Hi, Kim, Welcome to the forum. Many of the experienced growers will give information about AV culture that is aimed at growing the best possible plant you can, using optimal growing medium, pots, fertilizer, lights, etc. There is not usually just one way, so you have to gather the information and pick what works for you. However, a lot of the wheel has been invented, and some 'standard' practices have developed over the years. You certainly want to remove the suckers, for they will distort the shape of the mother plant, which is very pretty, by the way. I find it much easier to do this after knocking the plant out of the pot. I use an x-acto knife on larger suckers, and large tweezers on smaller suckers. If there are no roots on the sucker, I remove enough leaves to give me a stub that I can put into my potting mix to root. I do cover them to increase the humidity. I do not use any rooting hormone. If necessary, I will 'stake' it using toothpicks to support it in position. About pots.....plastic is most frequently used for several reasons. They are cheap, come in an infinite variety of sizes, and they don't absorb fertilizer salts. A general rule of thumb for size is to have the diameter of the pot be 1/3 the diameter of the plant. Try not to get caught up in the idea of having the plant grow into the pot. AVs prefer to be rootbound to bloom their best, so if the pot is too big, they spend all their time trying to fill the pot with roots, instead of blooming. Also, since they are a shallow rooted plant, the use of a 'squatty' pot is better than taller pots. In a worst case scenario, the soil may stay too wet in an oversized pot, and the roots may rot. Clay pots can be tricky. They absorb water and fertilizer salts will build up on the rim, burning any leaves touching the rim. They can be hard to clean. As the water evaporates through the pores of the pot, cooling occurs and can affect the roots. Three ounce solo cups with drainage poked in the bottom work well for small plants, leaves, and suckers, and are used by many commercial AV growers too. A word about potting mix....a sdtandard mix consists of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite, in equal portions. You will see this referred to as a 1-1-1 mix. There is no commercially available mix of these proportions, unless you buy it from an AV vendor such as Cape Cod Violetry. But, if you can find the ingredients, it's very easy to mix yourself. Or, if you have a mix such as Miracle-gro, add perlite and vermiculite to it, treating it as the peat ingredient. If it has fertilizer in it, don't add fertilizer for about 8-10 weeks. Good luck, and thanks for posting the pictures. Barbara

Cuties is the marketing term for seedless mandarins being sold out of California. In the past, they used to be Fremont, Murcott, and Clementine mandarins that used to be sprayed with gibberellic acid to make them seedless. I think the current group of Cuties consist of Gold Nugget and Tango (a mutant form of Murcott that is seedless). Tango is a commerical variety and not easily obtainable for home gardeners and Gold Nugget is a fairly new variety that hasn't been extensively tested for our growing conditions. If you want something similar to the store bought stuff and don't mind the seeds, consider the Fremont mandarin. You can also buy Gold Nugget, but the jury is still out as to whether or not it will thrive in our climate. Some mandarins, like Satsumas, for example, don't do very well in Arizona.

The "Cutie" mandarin is a marketing program to market small, seedless, easy to peel mandarins. The "Cutie" is actually a compilation of 2 to 3 different mandarins (to extend the sales season), so, depending upon what time of year it is, the "Cutie" can be a Clementine, usually Clemnules (they are seedless, not sure what you may have purchased in the store, but remember "seedless" means you might still find a few or an occasional seed), the Tango and the W. Murcott Afourer mandarin. Yes, the 'Seedless Kishu' is an exceptionally flavored and completely seedless mandarin, and my favorite of all the mandarins (very close second is Clemnules for me). If you can find any of those 4 mandarin varieties, you'll be quite happy with your choice. And you are correct, California cannot ship into Florida or vice versa. I would contact your local nursery to see what they can get for you. Patty S.

A coincidence. I have seen ads for Cuties for a good while and have been tempted by them, but never bought any. For some reason, any citrus I eat, or attempt to eat, causes my jaws to "clinch" and none of them ever taste sweet to me. I didn't want to buy a 5 pound box, only to not like them. This week at Kroger, with the 5 pound boxes, they also had 3 pound bags which were labeled Mandarins, and I was told they are the same, and I bought a bag of them. On the bag it says Premium California. I would have thought Florida. I've bought many canned Mandarin oranges for the "pig picking cake" and for salads. Unfortunately these I bought are not very tasty; in fact they seemed dry to me, not really juicy, and not at all sweet. I Googled to see what I had bought. And after reading the above posts, I see what probably explains why they are not the best. Live and learn. I'll give them to my DD when she comes out on Sunday. If she doesn't like them, she will cut them up for the birds. They won't be wasted. Link is to a colorful and interesting site. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Cuties