Welcome aboard riverdance! I killed my Bella cuttings last year so I am not really the best person to answer your questions but....I do know that Bella does NOT like to dry out and that most folks around here keep them moist all the time. (actually sit them in a dish of water constantly!) (Also they do not like direct sunlight either) What did you use to kill the gnats? Chemicals? hummmmm Bella might not have liked the chemicals (or what ever you used) The first step I would take would be to take cuttings and root them in water. That way you'll have a back up clone if anything happens to the Mom. Cutting her back should also help her fill out, which I think is a good thing since she's loosing the lower leaves!? Putting the Mom in a clear plastic bag, blow air in it, and seal it and keep her in there for a few weeks would also help her recover quicker.( NO direct sunlight at all, should you decide to bag her!! We don't want to boil her:-) Next, water, water and water some more! Let it sit in an inch or so of water all the time! As far as the Gnats go.... get some fine potting sand and cover the soil with about 1/2 inch of sand. Gnats wont lay there eggs in the sand so that will help keep them from coming back. It sounds like the roots got dryed out too much,(or burned by your gnat remedy?) but if there is new growth, there is hope! Diane BTW, I killed my Bella cuttings by not watering enough and too much sunlight:-(

Maybe she would stop sending them if you started photoshopping Scully and Mulder into the pictures. Renee and Mel, your husbands are onto something there. Everyday support is more important than support during crises, in predicting how happy couples are and how long their relationships last. Which I think is psychology's way of saying our partners could be out drinking the entire time our mothers were in town so long as they routinely fake excitement about peduncles.

So, I lived in this condo for 18 years. This window is a South facing window, with a building 15 feet away. EVERY YEAR would come the Christmas dilema... until the year this picture was taken. DH had a really bad motorcycle accident and had no business in the attic dragging down years of stuff... But, this is The Only Window of this size in the whole place. I had one east facing sliding glass door and one east facing kitchen window. I had two smaller South facing windows besides this single one, and I MADE my husband build a weird knock down stand that 'would do' for two months. I So Know about Christmas Trees in The BEST Window, and what to do the rest of the time. Which is why my hoyas never took off until I moved out of this place. (Which also was the HOA Balcony issue for those who remember!) This last year, with both stands and all the orchids, I would have been Hard Pressed to find room for all!!!

Mike, Thanks for the information on what to use to rid my plants of mites. I am spraying her tomorrow . This mixture works on mealies too? For some reason all of my hoyas have recently been attacked by these pests....The toughest one is the rubra Indian rope because of her curly leaves. It just occured to me that my Stephonatis has both mealies and mites. Does that sound weird? The leaves are getting pale and the undersides look wierd, and I have seen mealies that's why I sprayed her... The only time I see aphids is when I put my hoyas outside So now I am dealing with mealies and mites.....as if that wasn't enough! LOL