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My hibrid - Congo Sunrise. Mother is Seaform and father - Congo

Big thanks for so beautiful photos, Charlie!
But where are others users photos of all 2019 year?...

Charlie or Cindy,

 Do you have any idea what these spots are? I posted this condition on the forum several years ago and nobody knew what it was.  They first appeared on Rockets Red Glare and now I have at least 10 plants with them. They don't affect growth and the leaves don't discolor and fall. They stay on the plant all year. Has anyone else on the forum seen this?

Thanks,

dave

Here's a bright one with a very good bush - also brand new, first flower seen yesterday. It's Saffron x Carmel Dawn.

Yesterday Singing the Blues bloomed with twin flowers - very pretty colors that continue to fascinate me. Also, below is a brand new seedling, unnamed, that is from the cross of Kissing Giant x Aphrodite - big flower at 8 inches across.

Charlie

I'm back with new seedling and other greenhouse photos.
Here is a newer one, Goldilocks, that we have just started growing for sale and may have again this year.

I was going thru some old, unread news letters earlier today and came across one that talked about microbes.  There was a picture of a little black kitten coming away from a potted hibiscus that it had just used as a litter box.  The article talked about the Microbes that the kitty just left behind.  So, this is probably a real stupid question, but is my take-away from this article that I can scoop cat poop from my litter boxes and bury it in my pots instead of using worm castings?  For some reason, Worm Castings can be hard to get around here, but have cat poop...in abundance.

Hi everyone I'm so excited to talk to you about biochar. 
There is so much information and excellent things about biochar that I will lead you to the water. 
Biochar Now or BiocharNow.com 
This is our partner company that makes our char.
Look into studies from the University of Purdue about biochar as well.

We can all do our part to keep earth blue and green. With biochar. 
Carbon Sequestration.   It's been over a year and I still can't say Carbon Sequestration.   or spell it.
The process is so amazing that you don't need to understand it. Just go with the flow.
In Summit County CO there's a beetle that attacks pines Lodgepole Pines and kills it.   The pine is actually an invasive species to CO.  This rotting wood exhales lots of Co2 gas over time and contributes to greenhouse gases.  Dead beetle on the forest floor  contributes to forests fires mainly from lighting strikes. 
When we make biochar we pull these dead trees out of the forest and burn them in a kiln about 600F for about a day in zero oxygen while the carcinogenic gasses are safely disposed of.   This results is an extremely light activated carbon because it's super porous.   The good biochar weighs 3-4lbs per cubic foot.   Not 10lbs per cubic ft.
Think of biochar as hotels and stadiums for microbes, fungi, nutrients, and bad anaerobic bacteria.  1tsp of biochar = to 1 football field of surface area!
Anaerobic (bad) bacteria are essential to complete the soil food web.
This bad bacteria goes deep inside a carbon particle and sequesters itself and gets surrounded by aerobic (good) bacteria.   The anaerobic lives out it's life in peace and can't do any hard but eats and poops out nutrients to the plant.
Biochar will also help filter the soil in addition to storing nutrients.
Toxins like metals, lead, ARSENIC, zinc chloride, formaldehyde, excess floor cleaner ammonia.  All that bad stuff is in our nutrients or already in the ground.
Instead of the Co2 gas going into the air we take the carbon and put it back into the ground with biochar.
During the summer when your plants are hungry and need nutrients and are unders stress, the biochar unleashes hoards of microbes and nutrients to the plants as they need it.  The biochar will also help balance out pH issues and store acids and alkalines.  Self adjusting let the soil to the work while you enjoy the flowers.

Here is the way the dosing works.
The goal is to have 5-10% biochar OVER TIME.   
or 10% in stock plants.
I recommend terra preta 5gal bag of biochar and add 1-2% each year until you get to 5-10% of your soil.   
After you reach 10% that's it you're done.  No more. 
Native soil, soilless medium, and try substituting the chip form for perlite.
I heard CoCo and biochar is the new thing for hydro growers. 
Bye Bye Perlite.  Waste of energy and resources with little value.
If your using a super soil take out some worm casting or perlite or guano or coco and give up the real estate for BIOCHAR.   

Like I was saying I can go on and on about biochar. 
Charcoal contains poison don't use it or anything else you burned last night in the fire. 
Go ahead and take a look at Biochar Now and flood brain with what they provide.
If you would like more info let me know.
A 5 gal bag is affordable.   Super sacks for bulk. 
It can be chip, med, small, and micronized biochar consistency. 
With micronized the dose is like 1tsp per gal of soil.
Top dress, till, or water it in.  Mix it with soil before planting. 
Spread a thin layer across the top soil early summer and carry on. 

If you really want to take to to a new level, I can teach you how to nutrify the biochar 1st.  There is reason why you want to do this 1st because calcium and carbon are +/-
 and highly attracted magnets so YOU DO NOT want to use excess calcium nitrate when 1st using biochar.   
Pro Tip: Go easy with salts or synthetic based fertilizers when 1st introducing biochar into the medium. It will clog the pores in biochar and not have enough room for biology and other nutrients or for the pH balance to work properly.

Remember biochar acts like a filter and works OVER TIME.  Not in a week.
Biochar could take weeks to work and thousands of years to continue working.   
Kyle

Farmer D

Farmer D