I'd like some African blue basil cuttings! I can give you cuttings of a couple things that you say you want on your trade list, like Red cestrum, and Kings Mantle (thunbergia erecta). I also have rooted cuttings of both orange and yellow Justica carnea. Or, you can look at my trade list and see if there's something else you might like. -Amber Here is a link that might be useful: Amber's Trade List

mine are somewhere around 5-6yr old and blooming every year. and i have 3 large tubers in a squat mum-pot (8"wide x6"high). you have yours in what size pot? so long as you keep it fairly moist humid, in good warmth (above 75F) and feed it well - it'll grow well. IF it's growing well and the root-ball is dense with thick white roots - you can up-pot it in 2" wider pot like right now, provided you'll still get warm temps above 72F for another 6-8 weeks. but if not - it's best to keep it in a smaller pot for the winter. i tent mine for the winter to give it better humidity and prevent temp fluctuation - this way i don't have to water much either . mine takes very little water in winter, but.. it is never totally dry either, since it's on water-wick to prevent it drying up ( it will go dormant then). if it's in a larger pot, but the roots have not filled it by cooler season (3-4 mo of winter) - there is a higher chance that tubers will rot in soil that is not dry enough. but if you dry it up - off it goes into dormancy... what's your soil mix? it can take sev hours of dappled, moving sun - it likes it actually and will grow larger leaves too: dappled light like thru the venetian blinds (it simulates dappled light under the trees in high shade). i have 1yr old seedlings in west window currently in 3 hours of afternoon direct sun and they're growing very well, no burn at all. i am in NYC area - so much hotter sun then in germany, i'd think. it likes very bright filtered light. but the farther north you are, the more sun it can take in winter or mid-season, since the sun is rather weak.

The part about WATERING SPARINGLY is important enough to warrant repeating. With leaves removed, your plant will only use a small fraction of the water it used before defoliation. Using a 'tell' to tell you when it's time to water (or withhold it) is a good way to stay on track. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

>> the pot is quite nice and you can't beat the $2 price!: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/containers/openBinsBaskets?productId=10018611. (those come in smaller size too.) I drilled holes in the inside one, put an old peanut butter or nutella (or something) lid in-between the pots to have some space at the bottom and to create that 2-color look, popped one inside the other and voila! The only disadvantage is the single pot is too flexible and has too much give, so feels a little iffy in the hand sometimes. But they are fine doubled. >> been telling you it needs bottom heat! to grow roots and all. clever to put it on top of fixture. Yes! Definitely good advice on the heat. I am proud of the lamp idea. (Little things, right? :-) It is especially good for plants that need temp differences between night and day (like when encouraging a phalaenopsis orchid to produce a flower spike at this time of year or a bit later - or perhaps to encourage flowers on a Christmas/Thanksgiving cactus). You do not even need to move the plant or bother opening and closing the window or whatever - the lamp is on a timer, so the temp fluctuations just happen automatically. Beautiful. At least that's the theory - my phals are probably too weak to flower this year, and I am on the fence even trying to induce it. So now I have all those differently-lit shelves, a lamp that can be used as a day-time heat mat and a real heat mat for 24/7 operation. I suppose I can also use the top lamp as a daytime heat mat as well - for those plants that do not need a lot of light (not quite sure what those would be, but nice to be aware of the option). I am quite happy with how this set up is turning out. And it's non-ugly, which is important in an urban apartment in the room I use most often. I am glad your alocasia and strom are growing well, too! >> about the leaves that won't unfurl - it might be because of repot Yeah, if my memory serves me right, I repotted three times since May, first into perlite-amended store bought mix, then into a bark-heavy but still less than optimal mix, and finally into gritty mix. I actually think gritty mix was an overkill - Alocasias do like wet feet, and it drains arguably too fast. I have better bark now, so another repot may be in order, but of course not till the spring or summer, and even then I'll see how it's doing at the time.