Ladylotus, I planted mine in June and they are only about 4" tall as well. I've only been using natural light though so that could be part of the problem. I know a lot of people use artificial and theirs start blooming in no time.

Sorry about the Pachy confusion..Actually, I meant Pachypodium seeds..the species is P. lealii. Warmth and Superthrive hastened germination. I've sown other Pachypodiums before, under lights and heat, yet they never sprouted this fast. Sage, when you say you water with a spritz of water, (soak a paper towel and squeeze) were you talking about seeds/seedlings? or mature succulents? Wannabe..you asked if Opuntia's are hardy, if you can keep outside year round. If Prickly Pear goes dormant, I don't think it's for long. Wannabe, it's best knowing which species you've got there..Seems to me Opuntias prefer cool temps, even as low as 30, but before planting them in the ground, find out which type/s you have, research and/or ask around. Google, purple leaf optunia, see what it says about your Prickly Pear. Where do you live, which state? One thing you can do is, say you get several of the same type. Plant a few in the garden when weather permits, and pot the others. After your pp matures, post pics or research opuntias. Some sites list numerous types/colors. Someone on Ebay had a purple leaf optunia on auction. I don't know if it's stil available, but when I check Ebay I'll see if I can find it..sellers usually list zones plants are hardy. Do you know your zone? There's an online nursery that sells cold-hardy cactus and succulents..Opuntias, Sedum/Hens & Chicks, etc. Hope I saved it to favorites..if I did, I'll post the name/addy. But it's important you know your zone. BTW, keep a journal. You don't have to buy anything expensive, even a notebook will do..Jot down name of plant, date sown, progress/date and height. It's so much easier going back to your notebook for info. I love my journal/s..lol.. I jot everything down. Places and dates plants and seeds are purchased. Size of plants upon arrival. Dates plants are fertilized, Superthrived, etc. Names and dates plants flower or berry. And so much more. It's really important when sowing seeds. Keeping track when you sowed, how long it took to germinate, size measured once a month or whenever you choose..One thing great about keeping a journal is going back to the beginning. Especially several years back. Good luck, Toni

Thanks Cher, that's much appriciated =) Ken - Most definetely, I'll get some better pics this week and post in a new thread. I have a semi round bed to the right of the arbor that I'm working on for fall plantings. Right now I have roundup down waiting for the grass to die. coniferjoy - You never know... I'm not sure how large this project will get 15-20 years from now =)... If I run out of room in my backyard, it'll be time for more brush cutting lol. I have another 200 x 500 feet on standby just incase. I actually took my yard back 50 feet just to make room for those beds. I'm relieved I didn't spell any of the other names wrong. Will get Wingle's Weeper fixed.

Arcy, I don't know if they still sell them but we bought ds13 a phone at Sam's. When my oldest got an iPhone (ugh…that's another story), we gave her basic phone to ds, mainly for him to use if he was out somewhere and needed a ride, etc. He didn't really "need" the phone but it was only an extra $10 to my bill (first two phones on our account are regular price, whatever, like $40/each, but then additional lines are only $10). His phone is only for calling/texting, no websurfing/etc. Well, shortly after we gave it to him, he had it in his pocket while we were at a lax tournament. He brought it down to the hotel pool where there was a team party going on and a friend pushed him into the pool. We tried to save the phone, but had no access to rice/etc right away, so it died. I was due for an upgrade on my iPhone, but didn't need a new phone, so I used my upgrade to get him a new phone at Sam's Club. The salesgirl was easily able to use my upgrade for his phone, so it cost like $1 for the phone and she linked his phone number to it. Funny thing is… he NEVER uses the phone. He never remembers to bring it with him. If he does remember, it typically is out of battery b/c he forgets to charge it, or it's turned off for school and he doesn't remember to turn it on. As a result, I almost never can reach him on the darned thing. He really wants an iPhone b/c all his friends have them, but he does not need one. He is required by his school to have an iPad so he has all the features of the iPhone as long as he has wifi. So, no iPhone for him b/c he does not need 24 hr access to the internet…he can use his iPad at home, at school and even at Starbucks LOL. Wearybuilder, I'm sure there must be other options for you, like a pay as you go phone or whatever…the kind you buy minutes for. I do know that when I added dd to my account, it did cost about $40/mth for her line, and that was just for unlimited texts and calls. That is with Verizon-first two lines cost the same, then any additional are only $10 on the plan I have. Dh's phone is paid for through his work, so I sucked up the $40 to add her. Now she has an iPhone so she has a data plan also that adds to the price, but when I added the third line for ds, it was only $10 for him. Incidentally, when I went to get the iPhone for dd, I went to the Verizon store. They would only sell me this package deal that came with all these accessories she didn't need. They said they were required to sell them that way! I knew that I could easily get an iPhone from the Apple Storeand told them so, but the Verizon guys said their hands were tied. So they lost a sale. I went to Apple and bought the phone there (she was due an upgrade so I didn't have to pay a fortune for the phone). The downside was that by buying from Apple vs. Verizon, she couldn't keep her phone number and had to get a new one and it wasn't a good number. I kept her old number anyway b/c I knew I'd be using it for ds but his voicemail still has dd's message on it b/c she can't remember the password to change it, LOL.