Granted even with the mind set of the entire forum it doesn't make it right to suggest conflicting label following suggestions. Many ways of doing things including irradicating mites If and when I ever have a mite problem I also have complete and total confidence that a jade will re-grow when I prune away a mite infestation while I monitor it for the potentual of more mites When I want to know what label I should follow and what label I shouldn't follow then I'll have a problem.

Well, it's debatable whether my dogs wanted to run the mean squirrel off or were just excited. I do think animals have feelings. Some researchers say that a wagging tail signals anxiety, and that when a dog licks you they are not being affectionate. I don't believe either of those claims. I think dogs can sense feelings, illness and know what death is. They seem to me to have many of the same feelings people have. There are some good books about animals by Jeffrey Moussaif Masson, like When Elephants Weep. But I know too that animals can be mean, and that sometimes what looks like meaness is just the instinct to survive. My cat kills baby rabbits around here. I guess I should thank him for protecting my roses. I don't think of him as a mean cat..in fact he has been a nurturing cat to any other cat who has come to our house. He also can be affectionate to our dogs even though they like to chase him. Squirrels can get to be a nuisance..I have a friend who had them in her attic. I wouldn't want to encourage more squirrels to live in our yard. I just never imagined aggression in squirrels. I had a cute image of them in my head.

Okay, Josh. I wasn't giving my advice based off of your advice first off. I've never seen your plants. I am sure they are beautiful. I was using the wrong word. Shrivel means to get smaller, shrink, etc. Wrinkle means to crease, fold, etc. It is a semantic issue. I should have said shrivel slightly or wrinkle. Either way, I don't do either. It doesn't mean that your way is wrong. Your way IS standard practice and what I use on my outdoor succulents/cacti. I was not happy with the growth rate of my jade bonsais last summer. On another forum, someone advised me not to wait until they 'wrinkled' to water but to only let the soil dry. Depending on the size of your plant, it can take up to a week or more between soil dryness to leaf wrinkle. During that time, growth rate slows significantly. The science behind my argument is still the same. Whenever a plant has to start using its reserves, it is adapted to stop putting energy into other things, like growth, in order to conserve in times of drought. I use this method to achieve better growth rates during the growing season because I want a LARGE trunk/jade bonsai. My soil does not stay 'WET', but rather evenly moist. When it registers dry on the water meter, I water thoroughly. I only use the meter for about two or three weeks after I repot and keep track of how often I have to water on a calender. Then I forgo the water meter and get on a regular schedule during the growing season. I feed pretty heavy towards the end and then cut off water more around fall to try to enduce blooming. I track the waterings with each repot because I have changed my potting medium two years in a row now. This is a difference between what I do with bonsai versus regular potted plants. As far as knowing whether all systems are go by using the re-plumping of the leaves, I simply use the "It's growing, it's going" method. It works for me and my plants are happy. I still believe that Jenricae's plant may not be getting water to the root ball, especially if her soil has a lot of peat in it. It has been MY experience that stems and whole cacti will flop over when they aren't getting enough water. When I water, they stand back up. If I have a rotting plant, the leaves typically turn yellow before falling off and the stems get really mushy and turn brown. IF this is the case, I would prune back hard, pull it out of its soil and rinse all soil off. Check for black mushy roots, and cut them off. Let it sit unpotted for a about a week and then repot. They can survive a long while without water. In Houston, I can leave one unpotted for six months and it will put on new growth. Thank you humidity! Josh, once again, I wasn't knocking your practices or your plants. I was just saying what works for me. Everyone has to find what works best for their individual needs. Maybe I'll do a scientific experiment and try to prove my theory about getting maximum growth this summer when I'm not teaching math and science to a bunch of pre-pubescent fifth graders. =0)

Salt levels = a total of everything dissolved in the water that is in the soil. That includes the dissolved solids in your tapwater (if you water with tap water) and the fertilizer salts the plant doesn't use. These dissolved solids accumulate in the soil and make it difficult for the plant to take up water and can cause the plant to shed leaves or die - but that's probably not happening to your plant. There is an ideal ratio between the nutrients that should be in your soil at all times. When that ratio gets skewed (out of whack), it's bad for the plant. Some people will argue that fish tank water is a good thing, but they won't be able to tell you why they think it's better than a sound fertilizer supplementation plan. It is better than no fertilizer, but has no potential to help if you have a solid plan in place. Because you're a beginner, it might not do me any good to try to explain why, but I will if you want to take a stab at it. The soil + sand is probably not a good choice because it's going to hold a LOT of excess water, and jades don't like soggy soils. You can work around that issue by being very careful about how/when you water, but it's far from ideal. Al