Hi Alan good to see you. where did you get the turface ? I am in the Illawarra and think I just tracked down some Diatomite local at Blackwoods , not sure of the size though so have to go check it out. the Attapulgite doesn't go mushy that I found, but I was worried it may not be safe health wise for eating plants but found a doc online that said it was ok and its used in some foodstuff's so it must be ok :) having said all that I want to get away from the Attapulgate finding the best ingredients is a challenge but seems to half the fun :) have some veggies growing in 5.1.1 and they are doing great so you are right it sure is great growing in pots now, I have been in ground grower and never went near pots as I watched so many people go crazy with them and well this has been fun and sure it will just get better as I find better ingredients and putting them together. raining hard here today struggling to get out from the covers :) thanks for the feedback ! BZ

Hi Kerry, Re. your first question: It was a peppercorn but it got some sort of grub in it and the top half had to be removed, but it's not improving as the grubs seem to be right through it and I don't like using poisons around the place. At this stage it looks like it will just have to end up being a dead tree for brom's to grow on. As for your advice about the phone number, well I guess it's too late now and something that just didn't occur to me. I guess I'm still living in the good old days and still trust everyone. Unwanted visitors would have to get past the watch dog as well as the neighbors' watch dogs who all bark in unison and loud enough to 'wake the dead' as soon anyone they don't know enters either of the yards. All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone, Although I don't grow Alcantareas, I would like to add this info. at the request of a friend who saw this post and thought this may be of interest to the Alcantarea growers. She says ....... "I was just browsing the Garden Web and came across the question regarding whether or not regular pups will form on Alcantarea imperialis. Well, my regular imperialis (green) gave at least half a dozen pups after she had flowered. I allowed the mother plant to kind of 'lean on the ground' for a couple of years and she put out some nice pups during that time. In fact I have three quite large ones growing now, some small ones I didn't plant out in the ground at the same time, and the one which I gave to Sharyn a couple of years ago is coming along just beautifully. Anyway, I thought I would pass on my bits of information to you just in case you wanted to pass it on to the fellow who made the inquiry" There was also an attachment of three articles of which she says ....... "All three of these articles were in earlier Newslinks, the shorter ones in January 1997 and the other around 2002". She says of one of the articles ...... "The shorter article I have attached I thought was interesting where the gentleman from Florida was looking at 30 years to flowering, while the Nordens, who live in Strathfield, had theirs up and blooming in a little over 6 years" All the best, Nev. P.S. For those who don't know, "Newslink" is our Illawarra Bromeliad Society bi-monthly newsletter, and Strathfield is a suburb of Sydney.

Yes Grevillea Robusta (Silky Oak) a huge tree they can grow to 30mts (100ft)I have one on my fence line (Cyclone wire fence) planted by neighbour 20 years ago, he wished he hadn't now as it is pushing up the fence we are both on 3/4 acre blocks but why did he plant it there. It self seeds everywhere, we both are forever pulling out seedlings, we built our house here just on four years ago and neighbour on oposite side planted three Grevillea Robusta in one hole four foot from the other boundry fence about two years ago, they are not as big as yours but I dread those seeds blowing on to my land in years to come. Now the Liquidamber that is a beautiful tree as you say. I planted my first one in April of this year, and the Autumn colours were fantastic mostly reds it has not grown any taller as yet, and is only about 70cm tall they grow well in this area as I have seen so many. Have you seen a Illawarra or Australian Flame tree (Brachychiton acerifolium ) they are spectular too, a conical shaped tree that is a mass of red flowers in the Summer after dropping its leaves, but they take a few years to flower. Good luck with your tree planting Karn, you will have a wonderful garden in years to come -------- MM.