And now you will have to buy the "rubra" form as well! I agree it is a cool plant, and surprising in that it seems to do as well in California as it does back east. One of those accent flowering winter bloomers that has interesting form, and almost a tropical look to it when in leaf. I find I have to do a lot of thinning on it to keep it in bounds, and can't say that it has a fragrance that carries, but it is nice. I can relate to the shopping bug, plants were the only thing I shopped for this Christmas season, and got some beauties, like a really full Sticks on Fire Euphorbia in firey color for the back deck, to chase away those winter blahs. I also went for a couple of apricot flowering Grevillea 'Superb' in full bloom, also for the winter color and to attract the Anna hummingbirds. Last were some really beautiful and rare Restios with gorgeous stems, Cannamois virgata, which I rationalized might not be available for purchase next spring, better nab them now! Magnolia stellata and M. soulangeana and M. denudata are also great temptations this time of year, but...I...Must...Resist...

Cheap solution - get yourself a pair of latex or any household gloves to protect your hands. Dip a piece of paper towel into rubbing alcohol and try to wipe the stain. Second option - 1:3 bleach to water solution. If it is some kind of mold - you will kill it, if it is a salt accumulation - you will be able to remove at least some of it. I agree with you - if it looks yucky - you do not want to display your beautiful blooming violet in it. What you can do - just repot it to a plastic pot with wick with the size that will fit your ceramic one. Soak the ceramic pot - top and bottom in a strong bleach solution until all the stain is gone. You can drill a bottom hole in an upper part of a ceramic pot and use the bottom part as a water/weak fertilizer solution reservoir for the plant. I promise you - if you use the light soil Barbara mentioned - you would be amazed how well it works plus you can always disassemble the contraption - and clean your ceramics squeaky clean. Physan 20 is a good preventative for powdery mildew and a mild fungicide for orchids. It has a couple more brand names with the similar active ingredients - I think Consan is one of them. I.

So far, doing pretty good with the lacunosa cuttings. I can't remember which of them started off with some roots, but I've got speckled lacunosa (which I love - it is gorgeous!), regular lacunosa, and Royal Flush. In any case, whether or not they started with some roots, I still treat them like cuttings, because I've noticed lacunosa pouts when you mess with the roots in any way. I've learned to expect that when repotted, even if you don't really disturb the rootball much, it wilts for a while, maybe up to two weeks or so? Can't remember, but definitely long enough to start making one feel worried. Here's how I've been rooting lacunosa. I keep it in a terrarium during the rooting process, and two out of three times the pot was sitting in a tray of Hydroton. There was a saucer between the Hydroton and the pot, so that it wouldn't be sitting directly in the Hydroton. I kept the soil moist, kept some water in the tray of Hydroton, and watered the leaves either every day or every other day. I'm guessing it doesn't need to be Hydroton, pebbles probably work just as well, but I have the Hydroton, so I use it. I have a chemical wash bottle, which makes it easy to deliver a stream of water pretty much exactly where I want it, so I can avoid hitting the soil too much if it is still damp. I knew it was rooted when the whole plant just seemed to perk up, and especially when it put out new growth. The third one is not in the tray of Hydroton, but nearby. It would've been in there too, but there was no room. Speckled lacunosa and regular lacunosa have been out of the terrarium for months now. Speckled lacunosa is currently in a 2.5 in pot, sitting in a 6 in tray roughly 1.5 in deep, filled with Hydroton. This is the one that doesn't mind drying out a bit. Regular lacunosa is in a 4 in hanging pot, and seems to want to be wet all the time. Royal Flush is still in a cutting stage, but is growing and starting to perk up. The new stems are purple, and the new leaves are striking, purplish with speckles. But it doesn't seem to have those nice dimple-y dents. Has anyone ever wick watered a hoya? Specifically, the ones that hate drying out even a little. I just converted all my African violets to wick watering, so I have wick watering on the brain right now.

To quote a now famous song... "I'm in love wit da coco..." Good old coco quoir Such a versitle medium. Now before i start, just have to say its all down to the grade. Meaning, the way you want to use coco will determine the grade you need. I like the finer,more pulppy grades,with less hairs. It honestly wouldnt work in containers as is without perlite. In 11lt pots i use about 40-45% perlite to coco and it works great in a hydro setup. Drainage is rapid,meaning plenty of air in the rootzone,while the coco acts pretty much like vermiculite would. I buy the compressed bricks, as they are cheaper, but do need a wash and buffer before use. THIS is where i disagree somewhat with what urbangarderner said. Yes, you can first wash it with plain water,preferably hot water, but after, the coco needs to be recharged. When growing with say, just coco/perlite, the coco actually draws in extra Ca,Mg,Fe and K, to fill the C.E.C Once full , the coco will give readily to the plant and not mess with your fert ratios. Whenver I 'flush'/wash coco I throw in some form or fert, usally epsom salts or CalMax at an EC 0.2-0.3 to make sure that CEC is okay.. Also, with coco, you can effectively, like any hydro setup, use a smaller amount of medium/pot size to grow larger plants. You just have to adjust watering times. i love the root growth you get with coco. You can also push plants to the limit, and its very forgiving. For example say you are seeing salt build up/leaves curling etc. you can just increase the runoff from the pots. Coco was what got me into hydro/soil-less cultivation. I feel you never want a 'dry period' with coco, just a wet and moist cycle. Hence why drip systems work so well with coco. Also, coco is great in a compost pile, and it goes into my garden when my fruits are done.