I brought in a batch of 300 moso seeds last year. I have detailed my expermentation with germination on my website trying various recommended techniques, including a table with the variables. You may find it a good read. Check previous entries to read the entire experiment. http://www.hardyoutdoorexotics.com/?cat=11 To make things easier for you, I germinated them directly in soil. I had a 75% germination rate by soaking the seeds in a 10% saltwater solution for 10 minutes, and rinsing off with water before sowing. 67% germination rate with a batch that had an overnight soak in a 20-20-20 solution. And 67% germination rate with a batch that had a soak in a 10-52-10 solution. Those two 67% germination rates were ranked in the top 3 for breaking through the soil the quickest at 21 days. A water soak also broke through at 21 days but only netted me a 58% germination rate. For those that recommend a brief refridgeration for these seeds, germination was delayed, and the success wasn't that great. Here is a link that might be useful: My exotic plants blog

Laura, what is the ratio of NPP to foliagepro. Our poster lives in India, It might not be available there.. Laura lives in Massachusetts. The sun is so much friendlier up there. I have some new sun scars on my A. ornatum from leaving it in its Spring/winter spot that became an all day sun summer spot and then it reached 108 one day . Sun burn does not take long to happen (says the redheadded girl).The white speckles on the surface of the A. myriostigma will make it more tolerant of sun, but I would tread carefully . I imagine the tropical sun is harder on the cactus than New England sun. These are known to grow in shade of brush and on the east or west side of steep mountains in Eastern northern Mexico where sun is strong but gets cut off for part of the day. Sun is weird in the desert. Things hide in rocks and under overhanging lechugia. I think they get tiny bits of moving shade (bright thin shade) from brush and rocks in Nature. It LIKES sun and its warmth, but maybe not all the time not interrupted or screened slightly. Shade from brush is a very light thin shade that comes and goes.. here is a description I found. I like knowing how things grow in their habitat "A. myriostigma is a desert scrub species and can also grow on scrubby alluvial plains (Salas de Léon et al. 1999). It prefers steep, east or west (and southwest) facing slopes between 10 and 34 degrees angle, preferably around 25 degrees, and prefers low densities. It is rarely found on northern slopes or below 1,160 m asl. This species has a 100% vertical distribution bordering the El Sarnoso mountains and prefers stony, calcareous soils (litosol-regosol calcárico) often found in thin layers in the foothills of mountain ranges. Its distribution is limited by its need for stony, calcareous or lime soils. This calcicole also needs carbonates to integrate calcium and make itself more rigid. A. myriostigma also needs well drained soils as it is sensitive to high water levels. This species is also sensitive to the cold (Romero Méndez 2006). A. myriostigma seems to flower independently of day length, flowering asynchronously from the end of winter to the start of autumn, although they flower synchronously June-July. Temperature may be a factor limiting the northern and southern limits of distribution, since in these latitutes the east-west slopes are most exposed to the sun and these are the slopes on which A. myriostigma grows most densely. This species is found in habitat dominated by Agave lecheguilla, which acts as the main nurse plant to A. myriostigma. Nurse plants may influence the distribution of A. myriostigma (Romero Méndez 2006)." Here is a link that might be useful: Some habitat shots. This post was edited by wantonamara on Sat, Sep 7, 13 at 11:23

I moved my two lucky bamboo plants from water to an 11" (I think) pot of Syngoniums (reg soil and perlite) where the soil is always moist and had no problems at all with the move. I did cut the long roots back that where in water to about an inch before planting in soil. Billy Rae

That PLs are usually found in riparian settings (streamside or in boggy environments) where they naturally occur is absolutely no cause to believe they will do well in boggy soils. They adapt well to various types of water culture, and perform very well in fast-draining, well-aerated soils, but should be expected to perform poorly when asked to make the transition in soils from lengthy periods of significant saturation to times when the soil has dried down and become reasonably well-aerated and more hospitable to the plant. The reason, as has been pointed out, is the fact that the plant will grow roots structured to allow the plant to deal with one or the other set of conditions, but not both in a cycle that starts with a long period of saturation transitioning to the more appropriate moist (rather than wet or soggy) medium. How well a soil drains is determined almost exclusively by the size of the particles it is comprised of. While the arrangement you have with the pot sitting above the effluent in the collection saucer is commendable, it has no impact on how well the soil drains or its level of aeration. 1. How often should I water? Intervals will vary with season, light load, amount of air movement, ....... Unless you use a soil that allows watering on a schedule as opposed to on an 'as needed' basis, and yours doesn't, you should absolutely stick to watering only when the plant gets dry to the point it needs water. In fact, in spite of the stress it would create, it would actually be better if you waited for this plant to exhibit signs of the first stage of wilt before you water than to water before the plant need it. I'm not advocating using drought stress indicators to signal the plants need for water - just trying to establish a feel for the idea that a little under-watering is less limiting than over-watering. For this plant, marking your watering date on the calendar and OCCASIONALLY waiting for the first signs of wilt to establish appropriate intervals between waterings is a reasonable strategy. If you'd rather, buy a wooden birch dowel rod (1/4 or 5/16") from a hardware or big box store. Cut into appropriate length pieces for your plants, sharpen the ends with a pencil sharpener, and use the pieces stuck deep into the pot as 'tells' that will let you know the moisture conditions deep in the pot. If they come out wet or stained dark from wet soil, withhold water until they come out clean. MUCH better than "watering gauges/meters". 2. What else can I do for this plant? The answer to that could easily fill a book. You could try reading this (click on link). I read someplace that liquid fertilizer once a month is good too. Yay or nay on that? To be meaningful, any advice regarding frequency of fertilizer applications has to take into consideration your soil choice and watering habits. For example, if you water in small sips to avoid your MG soil remaining soggy too long, a one month interval at the regular rate is an automatic problem for more than one reason, and the type of fertilizer as well as its NPK %s both play a part in determining the criticality of the issue. If you're using a soil that allows you to water at will w/o the need to fear consequences centering on the fact the soil will be saturated for a length of time measured in weeks, you can actually fertilize at low doses every time you water, which is how I choose to fertilize all my plants during the winter. One type of soil (those that are very water-retentive, like yours) make it almost impossible to maintain control over effective nutritional supplementation; other types of soil that support little or no saturation make establishing and maintaining a sound supplementation program monkey easy. Al