Ha - nope I restrained myself! First time in weeks...hehe... I ordered back in the fall from a lady in California that has a greenhouse and sells lots of succulents. The soil is actually pretty good, has a good amount of perlite in it and some bark. I can tell the plants are getting pretty root bound now but want to wait until spring to repot, mostly because I have to do it in the garage and don't want them to freeze. These little guys are in 2" plastic pots, all rooted cuttings. I have two other Crassulas other than my gollum Jade. One is a string of buttons. When I got it it was flowering but then it stopped because of whatever reason. I have it in a Southern window and it loves it. It never wilts and grows at a decent rate so I think watering it every week or two is working for it. The other one is a Crassula marchandii, not a popular Crassula at all and only one other member in the C&S group has one, though Norma knew what it was and said it is a hybrid. It's pretty finicky. I actually started a thread on it if you are interested, I'll post the link. The cutting I got from her had bloomed because I could see where the flower stem was and it was removed. Now it is splitting into two "branches" there which is exciting! So I think I'll keep that one around as pathetic looking as it is. It's one of mine that really likes the water. From her I also have a Sempervivum and two dumb Hens and Chicks (I don't like them, and they do not like me either, they started to stretch out and are fine now in a southern window but they look ridiculous with a neck and compacted head on top - I want to get rid of them but feel like I'm doing something really bad by tossing a living thing out). I ordered a "surprise" mix and didn't have a say in what I got, I just told her to keep in mind that I live in Illinois and they'll be inside lol. The Haworthia too of course that I mentioned. Two Aloes (I think one is a marlothii seedling, the one in the pure oil-dry and the other is a variegata which needs a lot more water than the marlothii right now, its leaves started to fold on me). One thing that's weird with my Aloe variegata is I swear it eats the dirt. The dirt keeps disappearing. When I bought it from HD it was healthy but a lot of dirt was missing. It was pretty much only any dirt that was stuck to the roots. Brought it home, threw in C&S potting soil laying around to hold it over until spring, and it ate it up again. It's bizarre and I don't know what the heck is happening to the dirt, but about 1/3 to 1/2 of it disappears. It clearly has a brain and knows it wouldn't do well in it! So I am obliging to its wishes and will not add anymore dirt for now. It's a really slow grower, both Aloes are. Hopefully they step it up a bit now that spring is coming - we have bulbs starting to poke through the soil already. I also have a Hoya compacta and a Sansevieria. Hoya is a rooted cutting so that won't do anything for years lol - the Sansevieria just sits there I swear it doesn't grow. I think that covers it. I really want a Gasteria next. Someone in the C&S forum had a pot full of Gasteria offsets and it looked really cool, and I guess they do great as houseplants. Here is a link that might be useful: Crassula marchandii thread

We tend to think of the age of plants in the same manner we think of age in humans or animals - chronologically. We, like plants, go through several life stages - embryonic, juvenile, adolescent (intermediate in plants), and mature, are stages roughly mirrored in plants. Where we vary greatly is in the way our cells age. In animals, body cells all mature at approximately the same speed. Plants grow by consecutive divisions of cells at the growing points (meristems), so their various parts are different ages. Chronologically, the tissues at and near the transition from roots to shoots will always be the oldest tissue, but ontogenetically, it will always be the youngest tissue and will retain its juvenile vigor. Which is why when we cut our shrubs back hard to force strong new growth it's called rejuvenation pruning. Vigor wanes as the distance between newly forming cells and the root to shoot transition increases. That is why the maximum height of trees and other upright plants is limited. If you're happy with the way a plant looks, by all means, enjoy it. If you're unhappy with its appearance, you can usually whack it back and start over - especially if the plant is reasonably healthy. Cutting it back hard both above & below ground can give a tired plant a new lease on life. Ideally, if you decide to cut the plant back hard, you would not prune the top back all the way at the same time you repot/root prune. Leave a good amount of foliage on the plant to make food for the newly forming roots that regenerate after the repot. In 2-3 weeks, after the plant has its feet back under it, finish pruning the top back as hard as you're comfortable with. Most growers are unnecessarily timid about pruning or manipulating the growth habits of their houseplants - afraid they'll die if they're relieved of a little mass. I was once the same, but some of the radical procedures I regularly perform on trees has taught me that plants in general are survivors. If they have a reasonable amount of stored energy, they will tolerate almost anything in the way of mechanical manipulation. Can you imagine a maple tree with a 1" thick trunk being split in half from the roots to the top of the plant, making 2 trees from one, and both surviving as though nothing had happened? If you think about it, that is less traumatic than severing a cutting from the parent plant and rooting it. At least the split in two maple had half of its roots. ;-) Al

Sunrochy - I don't really know anything about Morganton, but on the map it doesn't look too far from Asheville. I just LOVE North Carolina! The only problem is we can't move there full time for several years because hubby wants to stay at his job here in Fla. to build up his pension. So I get to go up to my little Asheville pad for a month or two at a time and we come up together for long weekends, etc. It has been sooo much fun to be remodeling this little house - it's so easy to do when you have a small space to do over. I think I spent less on the whole remodel than some folks in the kitchen forums spend on their cabinets! When I get back up there and finish the remodel I will post some before and afters. This was just a bland little prefab house that was built in the 70's, no personality at all, and a lot of funky old carpets and chopped up rooms. We opened it all up, put hardwood floors and sparkly chandeliers, and painted bright colors (different for each room) and it's like a new house. I think I will name it "Birdsong Cottage" because each morning there are hundreds of birds singing around there. Can you tell I love it - hehehe

I agree with Mr. Blubs and asleep. When a plant has been grown in water for an extended amount of time they become used to the water and grow different roots than the roots they would grow in soil. That is why they have a harder time transitioning into soil without shock. That is the reason why sometimes you hear people say add soil to the water. To give the plant a chance to grow its soil roots before the transplant. Or like asleep said if you add rocks it takes some of the water away so it can grow stronger roots to get ready for transplanting. The water roots aren't strong enough to support the plant in soil. So, by transferring straight to soil the plant would be starting all over again in a sense. The water roots would die and the soil roots would start growing. I hope that makes sense. I grow a lot of plants and root a lot of plants in water and some plants are tougher than others when it comes to the transplant. In my honest opinion, I would just take cuttings and root them in dirt and leave the rest in the jar of water. You could even cut some of the water roots off and put it back in water. It will grow new roots.