You know, I think it was Nil who convinced me to add more pumice/perlite to my Aloe sowing mix. Seeing his results in pure pumice gave me confidence to use a lot more grit in the mix and I've been very happy with that. I can't manage pure pumice or even too gritty of a mix because I like to be able to take a day off sometimes or forget about watering a pot for a few days. I think it's all about finding the balance that works for your conditions/practices. About the "x"... I only put it in quotations to separate it from my sentence. It can just be an x.... (Aloe 'Fang' x). If you knew the other parent, you could add that name after the x. Yes, you should use the x when talking about them. Specifically the x means "crossed with", if you were going to say it out loud. Yes, you should probably do a liquid fert. I don't think the green balls are doing much for you. To get the most bang for my buck, I use a straight 20-20-20 water soluble fert in a 10% dilution. That means I only use 10% of the recommended ratio, making my fert 2-2-2. I have mine mixed up in a spray bottle at 4x strength so that all I have to do is squirt a little into each watering can. 4 squirts = 10%, 5 squirts = 12.5%, 6 squirts = 15%... (all very specific to my equipment) It took some careful math to set it up but I wrote down my formula and now it's very easy. Alright, good luck! PS, my name is Ryan but that's leaked information:)

You know, we didn't price laminate because I was removing it, and had ALWAYS had it everywhere I ever lived. I wanted something different. I can tell you that our best granite quote was $5,000, and solid surface from Lowe's would have been a little over $2,000. We wanted an undermount sink and I didn't like how they looked with the laminate displays at Lowes, plus I really didn't want laminate at this time. However, with laminate you can purchase it, install it and you're done. With butcher block, you have to put on multiple coats of your finish. Allowing drying time and completing each coat is time consuming. We were able to purchase our butcher block for right around $600. Ikea sells great butcher block as well however, it would have cost an additional $350 to have it shipped to our home and I would have had to buy it sight unseen, something I wasn't comfortable with. Another low cost option to consider could be concrete. I have a friend who installed it in her brand new home and it is lovely. I saw a blog at one time of someone doing their own concrete counters right over their laminate and it really turned out nice. It was very low cost. You also could always do a countertop treatment of some sort or install sheets of laminate over your current counter. These options weren't a possibility for us because our sink hole had been cut out by our previous owner way too big, and we had some water damage from our leaky faucet. We had to completely replace our counters. A friend of ours that just completely renovated their kitchen installed tile counters. They are beautiful, I just wouldn't have wanted to deal with the grout. I will look for the concrete counter blog and post it if I can find it.

Really nice babies! Can't wait to see them bloom! Velleta, I think your success rate will improve since you have a new way of raising violets! Seems to me your thumb may be getting greener as we speak!!!! Rosie

I understand your joy. Sometimes after a busy day in my garden I sit in my lawn chair relaxing and have a deep sense of satisfaction and delight with how it looks Couldn't have said it better myself!