Hi, Birdie. How long has it been since your last repot? One of the symptoms of tight roots is shedding of lower and interior foliage. If the internodes (distance between the leaves) are growing shorter, your plant needs a repot, but winter and early spring are poor times to consider repotting - especially for plants that are stressed and very low on energy reserves. Root congestion can promote blooming in some plants, but root congestion IS a stress, and as such limits growth and vitality to a degree that varies with the amount of congestion. I think the wise thing to do would be to get your plant healthy again, and THEN worry about blooming. Sound reasonable? When did you last fertilize? Often, plants starved for nutrients, particularly nitrogen, shed foliage after 'harvesting' mobile nutrients from older leaves so new leaves can grow. Culturally, you can treat your plant like most succulents. Letting it dry down completely IS a stress, so try to time it so you're watering just before soil is completely dry. Humidity is no problem for this plant. It's glossy leaves are very high in cuticular wax, which helps guard against low indoor humidity. I'm sorry, but I disagree that a fertilizer with a high middle number is a good choice for any containerized plant. There are no plants that use more P (the middle number) than either N or K (first and last numbers). The excess P adds unnecessarily to the level of salts in the soil and can actually contribute to leaf loss and deficiencies of other nutrients ...... particularly iron and manganese. That may be more information than you need, but others too, may be curious as to why high P fertilizers are not such a good choice for container plants. Best luck - let me know if there are any other questions you think I might help you with. Al

"The name derives from Latin pinus via French pin (pine); in the past (pre-18th century) this species was more often known as "Scots Fir" or "Scotch Fir" (from Danish fyr), but "fir" is restricted to Abies and Pseudotsuga in modern English. Other names sometimes used include Riga Pine and Norway Pine, and Mongolian Pine for var. mongolica. "Scotch Pine" is another variant of the common name, used mostly in North America. The lumber or timber from it is also called red deal" Here is a link that might be useful: Scots Pine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I wouldn't worry what others are doing. I found at our markets that we sell what we sell for what we decide before we get to market. I see alot of vendors pretending to visit your stand and are actually price checking. I feel it is rude and they are not confident in their product and pricing. If you want to know what someone is selling for comparison be upfront and ask and say you just want to be comproable. I personally check our state department of agriculture website and the USDA website for pricing in our area for produce. If you look it should give the general prices for organic and non organic produce for each month of the year. USDA does it weekly I think. That can give you a start and if your not selling then lower your price some. Also make your produce sell itself by keeping it neat and clean and display in baskets or attractive layout. We have found if you display them nicely people look more and buy more. You dont have to spend alot. Just collect things around home and from friends and neighbors - everyone has a million old baskets and tubs and stuff around that you can wash up or paint to make a nice display. We find alot at yard sales. We are vultures on anything we can use on the table.I bought probably 10 baskets last summer for like $1.50. Also gather and collect used plastic grocery bags from everyone you know. People want things bagged up to carry if they dont have their own market bags. It is a good way to recycle and people like knowing your recycling bags and not buying new plastic bags to package in. We have several neighbors bring them to us as well as we save all ours. Some of our usual customers bring us their extra bags when they come to market. Saves plastic and money. Also - always keep plenty of change on hand. Nothing like having someone buy something and they pay with a $20 or $50 and you cant break it. We always keep a base amount in the top of our cash box but I also keep 6 extra $5's and $10's and $20 in ones under the drawer in case it is one of those days when people all pay with big bills. Ummm. Label every thing clearly so people know your prices. People dont always ask if they dont see a price they just walk away and buy somewhere else. They want to know the cost upfront. Bring a everything bag. We have a big huge totebag with extra tape,maskingtape, duct tape, scissors, string, markers, pens, stapler, and anything else under the sun you just might need in a pinch. You never know you needed it until your at market and dont have it. We keep this bag stocked and ready. Papertowels is a big thing. We have to clean produce that somehow didnt get cleaned enough or clean ourselves or wipe up water after a rain shower. I think those are our big do's and don'ts. Just be proud of your work and enjoy it. Department of Ag and USDA is a good way to base your price fairly.

Nasty! Glad I watched it though not surprised. Yes, we're germaphobes but better careful than not. My DH, DD and I went recently to High Point, NC for her soccer tournament. Stayed at a very nice Radisson. In our room, we found pubic hair on our sheets the first night and when we returned from the tournament the 2nd day around 4 pm, we found a condom (unused) in our bathroom sitting on the counter. Definitely not ours! Who the heck knows what went on in our room while we were gone. When we told the manager, he smiled and said, "Oh well, come with me...", took us downstairs and proceeded to credit our card $45 dollars for the trouble! Why $45? Did he think we needed the money? We weren't trying to get a discount! He didn't seem surprised. At another hotel last year, our comforter had a small, silver-dollar sized, almost unnoticeable fresh blood stain on it. Almost missed it because of the flower print on the comforter. It was still wet! I make it a point to inspect the room prior to use. This is how I find these things. Yes, I'm sure there's a lot of junk out there on a daily basis that we are exposed to, but if I can avoid some of them then that's better for me and my family. Just because these things are out there or, because as kids we did worse things than this, doesn't mean I have to let my guard down. Also, on airplanes. I had a couple of flight attendants as patients once. They filled me in on all kinds of stuff. From the blankets to the food. The blankets are used by some very dirty travelers who wrap themselves up in them from head to dirty, smelly, shoeless feet. She said they just re-fold the blankets and set them out again. I think the airlines may be doing things differently now. Someone can set me straight if this has changed.