hi Dixie, if you don't mind I just want to add to this from my perspective. As you know i'm growing av's in perlite ... because it's easiest available. 1. Water line: So far I do have mine standing in water. I would be scared to leave them without since I don't know how quickly the roots would dry out and be damaged. (maybe ? 6 hours? no idea). the amount of water they're standing in depends on the plant ... on the geraniums it's about 1/10th of the pot and the av leaves and new crown cuttings it can be 3/4 of the pot, eventually i'll let that go down to less than 1/4 of the pot. Since my husband can only water once per week I might use taller pots, even cutting a pop bottle and making a really tall planter, to prevent the roots being too close to the water line. 2. humidity: When I transfer a large/old av (neck cutting) I do increase the humidity by adding a saucer underneath. All the leaves I put under domes got mildew - about 3 domes. So that was why I suggested not putting under domes ... although I do like Karin's suggestion and it's very much worth a try. This is such a great experiment. For me I need to get a system where people that have no idea about watering any kind of plant can just step in and water to the line marked. I may go back to the soilless 1:1:1 method with wicks, it might be easier to use that and use sand/gravel and diatomaceous earth to prevent gnats. I have had a lot of problems with geranium cuttings and my perlite method. I have also found that soil does help prevent against black rot and pythium and makes it harder for the pythium bacteria to spread. It would also help I think if I used half perlite and half gravel to stop the perlite from absorbing too much water. But right now it's all a very fun experiment with the geraniums. The African violets I haven't had any problems with ...knock on wood. I very much want to try the grow stones. I love that they're so light. I have hanging baskets that I want to try them on next summer. The hydroton would be good too but it's as heavy as soil .. I think ... anyway it's really too heavy. thank you so much for this fun thread and for your very clear photos. oh ps: I fully expect to use the hydrons for my av's .... first they're proven to be reliable ... at least Irina uses them and her av's are beautiful. And also maybe they're not as moist as the perlite is, standing in water, maybe that extra dryness will prevent some problems... (I have no idea :) ) I also wonder if different perlite would give me different results. At the moment i'm using MG and it has fertilizer I didn't want plus they're very small pieces and powder. It's possible that another perlite would give me better results ... i'll try that eventually. :) all the best for now. :)

I have a fern which I feel must be the kind you inquire about. My friend, who gave it to me several years ago when it was about to die, called it an alligator birdnest fern. Today I was checking to try to identify it more exactly, and your post came up. Is this what you refer to? and it seems to me that it does multiply by clumping, because I am about to have a local nurseryman separate and repot it for me. I do not want to chance losing it now. Actually, the long fronds are greater than 2 feet long. And while we are on the subject, I found a different style birdnest fern at the nursery I spoke of, sort of a clubfoot version, different from my other wavy edged and straight edged bird nest ferns. I am quite fond of these plants, and give them a place of respect in the limited shade of my garden. Hope this helps.

Re Phlox paniculata : have never had the species (wild type) in my gardens and have always removed the few seedlings which came from the 30 or so cultivars I've planted and maintained over numbers of years. Garden phlox cultivars require some amount of maintenance, including regular division, at least in my experience. There are several reason to deadhead them, but an obvious one is to prevent any seeding. Any offspring, I've seen in other gardens, had the flower-colour of the species, typically a washed-out magenta. In my experience, maintaining healthy garden phlox is part of avoiding powdery mildew here.

Exact same thing happened to me 2 weeks ago. We have 2 feeders. Standard pole feeders. No one was home except me and the dog. Get all kinds of birds from mourning doves (who mostly feed off the ground from what get dropped from above) to smaller sparrows and that type. I was out with the dog and not really facing the feeders. But out of the side of my eye I could see a lot of commotion at one of the feeders. Normally the birds take off when I'm out with the dog because he's a hyper little Yorkie who spooks them. Anyway, I walked over to the feeder and saw a smallish sparrow or wren with it's head caught inside the feeder. One of his wings was wedged inside with his head. I have to admit I panicked. It was super hot that morning and all I'm thinking is of that poor thing literally baking in there if I didn't do something fast. I took the feeder off the pole and brought it over to table on the patio. I could see there was no way to pull him out but it seemed that I could push him in gently. He screamed and flapped his one still moveable wing just once when I touched and then went still. I'm thinking it's now or never..managed to force him all the way into the feeder. He starts frantically flapping but intact and standing. I'm thinking that's a good sign so I scooped him gently out with my hands and put him on the ground. He took off like a rocket flying. I was never so relieved as when he did. It never occurred to me to run into my husband's workshop for a screwdriver or something to take the feeder apart. Just wanted that bird out pronto. I googled after to see if this was a common problem and did note like someone mentioned here, it's more likely to happen when the feeder is empty or low.