I'm just a beginner, but here's the rundown: -1 Chamaedorea Elegans, doing REALLY well although I bought it from IKEA and it didnt look the best, but now its all happy and perky. It's on top of my radiator in the bathroom and I water it every other day, it pops out fronds like its nobody's business, it also doesn't mind the dry air when I'm not showering, what a plus! it gets whatever extra fert i have left over from doing my other plants. This houseplant deserves more recognition because I give it a 5 star rating. -1 Musa Basjoo banana.its in pretty good shape, its down to 1 LEAF now because one of them burnt for a reason i still don't know why?,its putting out another one with more on the way. It puts out 1 leaf per week. I fert it once a month. This one is another great plant of mine. -1 Aechmea Fasciata. This one has had a love-hate relationship with me, but now its produced 2 pups and is powering along nicely. The pink bloom is gone, but the fountain-look and whiteness of the foliage always mesmerizes me. It takes dry air now, didnt use to. Likes tons of sun also. This one goes to the garden with the banana in the summer, because I've tipped it over as far back as I can fathom, its very top heavy so beware! But anyways now here's the list of what I've killed: -2 Sabal Palmetto seedlings. These were never ment for my house, but unknowingly I got them in November and babied them for 5 months before they bid farewell. After that I stuck em outside and let Mother Nature take over. -1 WodXVeitchia seedling. I bought this for $20 on ebay in september and It only survived until December. I think it died due to pink rot on the crownshaft. -1 Guzmania Bromeliad. I bought this at Home Depot in a 16in pot for $15 in October and it died in March. The unusual thing is that one of the old stems where the old plants were(they produced pups before this) had fell off and was missing. The plant also stopped growing and died, so again I let Mother Nature take care of it, well I can always go back to Home Depot and buy another! Thanks Home Depot!

"It seems sans like root bound conditions and require minimal watering." Sans will stay alive indefinitely like this, but given ample room for roots to roam, plenty of sun and warmth, they can grow quickly. While growing quickly, they do get as thirsty as any other plant. Not all Sans are the same regarding their potential growth rate, of course, but there's no reason to assume one's Sans is a slow grower. Sans found at BBS are, by nature, almost certain to be fast growers chosen by the growers so they can produce high numbers of plants in a short amount of time. I think yours may be this Gold Hahni from EA. I didn't see any pics of tall ones when I googled. Looks like it stays short but should make lots of pups on the side. During the winter the minimal watering definitely comes into play. You can see some pics and read about the antics of some of my Sans on this and this discussion. I don't know anything about Bromeliads but the flower still looks pretty to me. What's the little plant behind the Bromeliad? Some kind of Dracaena? Also part of an interesting-looking leaf to the left of the Sans...

Hi again everyone, thanks for all the feedback for my original question on NPK - Lisa, it seems that the bloom booster ratios vary considerably as we have a water soluble one here in Aust. which has a ratio of 15.8: 6.7: 25.3. Regarding the Seaweed product Kerry mentioned, as she said it is not marketed as a fertilizer but as a "tonic". It's a wonderful product which I have used as remedial treatment after severe hail damage where the hailstones were like small oranges and my exposed broms and vegetables looked like green confetti spread all around the garden. I have also used it after we had a heatwave on New Years Day a few years back where my exposed broms and vegies suffered severe heat damage as well as during a three day cold snap the following year where the exposed broms and vegies suffered severe cold damage. The plants bounced back much quicker than they had in the past from similar damage. However knowing what I do now, I should have used it as a preventitive treatment rather than a remedial one due to the following claims made by the manufacturer: Frost tolerance: It reduces frost damage, by lowering the temperature at which plant cells will freeze. This 'anti-freeze' effect reduces plant damage and hastens the return to productive growth once the temperature improves. Heat tolerance: It significantly increases a plant's heat tolerance and is taken up systemically, so it assists the whole plant. It can also aid in the return to productive growth following hot days. Drought tolerence: The same mechanism that protects against heat also provides significant protection against drought stress. It can even reverse the effects of dehydration after a single foliar application. Disease tolerance: It has been consistantly reported that plants treated with it demonstrate reduced incidence and severity of disease. Improved plant establishment: It contains naturally occurring plant hormones which stimulate root growth needed for rapid establishment of new plantings. It reduces the effect of transplant shock. (I get excellent results by giving my baby seedlings a soak in it before I plant them up and a good watering in with it after they have been planted. There are other benefits as well, just google the brand name to check them out and look at the fact sheet. I think there is also an international branch of the company so it could also be available for many of our brom friends on this forum. Thanks for the feedback once again, all the best, Nev

Hi Guys As Lisa says, there are too many plain ol' variegated Neos. There are ofcourse the stunners that we all need ala kahala dawn, milagro, ying/yang etc. ect. I must say the some of G. Groves bright coloured plants are better (yes I said it)than most of the variegated plants around. Anyone willing to share the secret to creating plants like his? Thanks Kerry! Why is talk about variegated seedlings taboo? Sorry Lisa....it must be the "variegated fingers"! I have managed to get other plants to set seed that dont normally like to. I would gladly pass on the seed parents name to you, but it doesnt have a name. The story is this: 3 South Africans visited Central and South America a good few years ago. While there they popped into Chesters place and he then gave them a few odd plants, turns out that one of these is the elusive transmitter (or a one time luck shot)....its called (not sure who gave it the name) variegata red. That is it.. see pic below of pups. Cheers Dennis