Jane - it's not uncommon for someone to make unsupportable statements, then treat them as fact and build an entire case around them. It happens on every active forum every day of every week. I'd like to take 4 paragraphs you wrote and use them to illustrate the difference in how we think. Your offerings are in bold and I'll comment intermittently. I have seen more underlit plants than I care to mention. Those plants lanquish and eventually decline. Plants growing in light that limits their potential ("underlit plants") needn't necessarily be in decline. Decline is a condition during which a plant is using more energy than it's able to produce - nothing more than that. It's entirely possible, and it happens very often, that a plant we might consider unsightly due to it having received less light than it needs to keep it looking good (from our POV), is able to sustain life and growth under light conditions insufficient to keep it looking as attractive as we would like - indefinitely, as long as it's life span isn't limited by the fact the plant is an annual or biennial, or by other potentially limiting cultural factors. Many people mistake the label, 'low-light plant' or 'shade,' without realizing how much light is lost by having a plant too far from a window. If a plant stops growing, it is not producing roots which uptake water. Without growth doesn't matter what a plant is in. I promote light first and foremost. First, "A[ny] plant that is not growing is dying" ~ Alex Shigo, PhD; this, because growth is a byproduct of the plant's ability to make more food than it needs to keep its systems orderly. A plant that is too far from a window to keep it looking healthy can still be growing and producing roots. Even if the top of the plant seems to have stalled, the roots can still be growing because root growth always precedes top growth. Also, it does matter "what a plant is in" if it's not growing because in most cases a lack of growth is directly linked to inhibited root function, which is very often related to limitations inherent in poor media. I have no argument with your recommendations to people who choose to use a grit mix. I think its good. But the majority of people who have multiple house plants are not going through the effort to put it together. A very quick scan of any of several fora will clearly illustrate otherwise. They will just continue to stick their plants in Miracle Grow. This is also untrue. While you focus on labels like the gritty mix and the 5:1:1 mix, I focus on helping others implement a concept, the effectiveness of which you can't question because you regularly note it's superior to methods you use. Growers implement the concepts I espouse with great regularity - primarily because it makes so much sense to do so. I suggest a alternative using bark or perlite to keep the mix from clumping and enhancing the drainage. Drainage isn't enhanced to a notable degree until the threshold that's been described in many conversations is reached. It occurs when there aren't enough fine particles to fill potential air spaces between larger particles (the BBs and sand analogy). And how is a 1:1:1 ratio of bark: peat or potting soil: perlite better at preventing "clumping", something I've never had to deal with. These same people are not going to get involved in perched water. This is very important: They ARE involved with perched water. If your medium supports it, you're involved with it in a direct relationship based on how much of it there is. I'm sure to your eyes and ears this is horrifying. Not at all - I'm a realist. But it is what I deal with on a daily basis with both orchids and house plants. Its my reality and I have found my alternative is simple enough for them to follow. It is also less expensive for them. It takes exactly the same amount of thought and effort to locate and mix the ingredients for the 5:1:1 mix as it does for the 1:1:1 mix you suggest because the ingredients are exactly the same - they're equally simple mixes. The 5:1:1 mix is actually LESS expensive because it utilizes a larger fraction of low-priced pine bark and a smaller fraction of higher-priced potting soil ..... and it's lighter. My plants do not seem to have a problem with perched water. As I noted previously, they DO have a problem with perched water, in that it is sapping potential. You might be perfectly happy with the state of your plant's vitality, but you can be sure that anything that limits the roots oxygen supply limits root function limits the plant and robs potential. We all know the 5:1:1 mix supports some perched water and that the 5:1:1 mix already includes some compromise to extend watering intervals. Therefore, it would be unreasonable to ask growers to believe that a medium with a much higher volume of fine particulates doesn't hold perched water and that the perched water it does hold has no impact on the root system's ability to function w/o limitation. As I said, the roots fill the base of the pot and will grow out the drain holes. I would think that would not happen in a mix holding too much water. Why would you think that? When the soil dries sufficiently, more or less normal root growth resumes, and some roots will grow outside of the pot. When roots die from hypoxic conditions, it's always the finest roots that die first - the ones that do all (ok - 90%+) of the work. The most significant loss is in the constant death and regeneration of the finer, nearly microscopic roots. To replace the roots killed by soggy soils (so the plant can return to 'normal' function) is an expensive outlay in terms of energy - energy that would otherwise have been directed toward more blooms, fruit, longer branches, more leaves, or a simple increase in biomass. IOW - lost potential. The roots would rot and would not grow into the base of the pot. Roots DO rot and die, it just happens that it's the fine roots that easily get overlooked that take the hit. That is not what happens. It actually IS what happens, but this is another case of someone floating an explanation that doesn't fit the observation in order to refute something we know to be true. Perched water IS limiting and the more you have the greater the limitation(s). I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday - raining off & on again here in mid-MI. Al

Masdies require very low light - a north window is perfect for them. In terms of fc's - 500 to 800 fc's are about right. They grow very well under T-8 fluorescent lights. Most masdies can take temps up to 80, even the cold/cool growers as long as the night temps are low. Air movement is essential for good growth and helps dissipate heat issues. They do not want to dry out. There are warmth "tolerant" species and most hybrids are easier to grow than the species. If you tire of watering the mounted plants I am having great success with net pots and sphag and keep them very moist. The roots can still get air but the needed moisture and coolness for make the plant happy. I have too many masdies to list, most are hybrids and a few species. Brooke

We have eight CMs a bit west of where the scale first showed up in 2004; it covered our lot from east to west in just over a season. In spite of now being on virtually all of the CMs in our neighborhood, it barely bothers many. Purely anecdotal, but seems like it was worse on all trees during the first couple years of infestation before they settled on their "favorite" ones. Resistance does appear to vary by hybrid/cultivar, though not much seems to be known about this yet. There are so many CMs in our area, I suspect eradication is very unlikely anytime soon, so will try to learn to live with these wretched beasts. The horticultural/dormant sprays haven't helped and I'm not a big fan of having to resort to regular/frequent applications of systemics. So, we're removing the three or four CMs that do get disfigured/discolored and, with the ants' help, will just live with it on the remaining trees that are not bothered much..... and resort to systemics only for any especially bad years.

Vladimir, I haven't tried them either because like Laura I am afraid of root rot, especially during the period when the tree's roots transition to the new growing media and cultural conditions. I grew orchids semi-hydroponically for several years because I travelled a lot and I hoped it would extend the period between required waterings when I was away from home and my greenhouse. Although most of my orchids did ok, I have since gone back to bark mixes as I don't travel so often now. What I found was there is a transition period during which the plants regrow new roots that adapt to the semi-hydro conditions. The transition timing is important as the plants need to grow the new roots and will sulk and lanquish if the transition is made too far into the years growth period and there are not enough new roots to support the plant above ground parts. If there is not enough roots generated during the growth period the plant will not have a way to get enough food and energy to support the top of the plant/tree. I also found I had to keep the greenhouse much warmer as the medium cools quickly as the air moves through the medium and pot. Even though I flushed the pots often, fertilizer salts seemed to build up and burn the roots if I was not careful and the reservoir dryed out between waterings. I think my high pH water and fertilizer would cause wide fluctuations in the growing medium that was not good for the plants if I was not careful. I also got a lot of algae growth in the transparent pots I used which was not very nice to look at and also seemed to clog up the air spaces that are part of the system. But overall I mostly was able to grow and bloom plants under the method, but I was not overall satisfied with plant long term growth. I think the SIPS pots may also have many of the same disadvantages for citrus that I had with my orchid's in semi-hydro culture. It served it's purpose for my needs for a while, and I think plants can be grown in most any medium if you watch carefully and make adjustments to help your plant and trees adapt to the different growing conditions, but I didn't feel I was giving my plants optimum growing conditions. Cory