Hi, Kim, Welcome to the forum. Many of the experienced growers will give information about AV culture that is aimed at growing the best possible plant you can, using optimal growing medium, pots, fertilizer, lights, etc. There is not usually just one way, so you have to gather the information and pick what works for you. However, a lot of the wheel has been invented, and some 'standard' practices have developed over the years. You certainly want to remove the suckers, for they will distort the shape of the mother plant, which is very pretty, by the way. I find it much easier to do this after knocking the plant out of the pot. I use an x-acto knife on larger suckers, and large tweezers on smaller suckers. If there are no roots on the sucker, I remove enough leaves to give me a stub that I can put into my potting mix to root. I do cover them to increase the humidity. I do not use any rooting hormone. If necessary, I will 'stake' it using toothpicks to support it in position. About pots.....plastic is most frequently used for several reasons. They are cheap, come in an infinite variety of sizes, and they don't absorb fertilizer salts. A general rule of thumb for size is to have the diameter of the pot be 1/3 the diameter of the plant. Try not to get caught up in the idea of having the plant grow into the pot. AVs prefer to be rootbound to bloom their best, so if the pot is too big, they spend all their time trying to fill the pot with roots, instead of blooming. Also, since they are a shallow rooted plant, the use of a 'squatty' pot is better than taller pots. In a worst case scenario, the soil may stay too wet in an oversized pot, and the roots may rot. Clay pots can be tricky. They absorb water and fertilizer salts will build up on the rim, burning any leaves touching the rim. They can be hard to clean. As the water evaporates through the pores of the pot, cooling occurs and can affect the roots. Three ounce solo cups with drainage poked in the bottom work well for small plants, leaves, and suckers, and are used by many commercial AV growers too. A word about potting mix....a sdtandard mix consists of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite, in equal portions. You will see this referred to as a 1-1-1 mix. There is no commercially available mix of these proportions, unless you buy it from an AV vendor such as Cape Cod Violetry. But, if you can find the ingredients, it's very easy to mix yourself. Or, if you have a mix such as Miracle-gro, add perlite and vermiculite to it, treating it as the peat ingredient. If it has fertilizer in it, don't add fertilizer for about 8-10 weeks. Good luck, and thanks for posting the pictures. Barbara

Thanks Ruthie!! Yes, I am an old southern girl and I grew up with a mother who did lots of canning, but my job was to wash the veggies and once I was done with that, I scampered outside as fast as I could!!! LOL!!! I wish now I had payed more attention!!! But I intend to pay alot of attention here and know with ya'lls help, I will learn alot!!! I am so glad I listened to Ruthie and finally made my way over here!!!

I agree with dianalo, repairing sheetrock is not hard. I do think the decal is very nice, though. The thing about paint is that it can always be re-painted if you don't like it. Go to a site like Behr.com, and just look at the guidance they give for painting. My tips from learning the hard way: 1. Get a high quality paint that has good coverage so you don't need to do too many coats. I painted a wall dark blue using Behr Premium Plus Ultra and it took only two coats, easy peasy. 2. If you are using tape to mask anything off, use your finger to wipe a very thin line of clear painters caulk on the edge of the tape to seal it, otherwise the paint will get underneath. If you do this, when you take the tape off, you'll have a perfect straight line. 3. Get the best brush in the store. You don't want bristles coming off and getting stuck on the wall. Good luck!

Hi Thanks for the compliments. All my hardy chicago fig trees grow like that. This is about the same as the other 11 when they starting rooting. Just pointing out that they are easy to grow. Don't foliar feed Hardy chicago fig as the leaves do not hold up to moisture and turn crispy then drop. The hardy chicago has the best wet soil resistance. The petite and hardy chicago have the best shade tolerance. The Petite and brown turkey have the best by far humidity tolerance. Steve