I've decided to sleep with the windows open tonight just to make sure. First thing tommorrow I am going to buy a carbon monoxide detector.

Good night. I have to go to bed so I can get up early and watch the Tour.

I know many gay guys who aren't into indoor plants so I think that's unfair.

no, no! I am genuinely interested...

Not calling you guys gay. Just the conversation. :-)

Thanks for the clarification. No offense taken.

What are your thoughts on taking a dump in the plant's pot? You know, carbon cycling and all...

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If I don't, who will? -Me
It's like being bipolar in opinion is a requirement around here. -TripleThreat

I'm not sure how serious you are with your question but it does bring up an interesting point. So much carbon is wasted everyday when the world flushes their toilets. There are plenty of nutrients in human feces but defecating in your plant pots is problematic on a few counts, off the top of my head.

1. The excrement from a carnivorous or omnivorous animal doesn't make good fertilizer in its raw state. It needs to be composted first.
2. The feces would produce a noticeable and undesirable aroma in the room to most people.
3. It would be hard to defecate in the pot in a dignified manner to any onlookers, and avoid the risk of missing your target pot or smothering your plant (especially with small plants and pots).

The main problem is the first one though. The feces need to be composted. This can be achieved by placing the feces in the outdoor composter with other plant organic materials containing some nitrogen (or just a pile of leaves and lawn clippings would suffice). If you don't wish to carry the feces out to the composter, you could relieve yourself of your excrement directly into the composter I suppose. The feces should have broken down into a soil like consistency within two weeks if the compost reaches the ideal temperature and oxygenation. Then it can be used as superb plant food for your plants.

This is America. We are on the phonetic system.

Wow, with the way you handled that question, you sound like an expert.

Please post up your mailing address so that we may all start mailing our produce to you rather than wasting it by flushing.

Wow. I read all three pages of this.

Plants. Did you see the mythbusters sketch on taking care of plants; talking to them, music etc?

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http://www.GetEndorFit.com
Personal Training and Sports Conditioning
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No. Did they make any conclusions?

Yep. Myth was busted, music(classical, metal etc) and different talking (yelling, nice talk etc...) made no difference.

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http://www.GetEndorFit.com
Personal Training and Sports Conditioning
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Okay, ferns need ALLOT of light and like a humid area...better off in the bathroom with a skylight.

Ficus (fig)...pretty moody but easy to handle. They like to drop leaves and if they get changes they get mad and drop their leaves.

Rubber Tree...if you have some decent light easy to handle and clean.

Peace Lilly....good one day...dead the next.

Hibiscus....great flowers, easy to handle and needs light

Orange...prickers are cool and easy to maintain in moderate light

Rhotodendron - need to keep the soil proper and watered...but easy to grow and some nice flowers.

Philodendron - hard to go wrong, easy to grow and looks good with the vines.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

You should do some research on the flora and fauna of your next "A" race and surround yourself with native species.

Am I on Slowtwitch or did I drop into an old Steve Martin movie?

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Lou Battaglia

Why didn't I retire last year?

Good suggestions R10C

The ferns humidity issue was something I neglected to pass on. It's especially problematic in winter when there is less light and much less humidity inside with the furnace on (assuming one isn't living in Florida). I have found a humidifier/mister to be very helpful.

The hibiscus is really an outdoor plant. If you buy it for indoors in the spring... it goes dormant... doesn't reflower... and you throw it away in the fall. Not a nice thing to have to do to a plant pet. If you can keep it on the patio...maybe... but it is going to struggle in most winters here... being a tropical plant. When I see them indoors... I can almost hear their soul crying.

Philodendron is a great idea IMO. Big leaves. Hardy. Fast growing. Also likes humidity but much more hardy than the ferns.

The hardiest no-brainer indoor plant that doesn't require mountains of light and grows like a weed is the pothos vine. Lots of oxygenating leaf area. Need somewhere to trail the vines though.

I am thrilled to report that I purchased a carbon monoxide detector for every room in my house this morning. I really couldn't sleep knowing the dangers I was facing. Thanks so much. You may have saved a life.

What is the difference between a humidifier and a mister? How do I know which I should buy? Any recommendations on a brand?

That's an interesting concept. But most native species don't do well indoors. Each race you're competing in though can have varying surrounding flora and this can contribute to varying performance in my opinion. I don't think varying fauna will have any impact though. Unless they get in the way of your bike... :-)

Quite frankly... I don't think the various pollens and toxins of the varying surrounding flora will have as much impact as one's normal training emphasis on aerobic functional threshold power... so it's probably not worth the effort to mimic this environment in training.

Wow...you work quickly on problems. I usually procrastinate a bit.

The carbon monoxide threat is very real and can come from your furnace, gas stove and fireplace... as well as your plants. Just remember to avoid the common error of locating the device high on a wall or on the ceiling. CO is a colorless, odorless poisonous gas but it is heavier than air at normal room humidity... so you need to place the detectors on the floor, preferably away from walls, in an open location. If you place them on the ceiling... the whole house may be saturated with carbon monoxide before the detector goes off.

This is actually very good news and a relief. I sleep on the top bunk of a bunk bed. I suppose that my risks up there are less than the risks faced by my wife.

You want to get a mister for the plants, not a humidifier - one will water the plant, the other can leave mineral deposits all over your room if you have hard water.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

Okay....

Well you're correct... but I'm not sure why that is good. Your wife will go into coma before you do from carbon monoxide poisoning.... but since radon is lighter than air... you will be the first to die from lung cancer as a result of radon poisoning. Radon as a risk varies depending on where you live (I presume you are in the US... apologize if I have assumed wrong).

If you have a CO detector on your bedroom floor... the risks of CO poisoning are minimal. You are pretty much powerless though if you have radon leaking from the ground your house is sitting on.

I tend to agree.

A good mister/humidifier is produced from Japanese Design House ±0. The Mister Ver.3 has two different modes (Standard mode runs for 8 hours at 300ml/hour and Long Run mode which runs for 18 hours at 130ml/hour.) It measures 12.0 inches in diameter and 6.1 inches high. It is probably ideal for what you need. You can pick it up at Lowes I believe.

Cascading Waterfall is another good brand if you want to buy American.

Wow. I do have a detector installed low on the floor now and my wife has agreed to move to the top bunk. Pretty cool.

You might have an increased risk of small children eating your ferns in about a year or so now... ;-)

I suggest you get a radon test done asap or wear a radon mask when sleeping if you are in the US and not living in the south east and you want to rule out this risk. Especially if you are sleeping near the ceiling.

I'm not convinced the radon masks work though as advertised because radon is an inert gas. It must have something to do with it's radioactivity that they are able to trap it. Either that or it is a gimmick.

Wait. I'm not being taken for a ride here am I? I've been lurking here for over a month and finally found a thread topic I fely I could help with some advice. I hope you are not fooling with me. I have never met a husband and wife who sleep in bunk beds yet. Please don't take offense if I am off the mark. There is nothing wrong with sleeping like that.