Many thanks to Alberto for his posting on Rhodophiala! I know quite a few people (myself included) who have been confused about culturing their Rhodophiala. In most cases, it's been a question of when to grow different species since many seem willing to grow at the 'wrong' time of year, surviving, but not thriving or flowering. I've been growing my R. advena as a summer-grower - maybe forcing it to aestivate later in the year would be a good idea? I have certainly seen evidence that some species seek deep planting very actively . My seedlings of bifida, chilensis and granatiflora seem desperate to do this, producing very elongated bulbs that, once they hit the bottom of the pot, distort themselves in their efforts to go deeper! Since I've had some difficulty finding really deep pots, I've been having to improvise and some species have had to make-do with small pots. Whilst most Rhodophiala are found buried deep in the wild, I wonder whether some species are less particular in culture? I've noticed that seedlings of some species that belong to Group B in Alberto's previous email (spring/summer growers from the Andes) don't migrate downward with the same determination as the winter-growers. My mature R. andicola seems quite happy in a tiny pot; although I plan to experiment with the seedlings it has produced in deeper pots for comparison. The biggest problem I've had with my Chilean species was that most compost mixes are just too moist for them and their roots rot. At Alberto's suggestion, I've been using a primarily mineral-based mix which has already had great results! By the way, the old Texan form of R. bifida has travelled far - it looks like the first Rhodophiala I ever bought (here in the UK) is this plant. It's produced loads of offsets, but never seed. Matthew Gale Birmingham, UK matthewgale@btopenworld.com