[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

One comment I should have added about leaving backbulbs. The reason you don't leave a lot of unnecessary bulbs is that each additional useless bulb adds another inch or so diameter to the required pot size. If you are growing a specimen plant, one that tends to put out 2 growths for each previous growth, the oldest bulbs hold the whole thing together, and the plant, because it is growing sideways in addition to lengthwise, will need the extra pot size anyway. What you really need more than anything else is a minimum root mass in a certain size pot so that the plant will be efficient at sucking the pot dry in a reasonable length of time. If you have a single string of bulbs stretched out across a very large pot, the pot will not dry anywhere near fast enough, unless you are using a mix that controls moisture very well, like semi-hydroponics is supposed to do. A big pot of bark with very little root mass in it is a recipe for disaster.