So. 1 Year in. Where are we? I am actually moving out of my house into an apartment. The apartment will apparently have significantly less sunlight, although I am not sure. My roommate got a "Top Fin" 30 Gallon Aquarium Kit from the local Petsmart, apparently they have a smaller kit that's just a 30 Gallon Aquarium and the Light. It's a single light, about 2 feet long -- I have to wonder if a similar kit would make a serviceable terrarium in an emergency. I split apart my two White Trumpets. The drainless planter they are in was killing them, their media stunk to high heaven. I instead got a second drainless planter and put a plastic pot in each one. This lets me pick the plastic pot out and check the water levels -- in essence, the drainless planters are saucers in this setup. Still, it works, and they still look nice. I repotted my D. Adelae, my Cape Sundew 'Alba', and my D. spatulata in a 7" plastic terrarium bowl that I have had laying around for a long time. I put too much soil in it, so I'm hoping to dig a little out -- and with the help of a little water to make it a bit malleable -- lower the soil level tomorrow. As it stands they're all right at the rim, but... I'd like them to have a little room to grow. The D. Adelae had a stupidly huge root system. It was growing in pure LFS, never repotted from the Deathcube pot. It wasn't doing too great, it was growing great leaves but it's dew wouldn't stick around. I am hoping a better environment will work. The D. spatulata was actually a colony of about 6 plants, I put two back in it's original container and 4 in the terrarium. No sense not keeping a backup. ;) Decided to steal one of my Monkey Cup's guest plants, a Cape Sundew seedling. It's now in the Terrarium too. If my Pygmys do any gemmae, I may sprinkle some in the terrarium between the other plants. Heck, once I have a better idea of my new living situation, I might just move those plants out into individual plants or a more traditional great big 7.5 or 12" pot and fill the plastic fishbowl thing with Pygmy gemmae. Speaking of Pygmys, I repotted mine about a week ago. Took my 2 Butterworts (P. moranensis and P. grandiflora) and my 2 Pygmy Drosera (D. pulchella x nitidula and my lone surviving D. scorpioides) and put them all in a nice big mix of Sphagnum, Perlite, and White Horticultural sand in a huge 7.5" pot. It was kinda scary repotting the pygmys, but I just took them out soil and all and plopped them on top of the soil in the pot, and worked them in. They did not seem to have the huge roots I associate with pygmys, for some reason. The sickly butterwort (Grandiflora, I believe) had stinky media, I think it was approaching root rot. It's very tiny, has died back to just 2 leaves half an inch thick. The other Butterwort lost a leaf in the move, but seems to be ok. It's odd -- wherever the leaves actually touch the ground, they brown up and die. As long as they're not on the ground directly, they're fine. The scorpioides seems to be happier, it has put out 2 or 3 new branches. I was worried because it was doing what it's 4 brothers did -- the tips of it's branches turn crispy and brown and never do anything, then eventually it spreads to the main plant. Similarly, I had lost some of the p. x n. but the majority of them have perked right up since being moved to the bigger pot. About when should I start looking for the signs of Gemmae production? And what are those signs? The main part of the plant swells up a bit and then I see green "peas" in the middle?

"Any suggestions for palms in pots on pool side deck in zone 8 A which can be left year round !" Probably, NONE. How big are the "pots" going to be? Pots are MUCH, MUCH colder than in-the-ground, soil temps. I think even Chamaerops, Butias, Trachys, and Sabals would not survive pot conditions in zone 8 over the winter. If you could even provide a garage as winter protection, some palms would work (Phoenix canariensis, Washingtonias, Butias, Chamaerops, Trachys, Sabals, and Queens would work). Bananas are also very tropical, but you would have to protect the corms over the winter.

I received four plumerias last spring (in Minnesota) and planted them in pots and kept them inside in front a sunny East window until temperatures rose outside. Then I put them on the on the outside South patio. They leafed out nicely. When it started getting cold, I brought them and put them in my bedroom which faces south. I placed them there in the sun and added a small grow light which I left on 12 hours a day plus they received the sun on sunny days. I watered them well once a week. They have grown a lot and are full of leaves. They did not go dormant and I never had any bugs nor root rot. I am planning to put them back on the south patio in mid-June when all danger of frost is gone. Since they never had a chance to go dormant, I was wondering if that would hurt them? And, I was wondering when I should start fertilizing them? Should I start now (early April) or wait until I move them outside? The are very healthy, large, and beautiful. Many thanks for any help/answers anyone can give me.

Always start seed in small pots. As they grow transplant into bigger pots. I start with 6 oz solo cups....move to 12 oz...and finally to 1 QT containers before planting in the garden or into 5 gallon buckets. ProMix is excellent as Donna advised--I would avoid Miracle Grow at all costs. For some reason peppers like to dry out between watering--and planting them in a big container like that doesn't really allow that--and it looks pretty clumpy as well.