Christmas Cactus and Poinsettia

Does anyone know of a good place to purchase Christmas Cactus' and Poinsettia's? I am looking for small to medium sized plants, about 20 of each.

Out here they're overflowing out of every grocery store, Home Depot, and garden center when it gets closer to the holidays (and I seem to remember the same thing back when I lived in a cold climate--the garden centers were closed but the grocery stores & Home Depot, etc still had tons of them). I think you might just be a little too early, wait until we're past Halloween and then I bet you'll start finding them everywhere.

This message was edited Oct 21, 2008 6:49 AM

I agree with ecrane3 ... sometime next month they will be for sale at at all the Wal-Mart stores as well as Target, Home Depot Lowes and grocery stores too. It's just a bit early for them right now.

Thanks for the info. I was kind of hoping to save some $ and get some smaller plants now and get them growing here to put in the pots I make. I thought there may be some mail order company that I could get small plants from. But, by the time postage is paid, etc., it'll probably be worth just purchasing them from the chains!
I appreciate the input!
Lynn

Keep watching the stores. They start by getting large plants and then they start getting smaller ones in a couple weeks. Walmart has large beautiful ones right now. Were you wanting these to repot and sell this year or something? It would be very cost effective to buy a large one in each color and propagate them for your small pots for future sales.

Great idea Kathy! I'll go to walmart tomorrow and see what I can find. I make those stonehead planters and am doing some fairs this fall and thought they might sell with the poinsettia's in them. If I remember correctly they do root easily.

Yup, they root quite easily if you let them cure a couple days first. Good luck to you and glad that I could help.

Kathy - by "cure" do you mean take a cutting and let it sit out of water for a couple of days before putting it in water to root?

It might be a bit late in the year to propagate Poinsettias to have healthy rooted plants for this coming holiday. Usually spring and summer are the best times for propagating poinsettia.

I have had some good luck and some not so good luck propagating poinsettia cuttings. If you are able to get them to put out roots in water those roots will be the thin, feathery water roots and when you decide to pot them in soil they may go into shock and wilt and die. Probably the best way to ensure some success with making new poinsettia plants is, taking a cutting, dipping the cut end into rooting hormone powder and then potting them directly into a good well draining soil. They require high humidity so misting a couple of times a day is a good thing too.

Here's some info I found while googling: http://www.backyardgardener.com/article/point.html

and also: http://www.gpnmag.com/articles/propagating.pdf

I hope you will consider posting some photo's of your stonehead planters! They sound lovely!

Yes. They need to set out for a couple days til the cut end is dry. Then stick them in soil. I would not put them in water.

If you use rooting hormone powder you don't have to let them callous over before potting up.

Great information ladies, thank you! The websites have very good info. You know, it's weird, every time I use rooting hormone the plants don't root. I don't think I've had one success story. I wonder why that is?

I've been trying to get as many houseplants as I can and get babies going. I sell cuttings and houseplants as my new job and can never have enough!

Here's a few pics of the stoneheads I'm making.

Here's one with the asaparagus fern.

Very cool!

I asked about rooting hormone when visiting a nursery one day. The owner's advice made sense to me. He said that when you let the plant grow its own roots in it own time, you have stronger roots. He said that the hormone can force a cutting to grow roots even if it an substandard cutting. His feeling was that if the cutting grew roots on its own then it is a good strong cutting and will likely grow a good strong and healthy plant. One strong plant is better than a dozen weak ones that will be a disappointment and never grow properly.

Amen on that advice Kathy!

I've tried rooting hormone on everything - coleus, houseplants, even outdoor shrubs like forsythia, japenese maple, you name it and no luck. I think I'll stick to the old fashion way especially after reading your post! Thank you :D

What works for one doesn't always work for another. The old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies here.

That was good advice from the nurseryman. If you take a weak, substandard cutting and try rooting it with or without the rooting hormone it may grow roots but will probably not survive for long if it is weak to begin with. If the cutting is a strong cutting all the hormone does is entice it to produce roots quicker so you would have an established plant sooner.

I suggested using RH because I thought ZGirl was wanting to take cuttings to have well established plants for her stoneheads. Fall is almost over so if you are talking about selling at fairs right now, it is way too late to get cuttings to root and have established plants. You'd be better off purchasing small plants from a local garden center, or dividing plants you may already have, like the asparagus fern and ivy, or the pretty trailing plant in the second photo.

I think rooting and growing has a lot to do with the conditions in the area we live. I live in a warm humid climate and most plants root easily without the RH but some seem to establish roots faster with it. I've used rooting hormone for many years and have very strong, healthy plants with strong root systems. I have Hundreds of plants, some that I have had for more than 30 years. Once the roots are established and the proper care is given a plant (water, light and nutrients), I don't think it matters how the plant was started. Maybe the nurseryman was concerned that if folks start taking cuttings and rooting their own plants it would cut into his business?

Anyway, ZGirl ... your stoneheads are really wonderful, you have a great talent and I know you will do well selling them at the fairs! I hope you are able to find a source of live plants to fill them. They should be very popular!