It does seem to depend alot on the variety. Mid-August, I planted about 20 leaves. One had babies within a week (I kid you not!), that was Rob's Boolaroo. The other Bolaroo leaves took a little longer, but still all had babies before anyone else. The Gallwinku babies (leaves smaller than Bolaroo) though took about a month to show up. Another I planted, a NOID, just sent up babies about two weeks ago. The second leaf of this NOID is still happy and turgid-but, no babies yet! All the others were somewhere in between, the average about a month. These were all grown in the same flat, under the same conditions. I'd been wondering if the large leafed varieties take longer. The NOID is a very large plant and the leaves are easily 3 + inches wide and a little taller. This is interesting to me. I would love to hear more folk chime in on the varieties and time it took! Best, Judy

1.) How long did they say it would be before they contacted you? If they gave you no time frame, I might cut them some slack as they're probably trying to get some pools finished up so those customers can catch a swim or two before closing the pools. No, the sales rep/consultant isn't building those pools, but he or she may need to check on some things with the PB before getting back to you. You'll need to contact more than that one PB anyway, so you may at well make some of those other appointments while you're waiting...just be sure to get them to commit when they'll be getting back to you. 2.) Depends - some do, some don't. 3.) Depends. As you receive more bids, you'll have a better idea of what's customary in your market. 4.) The all-important question!!! Leepoffaith has some good points. It may be possible for you to go to your local permit office and ask for a list of the most recent permits a company has pulled. You could then contact the homeowners for a reference and get a good idea of how things are going right now. I can say from personal experience that a good BBB report and good recommendations don't mean much if the PB has just experienced a change of fortune; that's why a list from the permit office would help.

Salti, I think it's great that you had an experience with an agency that you felt did not get their responsibilities confused. I can also see why it might be more reasonable for the process to take as long as it did with the breed and situation you chose to adopt under, but not everyone is having a similar experience. Granted fosters have lives and scheduling can be an issue, but part of the responsibility of fostering is making the animals you're fostering available. This was actually said to me a few years back when I thanked a foster for her quick response while we were looking to adopt. As with the OP, if a potential family goes through the process of filling out paperwork, a home inspection and a LONG wait period because they want to bring a dog into their home, I'm more inclined to believe that they are probably a positive placement for a dog and the problem is the agency. Granted, placement is not black and white; finding the right forever home does have a lot of grey areas to consider like the animals history, breed compatibility, family dynamics and yes, environmental situations too but it should be a joint effort to figure that out, not the fosters alone. The OP says they only got to see one dog and never got a chance to see if other dogs would be a better fit for them. If you do the research and read some of the articles on this subject, you'll see there is a negative trend in the adoption world. Too many dogs go unadopted and left in less desirable situations because the "agency" trying to adopt them out is over zealous in their placement requirements. Look at how many people posting here have said they were rejected for one reason or another and subsequently had to find a dog elsewhere. All the dogs that they eventually paired up with are absolutely loved and have thrived in good homes. If a family really wants a dog they will get one in spite of the challenges poised by an agency. The family ends up with a dog but what about the dogs that are left behind? Also whether a rejection is for a good reason or not, it just seems like there are a lot of agencies who don't seem to have much regard or concern for the adopting family. If a family, especially one with kids shows an interest in an animal but doesn't qualify for whatever reason, the agency should at least reach out and communicate their concerns. What if the concern is a minor misunderstanding or there is a simple fix that can make things right? The dog could still have a chance at a good home. Follow up regardless of the decision is just common decency and the families deserve that. Lastly, I wouldn't just assume that a pet adoption agency was right just because placing dogs is what they do. As far as I know there are no requirements when it comes to credentials or certifications for the fosters. Obviously, some are pretty confused about what really matters and what doesn't matter at all.

It came in a very fast mix. The guy uses mostly cypress mulch, some peat chunks, and lots of little plastic balls that are hollow, and maybe a tiny bit of soil, I really couldn't ID all the ingredients ( I spilled it once, so inspected the media). I bought a bale of mulch and used that to pot up, adding only Growstone and a bit of coir. The pot gets light in the summer almost every other day and I just throw in a full cup of MG Bloombooster (one time full strength, next time half strength), much less in winter, although that is when the vines grow the most, Then I use a lighter version of MG Plant Food for the green growth. Since I bought it, I have realized this plant loves full sun and plenty of water and all it does is bloom constantly and grow a foot a month or so. But this is a cv Sunrise clone and it has very large dark green leaves with thick vienage, my old Sno Caps had leaves half the size. So, to sum it up, it gets thirsty and hungry and loves light. Full sun helps, too. Funny thing, but living here in FL, I hear people saying they shade their plants so they won't get leaf burn. I grow all my Hoyas in FULL WEST sun, outside and the only leaves ever effected were the half white half green Carnosa KQ. Eventually the white half will die but the full white ones don't mind the sun at all. What's up with that ? Well that was longer than I expected, sorry. It is easy to get carried away in the world of Hoya. Marco