Carol - 2 systemic miticides are very efficient - and not as poisonous as Avid -it is Forbid and Pylon. Pylon is excellent for thrips as well - but it is very expensive and has a shelf life of 3 years. So -if you do not have them - do not waste your money. You can always buy it fresh as needed. I dragged my mites from AVSA in Raleigh. Why I think that Aniketa needs to restart the yucky plant - because no matter what she does - it will look horrible and distorted for a year- and if she restarts from a leaf - she will have new blooming plants in 6 months. I. PS Linda - I would say - if you are not as lazy as I - spray it twice. Irina And I sprayed everything with Pylon that was old.

Zwaantje, congratulations on all of the buds! The east windowsill should be fine for most of your plants. After I received a baby AV with leaves going straight up I found three possible causes: not enough light (the most common cause - the plant is reaching up to be closer to it), too much light (the plant is trying to shield its tender crown), and extremely crowded initial growing conditions (which blocks leaves from growing flat and forces them upwards. Then even when the plant has space, new leaves can't grow flat since they hit the ones standing up!). You will need to experiment to find the cause/cure. Try placing the plants in a lower light area or cover the crowns with tissue paper and see if the leaves go down. If the leaves don't change, move the plant into more intense/longer light than it originally had. Maisie, M3rmald is right. The heavy original mix meets the growers' care practices and needs (for example, the mostly peat mix has to hold water long enough for packing, shipping and retail display) but isn't ideal for the home growers (for example, the mix is very unforgiving of overwatering, one of the biggest causes of AV houseplant death). Plus, over time the mix breaks down, compacts, and the pH changes - none of which are good for the plant. If new leaves are growing in you could see buds at any time.

Christy, You can get by with the old pot if you really control the water. Do not use the bottom reservoir for watering (yuck-yuck-yuck - these ceramic double pots!!) - top water it and keep it just moderately moist. Do not water until it dries . When it will be 3 times of the pot diameter - you can start filling the reservoir - but again - before refilling - you need to let it dry. Otherwise - repot it in a plastic solo cup - and bottom water it until your baby grows. Cheers irina

I didn't know that Moschata rarely self-pollinated. As far as I can tell-- and the seedling is eight or nine years old now-- it is pure musk, but I will check it again for any unusual traits. It was the largest of three seedlings raised the same year and accordingly got the best place beside the double musk. The other two--confined, alas, to less desirable places--eventually died. This seedling has a seedling which germinated in the spring of 2014 and spent last winter in a cold frame. The latter produced two buds in early summer, and one of them showed so much pink, I thought it might be a hybrid; however, when the bloom opened it was semi-double and smelled like musk. The second flush produced two more buds, but when they faded, I could still see pale traces of pink. So far the leaves have only five leaflets. If this is a hybrid, the most likely pollen parents are probably Blush Noisette or Old Blush. Except for Rosa Mundi and the Albas, I plan to concentrate in future on Damasks, Portlands, teas closely related to Parks, and maybe a couple of interesting old Damask-China hybrids. Lindsey