Congratulations on your purchases and your taking the step 'forwards' in your growing. Forwards is in quotes because for someone in NJ and, more likely than not, growing indoors Phal's themselves are hardly beginner plants. This is just one of the many myths that abound in our hobby. An orchid only becomes 'easy' when the conditions it needs to thrive can be presented to it without effort on the part of the grower. This is only the case in the North Eastern United States for a narrow band of season in mid-summer or rare and lucky circumstances of architectural design. Anyway, about your Oncids. Being very, very general about it. Species Oncid's are rather difficult, hybrid Oncid's like your Sharry Baby are rather easy. Do they require more light than phals. Technically, yes. Practically? Well, you might very well already be giving your phals light that would make the Oncids happy. It's not likely, but my point is that terms like 'more' or 'less' cannot be applied until you know what you actually have. How well do the phals grow? Have you seen an inch of growth on new leaves per month? If no, then not even your phals have phal light and they too need more light and while you are at it if you get enough for the Oncid's it won't be too much for the phals, all will benefit. If OTOH the phals are growing well and you put the oncids with them but the oncids simply sit there week after week looking just the same as when you bought them then obviously the light won't do for them, the choice is yours at that point whether to create somewhere for the oncids to thrive in or upgrade conditions for everyone. There is an orchid species website www.orchidpsecies.com where you can look up requirements for the O. orni___. The Sharry Baby being a mutt will be more general in its culture suffice it to say that it could be grown with a phal if that phal were receiving 16hr/dy mixed sunlight and artificial light. Ideally they would want things just a tick cooler than most phals but I think there is an overlap in there somewhere. Good luck. H

We did the same thing and received our Arbor Day trees about 2 weeks ago. They were not large enough to be consider trees, medium size weeds would be a better description. In the instructions received with the trees, it recommended that the trees be potted and maintained in pots for a year or so, before planting them in the yard. Or until they were of a size you would buy in a nursery. Since it is recommended to not plant trees in any thing but the dirt from the hole they will be planted in, We went into the back of our lot and filled 10 - one gallon pots with dirt. We then planted one tree per pot. Like other plants waiting to be planted, their home for the next couple of years will be out front porch. This has an advantage over putting them in the yard. We have a lot of wild life in our yard, deer rabbits, squirrels, and etc. Keeping the small trees on our porch will protect them from deer, rabbits, and other small animals and discourage the squirrels We live east of Raleigh and rarely experience 0 temperatures, Rarely do we get snow and if we do it last not more than a day. Those in colder ares may need to grow them in a small tree house or a hot bed.

Aggie, Very nice pictures! I'm also glad to hear that things are going well for you. I had planned on trying for Gulf Frits this year, but the Maypop seeds that I bought off of ebay didn't come up. I got so busy with the other plants that I have that I decided to forget that for this year. There's always next year. I want to wait a few years and try to get them on my own because I like surprises. :) I do want to see them here sometime during my lifetime so at some point I might order a couple kinds of butterfly eggs. I had a female BST lay an egg here one day, but something got it before I could get to it. I didn't see her lay any others. That was probably a week ago and I haven't seen her since. So you and I are about in the same boat with the BST's. I don't blame you for ordering the False Nettles and not wanting the Stinging Nettles. I don't want any of those here either. I have plants that resemble pictures of False Nettle that I've seen on the internet. I think I will take a picture of them sometime and post it here for a positive ID if someone here would be able to tell me if that's actually what they are. It's a plant that I have always considered a week and would pull them out whenever I saw them here. ARG! Cathy

Thank you, Stephanie, for the tip of Garden Tutor Soil pH Test kit strips. I find that soil pH test via a solution (red-cabbage juice) is more accurate since it takes at least 1/2 hour for the minerals in soil to dissolve in water. I tested soaking coffee ground in red-cabbage juice, at first it was acidic (pinkish), but after 1/2 hour soak, the solution became clear, coffee ground is known as a buffer. Same with rose park nearby, they scattered a layer of gypsum on top of their clay. I scoop up 1 heaping Tablespoon of their soil and tested in red cabbage juice. At first the solution turned pinkish (acidic), from the 18% of sulfur dissolved first. After 1 hour, the solution became very blue (alkaline), from the calcium of gypsum being slowest to dissolve, plus the alkaline minerals in soil was slow to dissolve. SARENA: for the reason above, it's best to mix gypsum 1 month in advance into soil, and let rain or a few waterings release its acidic sulfur to dissolve minerals in soil (rather than to corrode roots). Since you are in a high-rain climate, it's good to have solid minerals on top to buffer acidic rain, such as a thick layer of Worm Casting (pH 7.4), or your clay (if alkaline like mine at pH 7.7). Vermiculite is to improve moisture and to hold nutrients, plus to make potting soil fluffy for wimpy own-roots. Perlite has zero nutrients but good to MIX-IN so roots can have more oxygen for growth. Own-root roses like moist but airy soil. Both vermiculite and perlite is best mixed into potting soil. One rooting method recommended by University of CA at Davis is to mix 1/2 vermiculite (for moisture & cation exchange) plus 1/2 perlite (for aeration).