byron - Perhaps cedar may be somewhat of a deterrant, but these boxes are not of the aromatic type cedar, and are well-weathered. Have had fairly decent success using them over the years. I know we did a lot of musing about redwood sawdust in the compost pile, but the final argument was that it was OK, so long as it was well-weathered. My son works with redwood a lot, so that came up several times. I still don't use it in the vegetable compost, but OK as a mulch in ornamental beddings. As plants are usually spaced in different boxes - mainly as other veggies are harvested, this affords me a chance to see if the same species react differently in other locations. If both react similarly, then I look for something relative to that particular situation. Perhaps old seeds, mutant seeds, similar insect invasion, etc. If they react differently, then I would suspect soil or water technique - one box receiving better than the other. As I mentioned in my post, I tried a different brand of zucchini this past year - a speckled variety - and it performed well in 2 different boxes. I hope this makes sense. Just my 2 c's worth. Bejay

I make sure to use water that has sat out overnight to water my plants. Does that not make a difference? Or not enough of a difference? You already learned that the crystalline structures on the leaves of your plant is composed of dissolved solids (sugar and mineral salts) left behind as the water in the exudate associated with the guttation (primarily driven by over-watering) evaporates. If you allow your water to rest overnight in an open pan, some of the water in the pan evaporates, but ALL of the dissolved solids in the water are left behind, So technically, the concentration of dissolved solids in the water (which includes fluoride, and chloramine, used now to chlorinate most tapwater) would be slightly higher than water straight from the tap. The pH of water straight from the tap is also slightly lower than water that has rested for a period of time, due to dissolved CO2 gassing off. Also yes, can you point me in the direction of drain hole tutorials?? I'm guessing you mean how to drill the holes? This should help: Drilling holes in pots The 2 types of drill bits most appropriate for drilling holes in pots are a diamond core drill for the highly vitrified (hard material - baked at very high temps - glass, ceramic, ......) pots, and a drill with several names for drilling clay pots fired at low temps, such as terra cotta. That (carbide) drill is called a 3-point drill, spear point drill, or a spade drill, seen here: You only need 1 - in 1/2 or 3/8" size. For the hard stuff, diamond core drills are best, though the 3 point drill will drill the hard stuff, too. Diamond core drills: You can buy either type at big box stores. They're not that expensive, and they last a long time if you take care of them. They are best used with a steady stream of coolant from a squeeze bottle (contact lens solution bottles work great for this) or with the work surface barely submerged. IE, put the pot upside down in a tub and fill the tub with water until it just covers the work surface. If you use a spritzer or squirt bottle, a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water is an excellent coolant, and soapy water is better than plain water but not as good as the antifreeze mix. The coolant keeps the tool from over-heating, and in doing so, increases the life of the tool substantially - like triple or quadruple the number of holes you can drill. Regular masonry bits are "ok" for drilling terra cotta or cement (you can make them work), but inappropriate for anything harder. The right tool makes everything easier. And lastly, should I be flushing all my plants (pothos, croton, aloe, snake plant...) when I water? One way or another - YES, absolutely. Ideally, your choice of soil should allow you to water to beyond the point of saturation, so you're flushing the soil as you water. If you can't do that w/o worry that the soil will remain soggy for a prolonged period, limiting root function, or worse, wrecking root health it would be best to consider learning how to amend the soil you're using or make a soil that allows you to flush the soil regularly. There are also a few very simple work-arounds that will allow you to use a soil that would otherwise be inappropriate. For example - if you're using a soil too water-retentive for a plant's well-being, and you need to flush it - you can flush thoroughly over a sink or tub or outdoors. When the pot stops draining, hold it in your hand(s) and move it up and down. You'll note that on the reversal from downward to upward motion, Newton's First Law of Motion takes over and some of the excess water in the pot exits through the drain hole. As the amount of water diminishes, more can be forced from the soil by reversing directions more forcibly. As long as your pot is of a manageable size, this simple trick is invaluable for anyone using an excessively water-retentive soil. If the pot is too large, you can use a wick to drain excess water, or even tipping the pot at a 45* angle to drain makes a very significant difference in how much excess water a medium can hold. Compare B with A to see how much excess water the simple act of tipping the pot forces from the pot. E shows what a wick, used correctly for best benefit, can achieve. D shows one way of using ballast to reduce excess water. Even when using extremely water retentive soils, ballast can reduce the amount of excess water a soil can hold to less than 5% of what it would hold w/o use of ballast. Al

Thanks, friend! As hot as it's been here already, I wouldn't get involved with any dark coverings, but the slowly uncovering part is a good idea - moving the shade instead of the plant. (I do this moving ground plants when it's hot, sit a lawn chair over it so it doesn't bake the first few days.) There are other things I could have done, this is a big yard, stuff as simple as rearranging porch so the furniture was in the sun, plants in the shade. Could have set some under carport & we even have one of those tents that's just poles on the sides and a roof. Along the north wall of the house would have been fine (but 27 more steps to move each one next weekend.) I've just been too busy getting stuff ready to move to bother trying to acclimate plants. Really trying to keep them off of the ground (which is where most of the shade is,) until they get moved to the other house this weekend. Hopefully ants will not swarm into them before then, really hoping to not move ants with plants. If we weren't moving, I would have spread them all around to diff, more shady spots. Sharing the pics mostly for reference when these things happen, until you burn a plant, you don't know what the 'burning point' is, and sunburn can look surprisingly different on diff plants. After doing nothing for so long while inside for winter, the swiftness of this sunburn thing was exciting in a wrong kind of way. No, I'm not advocating burning plants, just showing what they look like when it happens, for whatever reasons, might as well share pics so the situation is useful.

Thank you everyone for your replies :) It is good to finally know a little more about this weird looking plant of mine. I also read something interesting that explains why it bloomed after 3 years. Ill just copy and paste here : "You should however keep in mind that blooming of the plant is related to how much light the plant is allowed to have. This plant is a short-day flower producer, which means it needs less hours of sunlight. Several hours in darkness will enhance flower production. Plants begin to bud in fall but require 12 14 hours of darkness daily for 6 8 weeks prior to coming into full bloom. This can be done by placing the plant in a dark room or cover it with a cloth. Its best for plants to have cool temperatures of around 55˚ - 60˚ F during this period. If you are not successful with creating the proper short days requirement, your plant will still bloom, but you may get a more sporadic bloom period." That explains it for me because as I said in the end I got tired of looking at it so I put it in a room all alone and sometimes forgot about it in the darkness for days. And this is when it started blooming. So it was really weird for me because I never heard of a plant that likes darkness o_0. But now after reading this and reading all your comments and tips I understand a bit more what Im dealing with here. Its good to know Im not growing a mutated plant. Still . . . I like to continue calling him "Muty" :) I have decided to trellis & train it as "baci" said and Ive already moved it back into the dark room and who knows maybe Im lucky and it flowers in Halloween :) Thank you very much everyone :)