Hi Mithander, Sorry, there's so much going on w/ this plant. Fungus gnats are generally indicators of too much watering. These plants are jungle cacti, not arid cacti, so they do need water w/ reasonable frequency & are designed to tolerate the extreme heat of the tropics. (They originally hail from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil which is where I grew up, so I know they have rainy season in January & that it gets VERY hot.) But that said, they need fast draining mix 'cause their roots can rot quite easily. Yes, flowering is a lot of work for the plant, but generally one withholds water for one month after flowering & then the plant slowly starts to come back. Usually mine start putting on new growth again in March or April & I resume a regular watering schedule. Maybe the soil you used had wetting agents in it? If you still have the package maybe read the list of ingredients. At any rate, soil that's too wet & then a a plant moved to a pot that's too big combine to make for conditions for rot. Also putting it into a cooler room combined w/ damp soil can also lead to serious rot & root rot (that's why you have fewer roots). These plants normally grow up in the crotches of trees w/very little mix & just whatever leaf debris & animal wastes happen to drop on them. Their natural habitat gets lots of rain, sometimes frequent rain (depending on the season). Sorry, but if a plant stays too wet, the last thing to do is water it more. Does the pot still have drainage holes? 'cause this is in part a bad drainage problem. I'd put it back into the smaller pot, into a mix of 1/2 African violet soil & half perlite or pumice. I'd smell the roots for rot & then sprinkle ordinary cinnamon (like you use for baking, actual to prevent rot) on the roots & then shake them off & pot up as above. I'd put the newly repotted plant into a position of bright, indirect light & then please leave the plant alone. These plants thrive w/ benign neglect & when healthy, a bit of fertilizer. They tend not to do well when fussed over. I realize you're trying to help the plant, but you're killing it w/ kindness & not resolving the basic problem which sounds to be bad mix, compounded by too much water & then maybe also cold, air conditioned air. While you wait for it to recover you can check out your other cuttings which you mentioned are growing well & also read lots of Christmas Cactus posts here at C&S. Good luck!

Katsols, the problem could be you let it dry too much, thus shocking the plant. Are you sure the soil was bone dry? It may look dry at the top but where the roots are could have been still wet. Though I doubt that is the case because if too wet the whole plant will tend to collapse. If all leaves were droopy when you watered and the two outer leaves have not revived, try placing a clear plastic bag over it for a few days to see if they perk up. DO NOT leave the plant in direct sun! Place it in a bright spot. This should help the plant if it was shocked by being too dry. The leaves should revive but if they do not you can always cut those affected off. Take off the bag and return to it's original spot. To avoid this from happening again, stick your finger into the soil down and inch or two. If wet, don't water,if slightly damp then it is safe to water. The key is to avoid the extremes too much or too little water. If you rather not stick your finger in, then take a sharpened pencil and stick it I the soil. If it comes out wet, don't water. Hope this helps. Irina may have some more ideas or tips to share. She's very knowledgeable. I sure she will post as well. Dave

Yes, there is quite a difference between Dracaenas and Gasterias! As soon as I saw your response, I did a Yahoo! Advanced Search for "Gasteria lilliputiana," and it returned exactly three sites, one of which is this GardenWeb page. At the bottom of the page was a link labeled "Did you mean to search for Gasteria liliputana?" I clicked on that and got a list of over 270 sites, so I believe the correct spelling would be "Gasteria liliputana." Anyway, I included a link to one of the sites that has a good photo of a blooming G. liliputana. I also checked out Botany.com's page for Gasteria, and here are some excerpts from the page: "Thay make wonderful houseplants because they will tolerate low levels of light as well as hot, bright indirect light.... In warm climates where the temperature stays above 40 degrees F, these plants can be grown outdoors; otherwise, they can be grown in a home or greenhouse. A mixture of two parts loam and equal parts of sand and crushed bricks is the best to use.... Keep the soil moist throughout the summer, but only give water when the soil becomes quite dry in winter. No shading is required except a little during summer when the sun's rays are the most severe." Here is a link that might be useful: G. liliputana in bloom

The word of the day is "Let the buyer beware" . How many here would call someone and say "I want a new car. Get me one and I will pay you what you want"? Why do we do that with soil? So often we see here someone bought some soil and it was not what they wanted, or expected, because they relied on the seller to give them what they wanted and that happens seldom. Someone wanting to purchase soil needs to determine what they want and go and look for it., same as buying that car. Do not rely on someone's description of soil as "topsoil" (a meaningless term), or "garden soil" (also meaningless), but go and look at what is being sold. Look at the soil, smell the soil, feel the soil, ask for a one cup sample of the soil for testing as described in "Soil test for organic matter" above. A good soil mix for a garden is one with about 45 percent sand, 25 percent silt, 25 percent clay and 5 percent organic matter, soil some maintain is improbable to get. If we all demand that mix it will become available if those selling soil want to stay in business. If we, as buyers, demand quality we will get it. kimmq is kimmsr