I already do use T8 for about 80% of my plant room. The extra light yeah is a problem. I try to either place my other gesnariads or place the coleus there. Other shelves I have sheets of paper taped over them to diffuse the lights. There are a few remaining T12s, but they are a bit limited supply. I used to get them much cheaper than the T8, but now it isn't so. They are being phased out. The coleus are a few NOID's (though I suspect Twist and Twirl is one (see it grown in the conservatory where I got the plant as a door prize some years ago. And one variety I've had in some form or another since 1995. Most of the newest coleus I have right now are from seed, exhibition mix, and carefree. Those are going outside in the little front shade garden by the apartment building. I've yet to see mealybugs int he coleus. I suspect I got them from sale plants in a show a year ago. I was slow removing my show plants out of the bins, so everyone who shared that bin got them eventually. Ugh. Overall the infestation seems spotty. Some have them and some don't, because I do use systemic granules in the soil. The ones that missed treatment or have been in the same pot for a number of years and not been treated recently seem to have them. The recently repotted or treated don't. And ones dried up and sans roots, I notice the mealies don't like either. I find them on the main trunk under the soil. Very easy to treat, but harder for the plant to survive post treatment. (I tend to be slow repotting, so they might rot in the water/insecticide solution I hold them in before I have a block of time to repot. Soil: Coconut coir seems to work well with wicking. It retains more moisture than peat but compacts more. I have to use either more perlite or orchid mix to compensate and allow for more air. I also rinse it well to reduce any salt in it. I also mix in soil moist. I've heard that stuff is not ideal in wick mixtures, but under high heat, I notice it seems to be needed. I had one sale plant using yarn (not cotton based I guess?). That one works. I may have to get over to a fabric store and try that over the nylon cord. This post was edited by fieldofflowers on Tue, Apr 22, 14 at 19:41

When I read about people spending a great deal of money, or working so hard to clean a wedding gown, I have to tell my story. After our wedding, I had my dress cleaned and put into a "Heritage Box". I stored it in our basement. A few years later, my then four year old son and a few friends were playing in our basement. I heard this shrieking laughter coming from downstairs, so thought I better check to see what they were up to. When I walked into the room they were in, I gasped when I saw they had found my wedding gown, and laid it on the tile floor, and were using it as a slip n slide! They all stopped and looked at me, waiting, I'm sure, for an explosion. All I could do was laugh! I only have boys, so I knew the dress would never be used again, but the story has given many a good laugh over the years! Good luck with the washing--I know a woman in our community who makes wedding gowns, and she always recommends washing them.

For hanging clothes outside while having a full time job, I found it easier to wash two-three loads in the evening and hang them early the next morning. On Friday night, while hubby and I watched TV, we washed the clothes and loaded the laundry baskets by flat-folding the wet clothes (don't toss them in in a jumble or they will have a lot of wrinkles), and keep like-kinds of things together. All my undies, all hubbies, all the kitchen towels, etc. They go on the line together and when I take them off the line they all get folded as I take them off and placed in the basket/s. The sorting has already been done so this doesn't take any time at all. Anything that normally gets hung on a hanger is also dried on a hanger, and they are placed on a hook on the back of the door. Sometimes they dry without taking them outside. Hubby built a folding bench and put a patio umbrella over the bench to keep the sun off while folding laundry. After washing the clothes the night before, I hang them the next morning (I normally get up at 3:30 a.m., so anytime after that they got put on the line) and they are dried before lunchtime (sometimes by 9 or 10 a.m.). Then I would do the same thing Saturday night and hang the clothes Sunday morning. Anything that normally hangs on a hanger is also dried on a hanger so they go from the line to the closet. The hangers are placed on the end of my outdoor umbrella clothes line in the loops of clothesline going through it, which keeps them from flying off and to free-up more space on the lines. But the best answer was to put lines up in the basement so now I can do laundry anytime - although we still do laundry in the evening while watching TV - it's a team effort at our house. Hubby and I do two loads of laundry on Tuesday night and hang it up, and take it down Wednesday morning after we work-out in the basement. And again on Saturday morning we do the sheets and bath towels, which dry in the basement by the afternoon. Saturday evening we do two more loads and hang them in the basement and take them down early Sunday morning. The clothes aren't getting sun-bleached all day long and beat to shreds in the wind. It's amazing how much longer our clothes are lasting and looking much better, since we quit hanging them outside three years ago. While still using the outdoor line, I also put two lines up in our garage - between the cars bays - so I could hang clothes there if the weather was ify, and put a large fan on them to aid drying. We have a pull-out accordion drying rack (see link below) in our laundry room. This is where I hang socks and bras to dry (just toss them over the bar), instead of messing with them outside (or in the basement). It's also where I hang wet dish rags/dish towels and wet washcloths/towels to dry after use so they dry completely before I toss them in the laundry basket. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Accordian Drying Rack

I run almost all of our clothing in the dryer on low heat for 5 or 6 minutes, just long enough to knock most of the wrinkles out, then hang them up on hangers, which I hang on a couple of shower rod poles in my laundry room. A few more items go on a rack hanging on the laundry room door. If I have too much to hang there, I take the rest upstairs and hang them (on hangers) over the door frames, and some items go on metal racks I have up there specifically for drying clothing. Only sheets, towels and a few other items get fully dried in the dryer. Our clothing lasts way longer since I have been doing this. It's the dryer, not the washer that is hard on clothing.