Morning Tkaz. How do you plan on making your Pothos bushy? What made you decide to change shape? You know, Tkaz, Pothos cuttings are fast-rooting. Why not take a few cuttings, root, then grow one upright and one bushy?? Is your Iguana male or female? You'd know if it's female..my son's first Iguana laid, at the minimum, 74 eggs one spring..They resemble marshmellows...lol She was free to roam the room, but not the entire house. Most rooms have plants--plants and reptiles don't mix, and I feared she would have climbed bird cages, then knocked them down. She managed to escape the room, like a Houdini routine, lol, climbed on the cages a few times. If I hadn't been around, cages would have fell and birds....... Iggy, 'son's iguana,' was so tiny when Michael brought him home. Little larger than my hand. He's now over 5' and very heavy..Freddy Krueger nails dig in my skin when I attempt lifting him. What does your Iguana eat? Tiger Barbs are very pretty..they prefer being in groups of five..they become agressive when there's less than 5 Barbs and start chewing fins. Maybe your Barb is seeking a mate? Ever breed fish? It's a bit of work, especially egg-layers, but once the eggs hatch, what a sight! When you shape your Pothos, and have time, please post a picture..Toni

I "loth" two things about one of the posts. The word "kewl" which is similar to the word groovy which is pronounced(grove-ee). I lost my 2 year old expensive pothos variety(?) this winter by getting too cute(new-too-big-pot) and over watering. My regular variety just trucks on. The aquarium driftwood idea is great. I have a cache of driftwood somewhere on the property but like my lost ventriloquism poster it has been misplaced by the household fairies.Oh, by the way, in ventriloquism one must pronounce "V" as "th" so now you know why I wrote"loth" rono

Thanks for all the advice! I'm a college age male who recently bought a Dracaena Massangeana for my dorm room next year. Having killed every plant I've tried to take care of, I was understandably nervous. In researching how to take care of it, I compiled a short care guide, which I will post below. I hope noone minds that I have copied some small snippets from this thread into the 'guide'. Feedback or corrections would be greatly appreciated. Also, I currently have the plant in the plastic container it came in, and am wondering what type of pot would be best to put it in. Thanks! CORN PLANT (dracaena massangeana) MAINTENANCE: WATERING: water every 7-10 days. Water when soil is dry to touch one inch down into soil. 1. Add water slowly to the pot so that it soaks into the soil. 2. Keep doing this until all the soil is moist and a little water comes out at the bottom. 3. Leave the plant alone until you can tell the soil is a little dry when you stick your finger an inch or so into it. 4. Repeat #1. It is important to wait until soil is dry in between waterings or it is possible to overwater; this is often indicated by the leaves beginning to drop or yellow. When you are watching for the water to come out of the bottom of the pot to show that all the soil is moist, be sure that it is not running down a space between the soil and the pot. If so, water a little, then wait for the soil to swell back to fill the pot. Brown spots on the leaves are caused by fluoride in the water. Make sure you water it with water that has no chlorine or flouride. If that is impossible leave the water you use sit in an open bucket for 3 days before using it and the chlorine and fluoride will dissipate and not hurt your plants. Also never leave the plants to sit with water in their drain trays for more than 2 hours after watering them. They do not like swamps. SUNLIGHT: They require low sunlight, making them perfect for corners and hallways. Though corn plants can adapt to low light, they do best in medium sun. Anything above dark works just fine. Don't waste a front and center window spot on this one. PESTS: If the corn plant becomes infected with bugs or mites, spraying a soapy mixture of water and dish soap over the plant should take care of the problem. SOIL: re-fertilize every second month. PROPAGATING (by 'Air-Layering'): http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h100airlayer.html ROOTBOUND (Def.): A rootbound condition occurs with very healthy plants that are growing vigorously and their root systems get so large compared to the soil in the pot that the soil dries out and needs water every couple of days. If a plant is in a small pot, the roots can get bound up in a ball and prevent the plant from reaching its true potential. Then, and only then, should a plant be moved to a larger pot.As plants grow tall, their roots get long as well. Transferring a root-bound plant to a new pot will bring new life and growth to your houseplants. - http://www.ehow.com/how_2038234_transfer-rootbound-plant-new-pot.html PLANT FOOD: plant food is not medicine and should be used only with healthy, vigorously growing plants. STRUCTURE - KEEPING UPRIGHT: You don't need the cardboard or anything else to hold it up. Just pack some more soil in there, and use your hands to pack it very tightly around the canes to hold them straight. They do tend to get top-heavy, so you will have to repack again from time to time. If you can put the thing inside a ceramic pot, the weight will help keep it from falling over.

Imagine what the tree might look like when *completed*. What is the overall height you see? Then look at attractive trees in nature, and how parts of the tree look relative to one another. One bonsai guideline is the trunk thickness approximately 1/6-1/12 the height of the tree. From the height you imagine for your plant, you can now get an idea if the trunk will be thick enough. If not, either grow the plant aggressively to thicken the trunk or adjust the total height you plan for your tree. Back to attractive trees in nature, how long is the trunk before the first branches come off? How long are the first branches before the next branching occurs? How much thinner are each level of branches than the trunk or branches before? There should be a definite decrease of length and girth at each level of branching(and a definite increase in the number of branches). These are things I have in mind when looking at developing a bonsai in order to create the illusion of a giant, old tree in a tiny pot. Now, the trunk of yours is hard to see, but looking at the length vs. girth of the main branches, the branches seem long in relation to how thick they are. That is why I was more attracted to the picture that involved cutting them shorter. If I could shift gears a little, (you may already know this, so my apologies if I am sharing something too basic) I inherited a large, old jade in a large pot- much like yours but several different plants. It had been in too little light and too much water of late. After cogitating, I decided to both prune heavily and do a repot to know the root conditions. It was in potting soil, and when I took it out of the pot, even though the pot was 12 inches deep the roots were only in the top few inches. Furthermore, the bottom 6 inches of the soil were literally soggy even though the top 2 inches were relatively dry- the roots didn't want to go there b/c of the waterlogging. I repotted the separate plants all in one wide, shallow pot to create a forest, and cut off all but the trunks and a few primary branches. Saying that is to say this: in similar conditions to yours, I was drastic with mine and it survived and is looking good now. The hard part for me was to not water much until there was new foliage to use that water. Monitor the moisture in the soil very closely until it starts growing again, and consider a repot even if only to pull it out of the pot, remove any unnecessary soil(that will only serve to hold onto too much water) and place it back en masse. Tomorrow I will start a new jade thread and show off my humble little forest. Today, I hope I've done more than just muddy the waters...