Hi Paula, I love the way red-tipped photinias look when they are healthy. The hard part, though, is keeping them healthy. We had a nice lovely unpruned hedge of them at our home in Fort Worth, and I noticed when we drove by the house back around Christmas that they are still there. They look kind of overcrowded now because we only planted them about 8' apart. If I were planting them nowadays, I'd plant them 12' apart because they become huge monsters with age. The problem with red-tipped photinia is that that there really isn't any way to prevent or cure the entomosporium leaf spot that has plagued them since at least the late 1980s or early 1990s. Some people try spraying them with a fungicide like Daconil (chlorothalonil) but it shows only moderate success and has to be reapplied fairly often. I asked myself what I would do if I were in your shoes, and I decided I'd yank them out. If the choice is to fight the same battle over and over again with a fungal leaf spot disease that is a problem for these plants virtually nationwide or to remove them and plant something that is better adapted, I'd plant something better-adapated and low-maintenance, like a member of the holly family. I wondered if I was being too harsh on them, so I checked the website of Texas gardening guru Neil Sperry to see what he has to say about red-tipped photinias nowadays, and his answer, which is about what I expected, is linked below. It was Neil who warned on his radio show way back in the early- to mid-1990s that red-tipped photinias were showing high disease rates and ought to be replaced. Clearly he hasn't changed his mind since then. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Red-Tipped Photinias

Sorry I missed your earlier post. I agree with all Laurie wrote. However, I discourage watering by the clock or the calendar -- by a certain amount in specific intervals. The amount is always drenching until water flows out the bottom. As for the interval, there are too many variables that affect the amount of moisture in the soil to follow a fixed regime: the plants changing needs (health, growth stage, increased size of root ball, decreased size of root ball, preparation for blooming, season, annual cycles, maybe how safe it feels!), ambient temperature, ambient humidity, air flow around the plant, light exposure, probably barometric and other intangibles I'm unaware of. So, for me, that leaves three ways to know when the soil is dry enough to water again: - by touch -- poke a finger well into the soil. If it is bone dry as far as you can reach when it was not a few days or a week earlier, then there is probably moisture below your reach, but not so much that it would not benefit from water during active growth; - with a hygrometer -- same principle as the finger, it just reaches deeper into the soil; - when the leaves begin to soften or wrinkle (when it is not from the age of a specific leaf) after being firm and smooth. I do not recommend waiting for the third indicator. I've never even had healthy leaves become soft after three months without water in mid-winter. Did you happen to take a picture of the root system when you changed the soil? For me, changing soil or repotting is an opportunity to separate the rhizomes, removing and withered sections (they can be added to the new soil as biomatter to break down and feed the plant), examining all the rhizomes for health. respacing plants for ideal growth conditions, possibly starting extra pots for my use or to give away or for restoring weak plants, growing out extra offsets and propagating extra lengths of rhizome. Isolated pieces of rhizome or excessively long rhizomes leading to healthy growth but with no growth points showing will probably die back. So, I remove them or snap them off to propagate in a separate container or containers, where they are likely to sprout new growth. I'm an incorrigible propagator. That's enough for one post! I'll respond to your other questions in a bit.

Yes Mongo, I was wondering about quality and quantity of light. For putting on makeup I really like having lots of lumens. In the east bathroom that DH now uses for most of his grooming, I have 100watt halogen bulbs on each side of the mirror. I think that is around 1600 lumens per bulb. But a calculator I just used says its 2000 lumens. So at the mirror for DH to shave it is 3200 to 4000 lumens. It works well for him. In my other bathroom (west) that I use for makeup, I have 2 sconces that each have 120 watts halogen. It seems to put out less light. But the room has more dark pieces of furnishings, so maybe that is why. According to the calculator I should have 4800 lumens at that mirror. I would not want less. I have a dimmer on that switch, but never use it because I need the light. I also have 2each 50w halogen overhead lights in the ceiling. This room is 8x10. I would not be happy with any less lighting.

I'm no expert but if it were mine I wouldn't unpot it quite yet at least until it starts getting some leaves on it. The roots are very fragile on these plants. The first one I got I instantly repotted and it destroyed practically all of the roots and I ended up with root rot and lost it. They can get root rot very easily. I now have these 2 others and I was very careful repotting them into a more gritty mix for fear of root rot and curiosity of what their roots may look like verses the first one I had. They didn't seem to have a great root system either. Very few small roots and not very many left after the repotting. They are growing and doing fine though. I've read you should keep the soil moist but I let my 2 dry out pretty good before watering. Neither of mine get a ton of sun both sit about 10 feet from a window. I've heard they hate drafts and are very fussy about being moved around. I bet your Ming will turn into a very beautiful plant if you don't fuss over it to much and don't over water it. Good luck!