After looking at the trees this weekend, I have a couple more questions...... As Don noted, some of the biggest branches are too vertical to be good fruiting branches. When I examined the tree up close, it seemed that the branches that were the most horizontal were very small and thin. Where the biggest (and most upright) branches are a couple feet long and a half an inch thick, the small, horizontal branches are only a couple inches long and a quarter inch thick. Should I just go ahead and prune the tree to make these tiny branches the future 4 main fruiting branches? I don't mind losing whatever growth I gained last year by hacking off the biggest branches, but I don't want to do something that will be worse than leaving the big branches and trying to spread them. Any thoughts? Thanks, Bart

mr_subjunctive, Many thanks for your reply & link. I think that you are correct & I am very impressed with your knowledge! I'd better keep this baby inside! :)

Mealy bugs and root mealy bugs are not the same, the former inhabits the plant and the upper soil layer as you describe. Root mealies do not leave the soil (except when they move to another plant of course). So no, I don't think you need to repeatedly examine the whole root ball, treating the plant and uppermost soil should be enough. It is usually possible to get rid of them except if they are well established, if so it is often easier to throw away the plant. I have had 2 severe invasions in the past, but now I see less than 5 individuals each year (but they die quickly). (These are not from old colonies but are "immigrants" from new plants etc.) You should check your other plants over the next weeks (and preferably spray them just in case), the young mealy bugs are almost invisible to the naked eye and move surprisingly fast, so they could have migrated even if you did not see anything the first time.

If you have a cut piece of stem, you can stick the bottom in the ground or you can just lay it on it's side, and either way, the stem will most likely (given the right conditions like enough light) grow new rosettes and roots. In nature they'll fall over being top-heavy, and whatever is in contact with some soil will root and the plant will keep going. This is a very easy plant in Southern California. As cactusmcharris points out, it could be in its summer dormancy yet, which would make the rosette more compact. It make loosen up and look different when it starts growing again.