miracle grow. As I am reading this post, I am wondering which action I should take. Should I trim the bottoms, dip in rooting powder and put in dirt imediately (one web page suggests this)? Wrap the base in a ball of p.moss and perilite with foil wrapping? Should I use string to tie it off with? Do I need to use foil, or is there something better? Should I leave them in water for a few days, weeks, months? Once I had a "chunk" of bamboo in water in my window, it rooted. Then it whent into dirt. Now it is happy on the porch - or is it? Now you all have me worrying! Thanks for the helpful info!!!!

Hi all.. back 3yrs on from my last comment 2016... I had bloated stomach probs then and blods in toilet.. They said fer ages itsit's my ibs a piles.. But after me seeing doctor for umteenth time iI saw diff doctor and said need tests done as feels not right..anyway cut this long story short it turned out to be bowl c. 1st stage thankfully.. So had all intensive treatment done an cleared it but now have regular checks each year up to date now not long had last ct done ahead of yearly check up august (but said ct ok) But I've my bloated belly (from top belly button) back an wee lot an seen my local doc an testing for alibactor= (in stomach which they found 2016 to an treated with antibiotics) and prolapse to witch I've had few yrs now ...im hoping all ok but on reading comments above a lot of overian c mentioned.. Which years ago they said mine had shrilled up (after hystirectomy 1990 for cervical c) so no concern bout them.. Hopefully.. My docs ses i had CT with dye done this past march and that he said an assured me an drew a diagram is thouragh an was clear... So hopefully all crossed he's right as u tend to lose faith in them esp wen they miss things..

I have ordered from many Thai sellers and Rinoa from Taiwan for many years and have been either fortunate and stay with sellers w a good track record. A concern for labeling a seller as bad, can all be subject to information given by each individual. I believe that any concerns should be made apparent to all individuals here, so that each one of us can make our own educated decision as to whether we want to pursue purchasing from a seller. To many variables fall into play, unless obvious as in the Pom issue. Which is deceitful at the least. What is happening w the Thai sellers, is that they want to take payment either through Western Union or PayPal (Friends & Family). This way there is not recourse for us when purchasing. Basically putting cash into someone hand and hope they are honest. The one thing that I was made aware of at first getting into these plants, was to not order after Oct/Nov or before Mar. If we do order plants within these parameters then we risk the chances of cold conditions. Even if we live in a warmer area through out the winter months. The point of entry into out country is relatively cold. Not the best conditions for these Adeniums. Especially in the winter where my plants would arrive to. A friend many years ago had told me to hold off as much as it might be difficult, as I wanted them right now. Glad he did make this apparent to me. I have been caught in a similar situation as Tyler did w Rinoa. Fortunately she made good with it. In my situation it had become apparent that she had built her business up and had many people hired to help her, as she could not manage on her own. This leading to unqualified or uneducated eyes packaging plants for export and not aware of what healthy plants look like. This falls on Rinoa's hands and is responsible for this. For me, my one question to a seller will be. "If a plant is shipped with rot or unhealthy and received within reasonable time frame, Will it plant be replaced and shipping paid by them." If the resulting answer is "No" then I will not be ordering anything. Probably will find that most will not conform to this. I feel for most of you within the U.S., to have people such as Tracy (may be others, but I do not remember) growing these throughout the year and selling with the U.S. This is where I would look if not wanting to purchase from outside of the country. I can purchase from the U.S., but the cost of the Phytosanitary Certificate from U.S. makes it not very expensive. That's it for me. If a "Thread" is to be started with a heading so that people can peruse it and make an informative decision based on what they read, then I am for this. Rick

It appears that 3 of the 4 Samoan seedlings sprouts are making some progress with new growth. Don't know why but the 4th one of them seems to be near death, almost completely browned out. :( I've read the strong sun/heat can crack the husk too much and cause the plant to have a reduced resistance to the environment. Maybe sunburn, overwatering, underwatering? Maybe 100% success rate is asking too much. If it dies, I think I'm going to replace it with a Satakentia liukiuensis rather than another coconut palm.