A little update .... ( and I'll try to do this without a double post). We are lucky to live within a few miles of a community cannery. While we do a chunk of it at home, it is handy for the bigger runs. The process ( for tomatoes) goes something like this .. Show up with fresh, clean, ripe maters. Load them into racks ( single stack). Place racks on conveyor. Racks go through a steamer and then cool water spray. Take racks to a table, peel, core and cut up as desired. Pack into jars with lemon juice and salt. Note, you can bring glass jars or use their steel ones. Seal and number ( you are assigned a number for ID/tracking) Leave. They process the product in their steam pressure cookers. Come back, pay them ( .30/supplied jar), pick up. It is a Fantastic place and I hope that there is one close to you ... folks come from 30+ miles away to use it. So the wife and a friend spent maybe an hour and a half there this morning canning 28 quarts of maters ... $8.40. Hope that explains a bit of how we deal with our produce. They do vegetables Tue-Thurs ... meat on Mon and Fri. You can even rent part of a cooler.

How to Post Pictures FAQ Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ - How to post pictures

Bunnygirl is right on the mark. When transplanting any succulent, let the roots/cut stem dry in the air for a few days so that any small injuries harden to prevent fungal infection. Plant in dry soil and do not "water in". Soil should be at least 50% inorganic materials like pumice, perlite, gravel, etc. Do not use sand. Peat retains too much water and should be avoided like the plague! Commercial potting mixes (including those labeled Cactus and Succulent) have too much peat. My basic mix is about 75% pumice. It looks like they are all are infected by fungus, and will certainly die without intervention. The translucent color is a very bad sign. Pull them up immediately and inspect the roots and lower stem. If they are falling apart, and the stem is dark and soft, the only cure is to cut the stem above the rot. This may not be possible for the pups, as I suspect the leaves will fall off the stem leaving nothing to grow, but the parent plant may still be salvageable. After transecting the stem above the rot, let it dry out in the air for three days or more to callous. Then place in DRY soil. You may need to prop up the plant. Do not water until the plant has started to grow new roots, this will take some time (weeks). During this time, water in the lower leaves will be resorbed by the plant. This is natural. Succulents usually have sufficient water reserves to last for months without any water at all. When you see signs of new growth, start watering. Let the soil dry out completely between watering. There is no proper schedule, everything depends too much on your local conditions (heat/humidity/season/latitude/soil composition/etc). The basic rule is: If in Doubt, Don't! This axiom is true for any action, watering, transplanting, fertilizing, etc. Succulents thrive on neglect. The ideal cultural practice is called Benign Neglect. In your case, there is no doubt that intervention is necessary to save your plants. For more aloe care advice, read the Aloe FAQ page here on the site. Good luck! Brad

Thanks hopefulauther - Aeonium, will try and source one [or two] of those down. Chemocurl - no problems at all copy/paste and quote all you want,,,,if it means getting pictures posted, I'm all for it. Many message boards don't seem to have decent instructions on posting pics, if they have any info at all. Guess that's where we all come in :-)