First, thank you for the compliment! About your message (and no need to apologize for the length!) they are super tricky trees, and I lost a few before I kinda...got into the groove with them. I’ve learned a few things that may help. I never keep my trees on a humidity tray. They’re on a tray, but that is just to facilitate watering and keeps it cleaner. I go with a mostly cactus mix for them, as with other trees. It has a good organic mix, but also drains well. I get great growth. You can also go with a more inorganic blend, but the key for me is that I never water them until the soil is dry. I’m taking like almost wilting dry. Super dry. Then, I water them well until a bit comes out the bottom. I leave that in the bottom of the tray until it evaporates and repeat. I’ve found this works well. I also have them inside during the winter, but outside as soon as night temps are around 60. I’ll leave them outside until October or later (nights around 48 degrees). I hope this helps!