For reference: A branch attached to the trunk is a primary (first order) branch. Branches attached to first order branches are secondary (second order), and tertiary (3rd order) branches are attached to second order branches. For 1 and 3, cut all primary secondary, tertiary branches back to 2 leaves. If there are only 1 or 2 leaves on a branch, allow those branches to grow until the 3rd leaf is opening, then pinch/prune the branch back to 2 leaves. This helps 'chase' foliage back closer to the trunk. It might need to be repeated later to force additional back-budding. You do not want sections of branches to be bare before there are leaves. Leaves should start as close to the trunk as possible so your tree becomes compact. Where the 2 branches (one large & 1 small) originate at the same point on the trunk, eliminate the small branch entirely. Branch 2, the leader should be cut back to a leaf that will produce a branch growing in a favorable direction; usually, that would be a branch that grows back toward a point directly vertical to the point where the trunk exits the soil. FWIW, you can change the order of a branch by pruning it. We can see this branch ^^^ was pruned at some point, by the little dried up stub that remains. So originally, this was a branch of any given order with 3 branches of the next higher order growing from it. Because of that pruning, ^^^ the branch the pencil points to immediately above changed to a higher order, for all intents and purposes, and, the branch now has movement. So through sequential pruning, I can make this branch with a pronounced tendency to produce arrow-straight shoots, to a branch that grows in a zig zag pattern. Same cutting ^^^, stub removed, but now we have a branch of a given order with only 2 branches of the next higher order (instead of 3), even though I didn't remove any branches. The main branch will back-bud now, which will allow me to prune this branch back even shorter, which is what I meant about chasing foliage back closer to the trunk. Al

No fungicides. We have used a bit of Grass-B-Gon in our neverending battle against Bermudagrass - probably 2-3 applications per season for the last two years. I noticed some very slight cracking on the bark of the Narrow Water in my home garden today. More and more, I'm thinking this is just something that these roses do. Where there is cane damage due to the cracking, and sunburn, and rubbing, then the saprophytic fungi come in and make the blackened areas that we see. I'm inclined to think that the edema could be a function of our wet, cool, winter this year. Jim (of Sherman Oaks) checked at Descanso, and one of the CPCs looked just like this - and another didn't. Malcolm, am I correct that you've never seen similar conditions on CPC and related noisettes other than chemical damage? This rose is just now losing its old leaves, as the new ones are developing. Noisettes, teas and chinas are virtually evergreen for us, and slough off the old leaves as the new ones come in. I'll give it a careful look tomorrow - pith, sunburn, whether the buds are dead or alive in the purplish areas, the whole works. Thanks for keeping this topic alive. Anita

Relatively speaking, you can't overwater these plants. These plants love water. In fact, they crave it. With that being said, they don't love being in waterlogged, soggy soil. As long as their roots can breathe, their soil isn't packed in too tightly, and the water can freely drain away, then you'll never have to worry about providing them with too much water. Mine goes through so much water so fast, that during these hot summer months, I'll occasionally let the whole pot sit in a bucket of water overnight. The next day, I'll drain away the water before flushing out the whole pot with plenty of fresh water until the runoff from the bottom begins to run clear. Not only that, but I grow it in a self-watering pot with a small reservoir on the bottom. I'll flush out the runoff water from it and fill it up with fresh water, and it'll be gone by the next day. This "monster's" appetite for water is almost insatiable. As for the leaf problems, I'd have to guess that it may be from not giving it enough water. Have I mentioned the fact that these plants love water? I can't remember, lol. Oedema isn't something that you'll ever have to worry about with this plant. Any excess water is expelled from the leaves through a process called guttation. You'll see tiny drops form along the perimeter of each leaf, and these will naturally fall away. Whenever I move my Monstera, a bunch of these drops fall all over the place. When I brought my plant back inside for the winter, I had it placed on an elevated shelf that is situated over my flatscreen television and home entertainment center. I mention this because I had to place a folded up paper towel over part of the back of my television, because so many of these drops were falling down the back of it. But with the paper towel there, each of these drops was quickly absorbed and dried up before the next ones fell. Here's a photo that I've shared on here many times. In it, I have my Monstera soaking in a bucket of water. As you can see, it's growing roots like crazy and has completely filled in the whole entire pot. Despite me soaking it overnight and draining it the next morning, the very next day, it'll have already completely dried back out. As I've mentioned earlier, these plants crave water. Just don't leave them sitting (for too long) in water. Their roots still need to breathe.

if you take cuttings.. and stick them in water. or rather moist media.. they will develop into roots.. i cant think of the term right now ... advantageous or adventurous something or another maybe... lol ... ken