I use a lot of manure but the stuff never comes with a certificate of purity. Because of some hefty paranoia on my part I try to set the stuff aside to age gracefully into dowager-hood. I have a bin for cold composting, but if there's room it sits in a bed. So, the first year it gets to sit and grow flowers or such. Lots of field marigolds; crazy about those. Because of a suggestion I read here, I have one un-aged bed growing okra (and marigolds), and since nobody actually eats okra, it's really just a cover crop. Next year the two flower beds that are sitting sort of fallow will get food in them. Marigolds too since they're unstoppable self seeders. I figure that any trace pathogens and perhaps herbicides will be minimized by then. Until that time, I think of the beds as septic, as in germy and dangerous to health. I come from deep in the chemical culture. I dipped my dogs in sevin, sprayed the yards for ticks with malathion, fogged my house while still inside it, and hoarded some of the last bags of DDT in Virginia. I've driven perhaps 2 million miles in my life, most of which was inhaling Carbon Monoxide loaded with tetra-ethyl lead. I used to play with mercury in my hands and spit it through a pea shooter. I've inhaled herbicides that our government said were harmless. I believed in the slogan of better living through chemistry. I don't believe those god damned bastards any more. I just had to draw a line and stick to it. Had to start being careful. In the last year I've used two chemicals. Chalk that up to luck. One was mosquito dunks as a source of BT for house plants that got a bit loaded with gnats. The other was Epsom salts. Knock on wood. Knock on wood again. Everything else came from stable manure, plant waste, and household garbage. Again, luck, and a willingness to let stuff get eaten by critters. Sorry. I'll shut up now. Goodbye.

ollierose, that would be stretching the truth just a tad. Leaffooted bugs are plant feeders, stabbing into tissues of foliage or fruit and sucking out the juices. However, they aren't considered a major pest, unless (for some reason) the population is very high in a concentrated area. Both the nymphs and the adults feed the same way. Carrie has verified, by the way, that they are leaffooted bug nymphs by comparing a photo I posted on another forum. They're cute at this stage, aren't they?

I suggest reposting this on the Container forum, but from what you've said, I see that you have used garden soil in your mix. Don't ever do that in a container. Just use a soil-less mix. There are lots to choose from, or just buy a soil-less mix like Miracle Gro. Then you go on to say looks like a kind of soil that doesn't want water lol it acts as if it was duck feathers sometimes That sounds like a horrible thing to have in your potting medium. You shouldn't try to use garden soil in a container to start with - because it packs down, compresses, and cuts off aeration to the roots of anything planted in it. But given that its bad soil on top of that, that makes it a double no-no! Even good garden soil is no good in a container. None of the multiple invisible systems that make good garden soil good will work in a pot. The microflora and fauna that make up healthy soil cannot survive in balance in a pot, and there are no earthworms working to keep your soil fluffy and light once you plop it into a pot. So - no garden soil in your pots! I can't see that plant well enough to id (plus its sideways and I don't feel like downloading the picture to put it through Windows Viewer and rotate it) but repost on the container forum and maybe someone there can help more with id-ing the plant, and helping you get your potting mix straightened out.

Oh by the way, seeing all those great photos of succulents you guys have drives me crazy! I can hardly find such species around here, and then we don't have enough sunlight in winter and so on. I guess it feels great to know people are jealous of you, doesn't it? Haha well every topic of your discussions makes me crazy jealous ;-)