Well Howard, lookee here, you want to go to Chicago. Lots of company. The thing with going back to NY rather than elsewhere, for me, is that NY is easy to get into and out of, I can do a RT in one day, don't need hotels, don't need to rent a car, don't need a pet sitter at home etc, etc, etc..... That and I don't feel like taking my vacations in the States going to orchid shows. If I'm going to go to the trouble of organizing a few days out of town, I want it to be well worth it. Albeit,it's fun meeting people from the forum. Not having Paul around anymore to take care of the dogs and birds, when I decide to disappear for a couple of days, just adds another "issue" to consider. At the moment,I don't have the energy.

Hi Baci, The neem tree idea, sounds really cool. I have jungley longings, but little space. That is a really intruiging idea. The neem oil, I usually use outside. So I'll wait for the next really warm day that I have time to haul a bunch of pots outside, and fuss with warming the neem. That's a bit of a project, so neem use is usually May to August. A neem tree, hmm... I couldn't figure out why my stuff in the window didn't have mealies, like my neighbor's big stuff, right there, on the floor did. The scenteds seemed to do the trick, meanwhile, the other 2 clivia were upstairs, wasting away. The aha! moment hadn't happened yet, to save them, and they gave up. They hated the fairly strong doses they got of the alcohol, and the vinegar, in their already weakened state. The concetrations I used were stronger than those that I recommended. I used 70 or 90 on the alcohol and may have uped the vinegar concentration to to over 3/4. Just a little vinegar, say, 1/5 is just as effective and doesn't seem to bother the plants. Most of my experiments, start with other people's successes with a similar problem in a different situation. They're kind of variations on a theme. Various forums here on GW, have great ideas. Gee, except for mealies and getting water in the leaves, they are hard to kill inside, too. The trick is, to make them happy enough to bloom. I definately defer to the experts on this forum for that. Up north here, they've done it only when they've had a bright [just out of the sun], humid, cool, place. My clivia get very little filtered morning sun, probably not quite enough. The scented geraniums are mostly away now, in the sunniest window, except for ones being rotated to protect the clivia. Mealies seem to slow down when watering is cut back, too. Right now, I only have a couple of plucked s. ger leaves, tucked between the straps. Two or three times over the winter, it had a light puff, of weak vinegar water, up into the air, over it. There's still no sign of mealie bugs, and it's been months, yay !

Very informative! I am seeking Clivia and may need to start with seeds. With so much-sometimes conflicting- information on the internet, it is very helpful to review information here from someone who knows. Thank you for sharing.

Hi Len. I was planning to wear a dust mask if I did anything with these bags. Would that be enough? Any chance I could spread puffballs over my yard and the neighbours? We've had a couple of varieties over the years. Browny-orangy ones over a wide area that look like small rocks until the hose happens to hit them and a brown cloud rises. More recently white ones in a specific area that look like the regular ones but turn to dust when you try to pick them out. I try to get along with the living things in my garden but some things are a bit too icky.