At the end of last season I did use Round Up on it. Also a friend of mine advised me to once it looked brownish to take a razor and scrape it where I could and also spray it with bleach so it would go down into the roots.. I also did that.. I don't think it will come back this year and if it does I'll be on top of it.. Yes if you burn it, It can even be fatal to some. It will go into your lungs and If it turns skin red and causes major discomfort imagine what it will do you lungs. My other plan may be done simultaneously as the planting of the azalea's. I had a large tree stump in the center of my back yard from a tree that was apparently cut down years ago. The removal of it was one of the first things I did when I bought the house. Reason I mention this is because of it, I don't have a Flat yard. That and the fact that I have I'd say 1/4 of the yard with Zoysia grass and the other 3/4 you can call grass or weeds... What I was going to do with this is take the 1/4 that is Zoysia grass and remove it and 2 inches of ground under it and put it on my deck. (yes I know Keep it moist) then rototill the entire back yard and side yard (where the Azaleas will be)... Once I turn it all over, rent one of them 500 Lbs rollers from local Rental shop and drag it across the yard and flatten it. (Yes, I know slight slop away from house...) Once this is done if my wife hasn't killed me for making the largest mud pit I want to take the Zoysia and make plugs from it and spread them around to cover the back and side yards. Once the plugs are all in, I'll take some regular bluegrass seed and spread it over the rest. then finally cover it all with hay. My hopes are that with in 2 to 4 years to have the full back yard in Zoysia and most importantly Flat. From what I've read Zoysia likes 20/20/20 does anyone here know where I can get some cheap?

I have never left the seedlings in water long enough to develop a leaf, probably because I never understand the benefits of waiting for a leaf. An important point about seedlings is that they seem to be extremely forgiving, so it probably does not matter what you do. Despite what is true about larger bulbs, seedlings seem very tolerant of flooded conditions, so they appear content to sit in water for a while. In fact before I knew anything about Hippies, I once had a batch of seedlings growing in a pot that had no drainage holes. I left it outside all summer, and on occasion I would lie it on its side to drain the water out. After rain, sometimes there would be standing water above the soil level for several days before I would get around to draining it. The seedlings thrived despite the neglect and were quite robust by the end of the summer. If these had been adult bulbs, I probably would have lost them all to rot. I don't recommend this as a way to grow seedlings, but just want to emphasize how forgiving seedlings are. Also, once potted in soil, initially it is probably better to err on the side of overwatering rather than underwatering. So plant the seedlings whenever it is convenient. I cannot attest to the ease of planting after developing a leaf, but I can't imagine anything being much easier than planting them when the root is still quite short. I just lay them on the soil, making certain that the root is inserted into the soil. Depending on the length of the root, it may be necessary to make a cut or hole in the soil to avoid breaking the root. Then I sprinkle perhaps 1/4 inch of soil on top. The reason I pot them up early is that it seems logical to get the root in contact with the soil as soon as possible so that it can begin taking up nutrients to sustain more growth. And I worry that I could easily break a longer root when planting. And finally, roots that develop underwater are anatomically and physiologically different than those that develop in soil, and may perform less well when later exposed to drier conditions. This is often a problem when cuttings of other house plants are rooted in water, and they can experience substantial shock when transplanted into soil. But these are all "theoretical" arguments that clearly must not matter much for hippeastrum, based on the experience of others. Whew, sorry for the long email, and I hope it did not sound like I was trying to lecture anyone. I mostly wanted to emphasize that there is little need to fret over planting too early or too late, and I got a bit carried away! Bill

Thanks, all. The market here is quite hot, though I suppose it could cool in the next year. I doubt it, though-- it seems like more people want to live closer in and have shorter commutes and we are within a couple of miles of a new high-tech employment area, near the university, and not far from downtown. I talked to a neighbor recently with a very similar house. She has a realtor (lets call her Realtor #1) she's worked with for decades who only works in this area. Realtor #1 gave her very specific recommendations for what to do in advance (she plans to sell in August), and told her that her house would probably sell in 3 days. So I'm thinking we won't list until we are truly ready to go, which depends mostly on precisely when we decide to retire. I think we will probably wait a month or two and get some "known" issues taken care of, then set up something will Realtor #1. Then I suppose to be responsible, we'll have to find Realtors #2 and #3 as well. Although to be honest, I wouldn't mind skipping that... I guess I understand the criteria for selecting someone with a good track record of short times on market, etc. But when inventory is low and demand is high, what do you look for in an agent? Is it different?

If it's growing well I'd leave it for now. Re-potting will cause it to pause growing, and perhaps loose a few leaves. However, if re-potting includes placing it in a larger container, and you do it right, it should resume growing pretty quickly with the extra space. For the record I don't have any FLFs, only common figs.