There is a wealth of information on the net and complete culture notes that are way outside my typing speed. Find some complete culture notes on the net that relate to a climate similar to NC. Look up past posts on Phalaenopsis culture on this site. To find them just put Phalaenopsis in the search box on top of the discussions page. At the foot of this post are some notes written for Sydney, Australia. Still puzzled after all that? Come back here with more questions. Phalaenopsis Culture These notes relate to Phalaenopsis culture in the Sydney area. These orchids cannot be grown outside in the yard or in a shade-house because winter minimum temperatures are too low and some summer maximum temperatures are too high. These temperature problems plus low humidity mean that special housing to meet Phalaenopsis needs is required, or the plants should be grown inside your home. Culture within the home Finding the place to put the plant. Your plant needs bright light, humidity levels of about 60% and temperatures where both you and the plant will be comfortable. That rules out one place that is often suggested, the bathroom. Another place that is a not good is one of those small closed in sunrooms where dry winter air is heated and the humidity levels are too low. My plants are on the windowsill of a large airy kitchen. Winter temperatures range from 12C to 18C each day and a fibreglass blind protects the plants from all but a few hours of gentle sun in winter. Do not expose the plant to harsh direct sunlight because the leaves of the plant will burn. Early morning sun is best, but late afternoon sun is also OK provided it is screened as described above. Humidity Some people recommend spraying the plants with water every day to raise humidity. This is not necessary because the humidity level in most homes is about 60%. You may wish to place the plant on a humidity tray containing pebbles and water. This is not necessary either, but will not cause harm, provided the bottom of the pot is not sitting in water. Watering Frequency depends on the potting material and the atmosphere in the house but as a general guide once a week in winter grading to two or three times a week in summer. Potting material should be kept moist but not sopping wet. Fertilizing Use complete liquid fertilizer with every third watering, but only at half the prescribed strength. Wet the foliage as well. Repotting Every two years in late spring. Use specially prepared orchid bark, not Cymbidium mix. Try not to disturb the roots too much and just replace some of the older bark. Do not be in hurry to put in plant in a larger pot, because like most orchids, the plants seem to do better in a slightly pot-bound condition. Do not worry about some roots growing outside the pot. That is a good sign. Treatment of flowering stem When the flowers are nearly finished, you can cut the stem off just below the lowest flower and the plant may produce a new flowering shoot from the node just below the cut. BUT, note that most experienced growers cut the stem off at the base so the plant will put all its energy into growing new leaves, and therefore will produce better flowers next time. Making the plant flower The plant should produce a new flowering stem in late autumn as the temperatures drop. Some growers induce flowering by watering the plant with Epsom salts (Magnesium Sulfate) once a week several times in autumn. The amount of Epsom salts required is one tablespoon full in a bucket of water. Pests and diseases Your plant should remain pest and disease free in the home environment. Fungal disease which shows up as black spots on the leaves is a symptom of over-watering, cut back on the watering a bit and seek help from a nursery or garden centre if the problem persists.

In my experience you need to remove all dead tissue - otherwise the rot will kill the baby. After you trimmed the leaf to the healthy tissue - you can put it in a humid sphagnum moss - orchid growers use it a lot- leaf on the moss - and just a bit of moss around the baby. Sphagnum moss has antifungal/antibacterial properties. And then you put the whole contraption in the covered transparent container - like the salad tray - and put it somewhere in indirect light - and keep an eye on it so it will not dry - spray it with water every so often. This practically guaranteed way to get baby send the roots. What BansheeBanshee suggested will work too - the chance of success will be someway lower, but even without rooting powder - but provided it is in airtight container with high humidity - and the rotten tissue is removed - I think it will work. Irina

Judy, the foam protects them from any chemical you might use. If your hydrangea is the size you describe, you can spray away the foam with water, or take a paper towel, wipe them off and squash. You're going to find a little green to yellow-green soft nymph inside the foam. The nymph is sucking sap, causing the distortion. And when you're done with your hydrangea, you can come and do my lavender - they are covered this year, along with the hardy fuchsias :)

I'd say Silica is correct about the ratio of light to soil temperature. This is only meant to simplify the balance of the relationship between leaves and roots. Leaves use light to start the process of making food. The leaves will tell the roots that it needs all the ingredients of the photosynthesis "recipe" to finish making food. So in normal ideal outdoor conditions, the roots provide and send up water+nutrients needed to complete the food being made in the leaves. Imagine that to citrus roots 55F and lower is considered to be like frostbite to the roots. The roots cannot do anything when the soil is cooler than 55F. It cannot absorb water, it cannot function at all and so it basically sleeps to conserve its energy. However if the leaves are having a blast above the soil and getting a sunny Hawaii vacation thanks to strong indoor lighting, it will try to make food. The leaves cannot stop itself from reacting to light. When light hits the leaves and warms the leaves enough for it to function, the leaves will react to light no matter what and must start photosynthesis. But if the roots are too cold, it cannot send up the missing ingredients because it will be in hibernation. Eventually the leaves will lose moisture since it is in active mode. While the leaves are active and losing moisture, the roots are inactive and cannot send water up to hydrate the active leaves. Like running a marathon without any sustenance. The tree will sacrifice it's own leaves if it cannot provide itself the water or nutrients that is needed to continue with the process. Sorry if my post was long. I feel that it can be simple to understand if I try to compare it to thing we already understand. So to answer your question Mike, when the tree is getting plenty of sunlight that means leaf activity goes up and therefore root activity must also go up in order to keep the balance in their relationship. In order to make the root function as much as the leaves, temperatures of the soil surrounding the roots must increase. If root temperatures (and therefore root activity) cannot be increased because heating is too expensive, then the activity levels of both root and leaves must be in balance. Either the root or leaves will have to follow the other. If root activity cannot go up to parallel the leaves then inevitably is it up to the leaves to follow the roots footsteps and also be very inactive. That means reducing light levels to reduce leaf activity for the sake of matching the cold/inactive roots. I think of the leaves and roots as two parts of one living creature. It cannot live without one or their other. Both parts must follow each other because they are two halves of a whole. One is the pie crust and the other the pie filling. You cannot have a pie with a very thick crust but 2 teaspoons of filling and vice versa! It just wouldn't make any sense. You would have a very disfigured and unappetizing pie! They must both contribute the same amount to create a balanced and delicious food! I can get creative when I need to when it comes to explaining things so if this still wasn't easy to understand at all, feel free to let me know. I hope this helped anyone confused about the whole roots and leaves matter