When do you plan on moving her. If later, then wait until before you move. A hard prune right now will only encourage new growth and you do not want that right before winter. If you wish to move her now I would wait and move her after the 1st of the year for the same reason. Cut her back right before moving.

First you need to understand their ecology..they grow under bushes, in crevices, hidden in grass and only a few grow in the open (H. coactata is one of a few). Most other do not. This protects them from direct sun. They also occur in winter rainfall region (again not all), but most do. Well-drained soil means different things to people, some use pure pumice others a mix of potting soil, sand and perlite and various other combinations, but as long as it drains well. Back to its nature, Haworthia has this ability to use old roots as a form of compost for new year growth, so they generate a lot of new roots late summer/early autumn, which is a good time to transplant. So the main times for growth is around Autumn and Spring, and depending on your own situation winter can be slow or none, but on the hottest period of summer they shut down and rest. This then tells you that Autumn and Spring would be more water needed (1xweek say) and winter (2-3 weeks) and summer hot no water. Why, because they will not accept water or will not have proper roots to utilize water, this is the danger time and where you can easily rot them. Please note that I am referring to hot summer and around autumn, we should not block it off as defined months, it depends on the area you live and conditions you cultivate them in. Rather understand the cycle, then you will not get confused. I have mine in good light situation with some early morning sun. I water them in early summer and but for a few weeks mid-late summer (really hot here)- they are still protected because otherwise they will cook. I use a loose mix of potting/sand and perlite. I dry them out between deeper waterings but I do mist them also. Hope it helps Cheers Rian

Sorry to hear about your heat problems. My parents called me yesterday, however, and told me they are expecting a cool front to come in. I asked DF how cool, and he said that instead of 106° (like the past few days), it was supposed to cool down to 95°. They only use the air conditioner in one room, and so one of them was watching TV while I was trying to talk with the other one. I guess they are trying to cut down on electric bill. Are you going to get the same cool front? In my new house I have to A/C (although I have a unit from my old house that I could install), and so far I haven't needed it. The new house has windows on all four sides, and with the open plan, cool breezes easily find their way through the whole house - plus the bedrooms all have ceiling fans. I can't handle Texas in the summer after living here. I expect relatives to come to visit by early August to escape some of the heat. We're on water rationing here also, but can have the sprinklers on two days a week and no restrictions on watering by hand with a hose. I discovered yesterday that my back yard faucet needs to have a part replaced, but it's minor. I have a much nicer lawn now than I did before but not as nice trees. There's one that I really want to replace, but that will have to wait. Did you ever get the heliconia seeds I sent you to grow? They can handle heat and don't need that much water, unlike ginger, which needs lots of water. I've been to New Orleans in June (What was I thinking?) and know how oppressive the heat is in southern Louisiana - it's pretty much the same climate as Houston with severe humidity. If you can swing it, take a trip up to Canada - it's quite lovely this time of year and I miss it! Lars

GREAT QUESTION and one I am sure is of interest to all. In the plumbing, pipe fitting and HVAC industries originaly the only pipe available was iron pipe. When comparing the volume of pipe sizes we must use a formula that considers the cross sectional area rather than the diameter thus each increase in pipe size approximately doubles the volume. The actual formula for comparison is: Large Diameter Squared divided by the Small Diameter Squared . Example 3/4" compared to 1/2" = (.75x.75)/(.5x.5) = .5625/.25= 2.25 From this we can see that a 3/4" pipe has 2.25 times the volume of a 1/2" pipe. Another basic rule of thumb, if you double the diameter you increase the volume by four times. Understanding that all pipe layout formulas were originally developed for iron pipe it then stands that as new materials became available they were manufactured in sizes that approximated their iron pipe equivalent thus we see copper, PVC, or CPVC listed in "Nominal" sizes. This means a 1/2" nominal copper pipe will be slightly different in size but for all intents and purposes it would meet the volume requirements of a 1/2" iron pipe thus we see the other piping materials listed in the same size variations as iron pipe. While we common think of the word "Schedule" as meaning a time table of events, properly the word Schedule means "A table" thus in the piping specifications each size of pipe is listed in a table of specifications and the number or letter indicates which table applies to the product in question thus we see iron pipe,PVC or CPVC pipe listed as Sched. 20, Sched.40, sched.80 etc. Rather than use the schedule numbers copper pipe is defined by a Letter indicating which table of specifictions apply. While the specifications are listed alphabetically Copper pipe is classified as Heavy Wall, Standard or Medium Wall, and Light wall. It was merely by co-incidence that copper pipe designations seem to be backwards: Example 1/2" Nominal Copper Pipe: TYPE k - Heavy Wall OD 0.625 ID 0.527 Wall thicknes .049 TYPE L - Medium Wall 0.625 0.545 .040 TYPE M - Light Wall. 0.625 0.569 .028 As you can see, even though the Type K heavy wall pipe has the thickest wall the ID of the pipe still remains slightly larger than its fractional designation but for the purposes of standardization all three types have the same OD so the fittings are interchangeable. Copper pipe is manufactured in two varieties. The 10ft long lengths of rigid copper pipe that we are most familiar with is properly called "Hard Drawn Copper Pipe". They also make 60' or 100' rolls of "Annealed Copper Pipe" and we must be very careful not to confuse Annealed Copper role pipe with Copper tubing which is made to an entirely different sizing standard. (Copper tubing is made to the ASTM-CTS standard--CTS =Copper Tubing Standard). FYI-While CPVC is manufactured to Pipe Standards the CPVC pipe that we commonly see in the hardware stores is also made to the CTS standard rather than Pipe standards. Primarily copper fittings are made in the hard drawn copper standard however there are copper fittings such as you describe which appear to have been cast rather than drawn or formed from copper pipe. These fittings are properly called "Wrought Copper fittings." Under the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) whenever copper pipe is run under a slab within the confines of a structure we must use wrought copper fittings and all joints must be brazed rather than soldered. Under both the International Residential Code and the Uniform Plumbing Code all three types of copper, K,L & M may be used for both Supply (the water line from a well or municipal main to the structure) and Distribution (Lines within a structure.) however the IRC only permits type M inside a structure if it is above ground. Type K-Heavy wall copper pipe can be obtained through most home supplies or hardware stores by special order or you can but it from a Plumbing or Heating Supply house but as a rule it is only used for applications that involve pressures or temperatures that exceed the allowable limits in general plumbing use. We commonly use type K roll pipe for direct burial supply lines but the use of type K in general plumbing within a structure would be considered serious overkill. While type L (med.wall) copper is considered the industry standard today in years past type M (thin wall) was considered the standard for residential service and type L was primarily used in commercial applications thus the overwhelming majority of residential structures that have copper pipe have type M thinwall pipe and even that has proven to provide 50+ yrs of service when properly sized and installed correctly. It is true that under some rare conditions copper pipe does exhibit wear in the form of pin holes, but in the final analysis it can also be said that those problems are directly attributed to water quality or in many cases improperly sized pipe which resulted in excessive velocity of flow. Copper pipe will exhibit internal wall erosion if the velocity of flow exceeds 10feet per second and it is for that reason that the codes now define a Fixture Unit method of determining proper pipe size. In regards to water quality. If you live in a region that has water quality issues that are detrimental to copper pipe, I must then wonder what those issues are doing to your general health as well. In my personal opinion rather than worry about finding a pipe that will tolerate those problems I think the homeowner and his or her family would be much better served to consider installing a water treatment system to correct the problem.