Hi everyone. I just joined this great forum and have gotten some very good tips from you guys by reading a lot of the posts about certain houseplants that I have. So thanks a lot for the great tips and advice provided! As far as my favorite houseplants, it's really hard to pick one or two since I've got quite a few. But, the ones that mean the most to me are : 1) Aglaonema (Chinese Evergreen) 'Crete' - I picked this one up at a local garden center fairly recently and it's supposedly new cultivar. It may be one of the most beautiful foliage plants I've seen. It's green leaves are bordered in a beautiful bright red and splashed with the red color also. Just exquisite! I keep it by my fireplace in the den and it loves it's shady spot. My Polyscias plants are also among my most favorites. I have a 3 foot tall Parsley Aralia that is amazing. It's in a beautiful oriental-looking pot in my game room/Japanese garden. I also have 2 medium sized Ming Aralias that I love, one of which I found at Home Depot a few weeks ago, the other I got from a really nice houseplant store in a town nearby. The one I found at HD was the last one and a bit scraggly looking but is putting on some nice new growth. It has four main trunks so I'm sure with proper care, next spring it will explode with foliage *fingers crossed*. I also have a small, variegated Balfour that is very beautiful. It may be in my top 3 or 4 plants. Surprisingly, I found that one at a grocery store (again the last one!) Then I have 2 small variegated Parsley Aralias that are very nice and bushy. I absolutely love Aralias, even if they are a little temperamental. 3) Another favorite of mine is a large 7 foot tall Amate Schefflera in my den. It fills one corner with it's huge umbrella leaves and looks awesome. I've always loved Scheffs. I have 2 Amates and about 4 Arboricolas! 4) My last favorite plant (out of 4) would have to be this Jade that I've had for quite some time but it's shape is what I love so much about it. It has one trunk that splits into two that drape down on each side and curve back up. It's very Bonsai-like. I love it. I'll try to include some pics if anyone is interested. Glad to be able to join this forum! Cheers! -Chris

"The fish is several months old, was eating fine, doesn't know if it's constipated" - Most likely not, usually swelling can occur, not always. If your freind hasn't seen new fish poop recently it could be, but I would wager this isn't the problem. "uses well water" - no reason for dechlorination then, OK. " changes the water every few weeks," "3/4 gallon tank, plastic bowl that hangs on the wall, and hasn't tested anything." This is not good. Besides the container being too small to house a fish only changing the water every few weeks is not adequate. Fish excrete ammonia , so does rotting uneaten food and fish poop. Ammonia is toxic to fish. Your freind needs to change the water completely, 100%. Also add just a bit of salt. For 3/4 gallon add about 1/2 tsp. Dont worry if she doesn't have freshwater aquarium salt from the pet store, regular table salt is fine, even if it is iodized. (It is a myth that tablesalt is toxic to fish because of iodine and anti-caking agent, but thats another issue). If she doesn't change the water more frequently the fish will die. I don't agree with keeping any fish in a bowl (except swedish fish). I would suggest her getting a minimum 2.5 gallon tank, a 5 or 10 is better. This larger tank should also be heated with quality heater that has a thermostat and can be adjusted. Bettas are tropical fish unlike goldfish. They need a temp between 74F-82, idealy 78F. Between fluctuating temperatures and the ammonia this fish is doomed. It allready has unrepairable damage and a shortened life span. The pale color is because it is stressed from the ammonia toxins. The only good thing is that the temp. is most likely lower and this makes the toxicity of ammonia a little less. Bettas are marketed in a way that leads people to believe they are invinsible fish. Walmart even has a "bulletin" near their bettas entitled " Why are thes fish in little cups?". The reasoning is that bettas live in poor water conditions in their natural habitat and that they survive in puddles. The so called puddles are created by monsoons that are quite deep and have flow. It rains quite frequently to replace water and it is an entire eco system. In other words for it being OK to keep these fish in a small container ( anything under 5 gallons) because thats all they need is total BS. Please don't take this the wrong way,this is the fault of false advertisement and ignorance of anyone who sells them this way. People go to Pet stores and are advised by someone who dosen't know any better. It is confusing because these people are supposed to be an athourity on tropical fish and stores sell products like betta bowls that are way too small. Here is a pretty good discription of the betta situation in the link below. I don't agree with everything on this forum but this part is mostly accurate. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread from a betta forum

When one WalMart is bad, do not blame all of the stores. Period! I work at a WalMart store in Oklahoma and its currently the largest Supercenter store in the state. Yes, thats right, I work in the Pets department overnight. This is a really tough decision on my work hours. I like working at nights, because it pays more, but I want to work during the day, because I want to be around more customers to teach them more about fishes. I stock the Pets department, but I do assist customers with fishes. Its a real challenge, because of right now, I am basically deaf without the use of my hearing aid and all my life, I've been wearing my hearing aid and was able to hear great as other people can, but there is a problem right now in my ear, so its tough. I can speak to people very clearly and I try to read their lips and when neccessary, I have them to write down on paper. All stores that sells fish are bound to have a dead fish here and there... thats perfectly normal. One night, this customer was an idiot, actually very rude somewhat. He wanted the entire tank of a specific fish that cost 5, 10, or 15 cents each (cant remember at the moment), so I went ahead to net out all of the fishes, but let one fish in the tank, because it had some kind of fungus. I told him that the one fish is bad. I went ahead to prepare the fishes into the bag and while I was doing that, he went ahead and netted the sick fish out and I tried to tell him, but he wouldnt listen and he put the sick fish in the bag. I went ahead to tie up the bag and note the price and amount of fishes, but I did not add the sick fish to the total price. While I was doing that, he went ahead to net up 4 dollars worth of goldfishes that costs 15 cents each and I told him that I will do that. He wouldnt listen and by the time he was finished, I prepared the fishes into the bag and then he went and got some more and put it in the bag. I tried to count the fishes in total and estimated it to be 50 fishes, which came to about $7.50. He wouldnt listen to me and he wanted things his way. There was this one night, I spent nearly an hour educating a lady on fishes and tank care. She ended up on picking two fancy goldfish and the alage eater that sticks to the tank glass. After everything was done, about an hour or so later, when I walked by the fish tanks, I noticed two bags in the sink. I was shocked, she changed her mind at the checkout. Made me furious. Its alot of stress a fishes to net them out and bag them. Another night, this guy wanted several fishes, which was divided up into two bags. After all was done, he came back about 15 minutes later, saying the prices on the bags came off, so I wrote it on the bags again. Later that night, my coworker brought the two bags back and dumped the fishes back into the tank. What is wrong with these customers?! Anywayz, I still work there and I still enjoy educating people on fishes and tank care. Just because there is a lazy associate at a store, the entire company should not be blamed. Its very simple to talk with the store manager about whatever. PetsMart is a good place and they have much more selections. WalMart is good, but not enough selections. Petsmart is generally more expensive but there are some fishes here and there thats cheaper than WalMart. There are PetCo stores in this state, but I have no clue where they are. I've seen commericals, but they failed to show the locations of the stores. So, I have no clue about PetCo. Anywayz, all of these stores sell good and healthy fishes with top technology fish tanks. It all comes down to the services of each associates for each stores.

I can't imagine a summer without my towering bananas. Bananas are ADDICTING! I really like the dwarfs as they sucker so readily..., constantly. I also grow Orinoco, and dwarf Brazilians, and Ensete. They grow super fast, and with your long summer days they should do fine, but they do like very warm nights too (70's +). You can overwinter the corms of the plants in the basement after the season. (I try to maintain mine in foliage but putting them into a frost free but chilly/cold garage for the Winter.) You do mean for growing outside? If indoors, growth will not compare to life outdoors. Musa basjoo is cold hardier and will even overwinter in the ground to Zone 7, but for your needs, the foliage is also more tolerant of cool during the growing season and will grow while more tropical species will sulk without summer HEAT and HUMIDITY.