Hi Northeasterners,
Weather report from Z6, SW CT.
It has been raining on and off all afternoon and evening. It has just turned to big wet snow flakes. Temp. is 36 so it probably won't amount to anything....I hope. All of my figs are in the garage even tho many have yet to loste their leaves.

Oh well, I have cuttings sprouting so potting will keep me busy.

Jon, you can gloat now while you are enjoying your balmy weather.

Peg

Ciao, we had our first flurries about a week ago,  then yesturday it snowed here in Central Pennsylvania most of the day.  This morning it is white on all the rooftops and on the top of my garden, but not the grass.  It was beautiful to watch, a nice welcome.   We are so fortunate in these areas to see all the beautiful seasons, but we sure didn't have a fall.  The leaves are still on many of the trees, Oak and Maple.  The ones that did fall were not pretty colors that they usually are.  It has been very warm this fall so the leaves didn't show. You can just sense Christmas is just around the corner!!!

Ciao, Maggie 

No trace of snow this morning and its 40 degrees.

Jon, do you use course vermiculite? Pure Perlite in is getting hard to find here. I bought a bag of MiracleGro Perlite (small bag). When I opened it it looked like it had been used. It was mixed with plant food. The second bag I got from a wholesale nursery was mixed with course vermiculite.
HD doesn't have any. Don't know where to look next.

Peg 

Peg,

We were down to the mid-50s last night - it has been partly cloudy all week - maybe drizzle tomorrow. It's a tough assignment, but I'm holding up.

I used coarse vermiculite for a couple years, until it couldn't find it anymore. Coarse means 1/8" minimum. There has to be some voids or air space between the particles.

You can see how I fixed your two previous posts using the "edit feature".

Hi Peg,

Daisy Garden is suppose to carry both Perlite and Vermiculite.  They don't provide any information on their website regarding price or availability, so you will need to call them. 

~james

Thanks, James, Dan, Jon and all. My Brother bought me a big bag of course Vermiculite. Got it from a wholesale nursery just up the road a bit where he has an account. They don't sell to the general public so I can't go there. They used to be more lenient to neighbors visiting. A few years ago a woman was hit by a bucket loader or something similar and died. I understand their policy.  

Peg

PS. There is no Lowes near by. 

Before I discontinued (for the most part) using Vermiculite, I found the best source to be packaging companies.  They sell it to people who are shipping liquids as an absorbent.   Typically they carry the extra coarse Vermiculite, and I found their prices to be ~25% less than at the nurseries.

~james

Thanx everyone for helping to make a point I tried to stress in my seminar this summer. Be creative. I was teaching n rooting cuttings, but the point was that everyone finds a different way to do it, as long as they understand the principles. My friend uses the van in his front driveway to keep his cuttings warm. I don't have a van, so I do something different. A "recipe" approach is fine, but understanding the principles ultimately give you more adaptability and success.

So, that is a long way of saying, that I learned some new ideas and sources for Vermiculite, and clearly there is more than one solution, even though it was easy for me to go do Home Depot.