Mesquite can send a tap root down something like 190' at least for one tree some university dug up to see. Caliche can be anywhere say in the 1' to 10' range and be thin to foot or two thick. In general caliche is not a continuous unbroken surface. I would never worry about caliche unless it's a known issue. Let the tree earn its keep and let it find the cracks it can send roots through. It's kind of like the drainage issue...if there's standing water the tree won't grow roots in that area and keep roots higher. As long as we're not talking about a bog the tree will probably find a way. A lot of these rules for planting stuff are the absolute best possible environment. But plants, like people, can handle a less than perfect world. I may have mentioned in another thread, this year I grew Mesquites from seed in a bucket with no drainage, watered everyday, so it was sitting in water. If you asked a 100 gardeners 99.9 of them would say that's impossible. Most of what you hear is just repeated from person to person, there's little actual testing or knowledge. A bit of common sense goes a long way when listening to advice.

orchidlily, I know of its effect on a banana farm. It causes the banana fruits to ripen in geometric proportions. However, here might be some information that you can use.

Hello nepenthesfreak_2007, What types of light do you have, how many, and do you have the plants in pots sitting in the terrarium or in soil directly in the terrarium? If you can't bring the plant closer to the light directly, then you can make more light or invest in some really good reflectors along the sides of the terrarium and light to direct as much in to your plants as possible. I have my Nepenthes 5-6 inches from four 40 watt cool white flourescent tubes (12000 lumens) for 16 hour of photoperiod and no terrarium. Maybe you can add another light to your setup to increase the intensity or place it near a window that receives some indirect sun so it does not overheat yet gets that extra amount of light. With the setup I described, this N. sanguinea pitchers continuously from every new leaf and it's newest leaves and pitchers are growing much larger and more quickly. No fertilizer and only household humidity present. (In your case, the terrarium is necessary for those highlanders with humidity and temperature requirements). This pitcher is still not opening, however, is swelling larger than the last 3 1/2 inch pitcher and developing it's mottled red coloring. As you noticed with your light, the intensity drops off rather quickly with every inch the plants are from the bulb. The only thing to do is place more bulbs or bring the plants closer or add reflectors where possible so far as I can think of. Good growing with those highlanders.

Hi again, yes you're quite right..Cela-n-dine is our native cute little yellow plant you refer to, but CELA-DINE is a common, but non the less lovely plumeria variety with a very nice fragrance. It is also more cold tolerant than some of the more exotic types,....(one of the many facts I have learnt from here). After several sets of mini leaves coming and dying off and minute root growth, I eventually got it to get going in the greenhouse by placing a cut off lemonade bottle over it to create a mini greenhouse. Once it had rooted enough it put out leaves and also a flower stalk. Have attached a photo to show you what it was like. It is currently housed in the living room and has now dropped all growth and gone dormant. Where did you live in Oz? We have rellies just south of Freo and have visited them a couple of times, thats where I saw my first plumie and got my aunt to send some cuttings from a neighbour who had 'demolished'' a huge tree in her garden. Only one of the 6 cuttings survived, I lost the others to stem rot before I joined this forum and learnt better! Catch you again maybe? Regards, Greenclaws