Steve also says, and I quote: "It should also be understood plants also need oxygen and draw it in through their roots and that is why soil mixtures like the ones Al writes about are so important. I could write on this for a long time but will try to sum it up quickly. It isn't the water in the soil that kills many of our plants, it is the saprophytes that thrive in muddy soil. The saprophytes feed on dead tissue and thus deprive the plant's roots of oxygen. Many folks prefer to only water once a week or sometimes only twice a month. the soils Al describes do not support saprophytic growth." I think it needs to be understood that plants don't want to be watered on a specific schedule, i.e. once a week, or twice monthly, etc... whether they need it or not. They want to be watered when they need water, and not until such time. This may change slightly as the seasons change, or if the pot's location changes, or if other variables change. The better suited a medium is at negating any perched water table, the wider the margin for error becomes in watering. Personally, I avoid using CRFs... mainly because I don't know how much nutrients are being released at any given time. I like the control I get using a balanced liquid fertilizer. I also like the idea of providing a slow, steady buffet for my plants, as it were. I like knowing that the nutrients needed are constantly available in low, even doses... and that every time I water, any leftovers are being flushed from the durable, porous medium I use. At the same time I water/feed, I'm also allowing for the all-important exchange of oxygen and gases, to and from the root zone, so my plants' roots can breathe. Humidity is important, to a certain degree... but I've found that misting is just about useless. It makes more sense to provide humidity through the use of a humidifier, if possible... or to utilize humidity trays with gravel and water, keeping air continuously moving to help the evaporation process. Underlying everything, however, is having a good understanding of how container growing differs from garden growing, understanding the purpose of a medium, and having a basic understanding of how and why we do the things we do. Combined, this helps us make knowledgeable, informed choices where our plants are concerned.

I have a wall of river rock. It is the wall behind the stairs from the living room leading to the second floor. Af first it was the rock adhered with epoxy to the wall. There was a coating of clear varnish to show the colors but it was too dull for the rest of the house decor. So I painted the rocks a forest green high gloss. I then went over the rocks with a paint brush almost dry except for a small amount of flat white paint on the brush. This brought out the texture of the rocks and created a wonderful mix of texture, shape and colors. People who see it for the first time love it and want to know how to recreate the look. It sounds like I had more rock to work with then you do, but the idea might stir some creative thoughts for you. Lisa

Yeah Janna we have strayed from "It's SNOWING" (how lovely), but frankly now that I've got some "cool" photos I'm tired of it and WANT Spring back! The weight of the build-up crushed the net and supports covering outer chicken run. Now while freezing MY tail feathers off I've got to get knee high boots on and wade into cold mud to try to lift and patch and get the net back on it's supports. Anyway, I like hearing about your photo experiences and seeing your AWESOME photos. I especially like the B&W softball shot ... GREAT!. Afraid tho that as much as I like them I suspect others will feel opposite. Not because they're lame, but they are WAY BIG! The problem of posting BIG pics in forums hits close to home because it's been a recent hot topic in my fishing forum. While I appreciate large high resolution pictures and have a graphic capable computer and high speed net connection to handle them, they do cause problems for folks who don't. First they throw the formatting of the text way off requiring people with small monitors to have to scroll back & forth to not only see the BIG pics, but also just to read the text. Many already frustrated by slow download give up and avoid the whole thread. Patty4150's post provides (at least for me) a rather confusing example of "CLICK" linking so the large pic pops up outside the forum in it's own new window. In the fish forum I learned special coding needed to put a text described clickable link to my large photo below a small version formatted to fits the normal width of the forum layout. My text goes like this, "CLICK HERE for 1200x1600 pixel 600k image" I've not yet figured out how to do that here in GardenWeb. youreit can you help? I use ImageShack for free image hosting. What's confusing with Patty's post is that the clickable text that looks to me like it should lead to picture posting instructions instead presents the pic she's sharing with us. Janna if you're interested in seeing a few more of my nicer non-garden pics send me your email address I can then send you an invitation to view my Webshots albums. Even if you're not interested in my humble collection I highly suggest you check-out the Webshots site. It's the best place I've found on the net to enjoy top quality photography ... some available FREE. I pay a modest subscription not so much for album hosting, but for access to ZILLIONS of AWESOME high rez pics. "Fix" this email address to contact me: eagle_i_photos(at)yahoo(dot)com

Thanks, Martin! I'm relieved you that you consider that an acceptable shot lol And yes, that was a bit of fur from Hodor the cat who likes lying down on my haworthias. Macro photography (and my battle to learn it) is what got me into plants in the first place. I am a firm believer in splurging on lenses and prioritizing it over a camera body upgrade. Also, other than the fact that my old D60 has extreme sentimental value, the reason I have been successful at talking myself out of getting a d3300 is because I shoot almost exclusively on manual mode anyway and have no use for bells and whistles. Although I could certainly use the 12k ISO with that yummy 25k ISO boost. I also have this crackpot idea of getting a cheap D3200 and having the block filters removed so I can shoot in UV. I'm told my D60 is so old its IR/UV built-in filters are weak anyway and can probably do this already but I haven't tried. I need to get a UV black filter to test it. And a xenon flash. On and on and on. Bottom line, it's really the D810 I want. And I just confessed to my real hobby, to which plants are only incidental.