Our neighborhood garden club had the first meeting of the year this week. A master gardener and the local extension agent gave a very thorough presentation on gardening in our area of North Carolina along with timely tasks like the above.
They brought lots of seed catalogues and garden related books for us to peruse.
This Green Prints magazine is new to me. Are you familiar with it?
It looks like it would be appealing to anyone interested in gardening.
Particularly at this time of year when we are doing more dreaming and planning than actual gardening.
Our garden club established and maintains a Monarch Waystation.
Volunteers (like me) take turns tending to it throughout the season.
This is how it was looking last September when I was on duty.
Houseplants were being raffled at the meeting.
My number was called and I chose this Christmas cactus.
It was a generous sized clipping with a few buds on it. I am thinking they are going to be white. The clipping was wrapped in paper with a bit of soil attached. On the way home from the meeting I stopped at the garden center for potting soil and a new pot to put it in.
Came home, potted it and gave it a drink of water to settle the soil.
I noticed it didn't have any roots and decided to check online for instructions for potting a clipping like this. It seems the preferred method is to put it right into soil and not water it for a week or until the roots develop. Hmmm... hope I didn't cause a problem by adding water when I did. Luckily it wasn't a lot of water. I guess you can tell when the roots are forming by giving the plant a little tug. If it seems firmly planted, there should be roots growing.
Time will tell how successful this little project will be.
So far it's looking just fine.
Have you ever propagated a holiday cactus? If so, what was your experience like. Enquiring minds would like to know :D.
That sounds like a good, productive meeting. Christmas cactus are quite easy to propagate, I find. I'm sure yours will be fine:-)
ReplyDeleteThe garden club sounds like a fun time. No, I've never propagated a holiday cactus.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry too much about your Christmas cactus - it should be fine. They're pretty easy to grow and propogate. A neighbor-friend gave me her big plant when she moved about 10 years ago and I've since divided it into another plant. They've both done well and one just finished blooming. They bloom at different times depending on which variety you have. I do believe yours is a Christmas one though, looking at the shape of the leaves.
ReplyDeleteIt's so fun thinking about flowers and gardens in the winter and knowing Spring is coming!
ReplyDeleteI really like the pot you got for your cactus.
What a fun event for January when gardening is mostly about dreaming and planning. I've never propagated a Christmas cactus - I hope yours does well. Love the idea of a Monarch waystation.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried growing a Christmas Cactus from a cutting. I hope yours thrives.
ReplyDeleteA neighbourhood garden club sounds like a great idea ( and maybe a chance later in spring to have a plant exchange!!).
Hello! I wish I had an ounce of talent when it comes to gardening! I have none. My daughters are actually wonderful with plants and flowers. So I am glad about that!
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