Got curious about compost tea. This is the second time I checked. Early this summer time I spent 1 hour researching but was disappointed. Here's one link from United Kingdom on compost tea (unbiased, NOT sponsored by compost-tea industry): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/11121288/Compost-tea-does-it-really-work.html " What did they find? In a glasshouse study on lavender and choisya, none of the compost teas had any effect on growth or on susceptibility to botrytis (grey mould) or spider mites. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were taller, sometimes they were shorter, sometimes there was no difference. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were of higher quality, but often they weren’t, and treated choisya plants at one nursery were significantly worse. In short, the effects of compost teas were “extremely inconsistent”. Other links from U.S.A: http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/compost-tea-does-it-work/ From University of New Hampshire: https://extension.unh.edu/articles/Does-compost-tea-really-work From University of Vermont: http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html Excerpt from above link: " It’s not clear whether it’s necessary to aerate during compost tea production. Aeration can speed up the production time, but it may also add to equipment cost and complexity. There are claims that aeration helps kill off the organisms that can cause illness. Very few studies have compared aerated and non-aerated compost teas. Some recent research. A 2-year study by the Rodale Institute and Pennsylvania State University evaluated the use of aerated compost tea for disease suppression and crop stimulation in grapes, potatoes, and pumpkins. During year one, approximately 50% suppression of powdery mildew was observed in the compost tea treated grape plots. A slight reduction of gray mold, along with an INCREASE in the level of downy mildew, was observed in the compost tea treated plot during the first year at one of the vineyards. Compost tea failed to suppress powdery mildew on Howden pumpkins in year one, but reduced the number and size of pathogen colonies in year two. Compost tea did not reduce severity of late blight on Superior potatoes when disease was present in year two. " http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html *** From Straw: FOR ROSES, just spraying with alkaline tap water alone is enough to suppress mildew, as testified by Roseseek (Kim Rupert) in CA and rosarian Dave Boyd in HMF. For mildew, just plain tap-water spray (alkaline pH over 8) is enough to contain mildew, as rosarian Dave Boyd in a dry climate (only 13" of moisture per year) testified in HMF: http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=3.4748

@Polypom @Rina Thanks for giving me a hint for the species, as well as sharing the pics of your plants! You're right, mine have no spines nor prickly parts whatsoever, and they aren't near as thick or rigid as yours look. I had never seen this type of plant, and only bought it because I thought it was neat. Maybe I bought the genetically inferior result of some mad botanist's cross-breeding experiments? :-x As for sunlight and etiolation, I honestly don't think that's it because I've been growing my A. Subulata in the same conditions as my other succulents, same July - October sunlight on my back porch. In fact, they were all sitting in a row on the same porch railing throughout most of this. I typically use the "finger dipstick" test to determine when I should water, but I've kept these plants dry for the most part. Maybe they get watered once every 6 - 10 days at most? The plants pictured below in the black plastic containers are the ones I bought at the same time from the flea market lady (this was dated 7/18/2015), with the baby A. Subulata in the middle. It's a blurry camera pic, but I'm pretty sure I had 5 - 6 of the plants in that pot when I started. ...and these are those same plants now, with the little black container for reference. I'm pretty sure I used the same Miracle Gro "Cactus, Palm, & Citrus potting mix", for these, but it's possible I cut it with Fox Farms Ocean Forest potting soil (I probably did for the big cactus just due to the size of the pot). I know that's not ideal for a desert plant, but surely poor drainage / incorrect perlite mixture would have made my babies pictured above look like this sickly baby pictured below! Maybe A. Subulata is more finicky or sensitive to something in this N.C. weather? I repotted all of those flea market plants the day after I bought them...I didn't know that A. Subulata was many plants, so I was surprised when they all came apart in my hand when I pulled them out. One of the A.Subs died within a couple of weeks of me re-potting, but I chalked that up to my novice plant-handling skills. The others held on, but then started doing the "loch ness monster" dip/grow back up/dip more/grow up/die cycle since maybe late August or so?. That's why I suspected disease or pests, just because it took so long for them to start declining...but maybe they hated that soil, and it's just taken them this long to say "I give up" and die? @Asclepiad_Fan I didn't see what my mom did with it on a day-to-day basis when she owned it, but it always stayed in a pot either on the back porch (wooden, 2nd story off of the ground) or inside in a window sill in the winter. Honestly, it's always had some form of scarring and it's only gotten worst as time went on (summer or indoors!). Anyways, here's some pics in bright sunlight (maybe it will show something that my previous rainy-day pics don't?) This is the front, where there is less scarring visible: This is the back, which looks worse: And here is a close-up of the off-shoot: even its base is showing that same scarring! Not sure if it matters, but this guy has always had more spider webs on it since I assumed ownership and re-potted it. Some mornings, I would see one - two threads on the other succulents, but this guy has always consistently more inside of his pot compared to the other porch-rail succulents. Is it because it's a bigger pot / firm spines make better anchor points and the spiders look for that? Or, maybe I do have some spider-mite like pest? It sure looks like something has been sucking this poor dude dry his whole life...

"Description Come to this free workshop to learn about the latest results of UF and national research on roses. Receive hands-on training on symptoms and management of rose rosette disease, rose mosaic disease, crown gall, and rose pests." Date and Time Tue, July 11, 2017 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT Location UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center 155 Research Rd. Quincy, FL 32351 ------------------------------------------------------------------ See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-re-emerging-rose-diseases-and-pests-tickets-35578058932 If anyone is going, please keep this forum informed of any major advances.

Good link. I have it bookmarked. Problem is that someone posting next week won't see it. Most people don't do searches. Once we started a FAQ and hoped that people would read that before they posted. Not. BAZINGA (stole that one from Ken) -Babka