I have done this before and Im not happy I did. I nipped a baby spider plant off a plant in the nursery and now I have tons of them

also a man. seems like a lot of men on here from what I noticed. maybe we are drawn to certain plants like aggressive looking cacti as an innate way to exert our masculinity over the hobby? also seems like the dudes tend to have a real meticulous scientific approach. which I would love to do but would drive myself insane with. I've also only been on the forum like a week so im not speaking from a very big sample size though.

I've found as a single male in my early thirties, my acquaintances don't want to talk about plants nearly as much as I do lol. so here I am for my plantgeek supplements.

@rhizo - the bmw thing makes that story like 1000x more infuriating lol trade your car and buy more plants

It was her sense of entitlement that irritated the heck out of me. "What's mine is mine. What's yours is mine. What's theirs is mine. It's all mine." My cat has that attitude, but HE can get away with it.

On the matter of males and females.....we're all just a bunch of hortosexuals. :-)

sradleye , I was gonna say that hahaha. I only really like Cacti and exotic looking plants.

Yea I'm a male 16 years old, it does seem like a lot of men are interested in cacti! Cactus are awesome! Easy to propagate also! Also I admit I have taken a leaf of African violet or succulents off the floor at Walmart. I feel bad that they just get swiped off the floor and taken to the floor and not get a chance to reproduce. Grant

I have also found houseplants at the curb that are made part of my collection

I almost did in a mall one time, almost took a baby spider off the mama. But I didn't. One time in a store I finally found a tradescantia, but didn't want the big $20 plant, so I asked if I could take a cutting and offered to pay for it as if it were a little plant, but they said no.

I have been tempted in a store but will not do it because I feel it is stealing. What I have done at Lowes and HD is if I see a limb on the floor, ground I pick it up and bring it home. I walk with it in my hand so they know I am walking out the door with it. If anyone ever stops me I will tell them I picked it up off the floor.

I have seen a plant I know I can root at private homes and have gone up to their door and knocked and asked them where they purchased. It is a sneaky way of asking for a cutting because when you ask where they got it from they either tell you to take a piece or offer to dig you a extra piece. Gardeners are so giving. LOL

Bought an Easter Cactus at Home Depot because i felt guilty for stealing cuttings from there so I thought the least I could do was give back some by buying a plant. How does the care compare to a Thanksgiving Cactus( mostly concerned with humidity, but I'm able to keep a Thanksgiving Cactus alive and healthy so it may do fine)?

This post was edited by CactusBoss on Sun, Jul 21, 13 at 18:46

I'm a guy also. Not big into cacti though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trini Garden

I'm a teen guy here ^ Support!

I started gardening at 10 or so. Props to you teen guy gardeners! I used to be one of you guys not too long ago.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trini Garden

My brother calls me a "mardener"(man gardener) and thinks I'm gay cause of it(not that there's anything wrong with that but still, it's just a bad assumption).

Congratulations on the Cactus!!

I think you are off to a great start CactusBoss!!

Karma.. It is a wonderfull thing...

You did the right thing as to buying at the shop!!

I think this is a great experience and great thread for everyone.. I have been following this one and I am pleased at how you are handling yourself.

A young gentleman....

Great job!! You are a strong man to admit.. learn and then follow through. I think all of you young gardeners ( male and or female) are great to have around.. We also learn from you as well...

Have a great week, Boss.... ;-)

Mahalo,

Laura

Well loveplants2, the hard part now is keeping it alive. I heard these can be fussy plants depending on the species of EC(H. rosea, H. gaertneri, or H. x graeseri). And thanks for saying that :). The plant was $13 btw!! Kinda steep but it makes up for what I pretty much stole.

This post was edited by CactusBoss on Mon, Jul 22, 13 at 3:55

CactusBoss...

It is an investment!!! ;-) But, a good one!!! Have you searched on the C & S forum? They have great info there as well....

I have no doubt you will take good care of this beauty!!

Looks like it could use a larger container!! I have found that if I leave them outside under filtered light, they do best. If I try and water them to much, they don't like that and start dropping segments of leaves. I leave them alone and they do great!!

Do a search on them. Josh (Greenman) knows a lot about them too! Just a helpful tidbit!!!

Lots of info about EC, TC, CC over on the other forum.

Please, call me Laura!!!

Take care,

Laura

Yes, who knows im really glad to know there are more young male gardeners, its amazing! This has turned into a gardenweb get to know your neighbors kind of post but I love it! Nice to meet you all

Did you actually know that most landscapers are male?!

Did you actually know that most landscapers are male?! Whoever says that male gardeners are gay are just plain ignorant! sorry I somehow screwed up while editing this post haha!

This post was edited by CactusBoss on Mon, Jul 22, 13 at 20:31

I'm also a guy...surprise with a name like Will! Not a teen though, I'm 24.

I work in the garden section at the local hardware store, not like at Home Depot or Lowes but an actual greenhouse open all year round. The only actual cuttings I've ever taken were from work from two separate orchid cacti. One was when I first started about 4 years ago, the other was from a curly orchid cactus whose stem had been damaged anyway. I've also taken palm seeds from work only because i was trimming off the dead stocks and they were being thrown out, i have so many now i keep them in a bag incase anyone ever comes in looking for palm seeds, which so far hasn't happened!

Some times I will pick up or trim off broken or over grown pieces of plants and try and root them right there in the green house. Sometimes they grow other times they don't. Sometimes the cuttings turn into plants and I'll just slap on a cheaper price and people will buy them. My co-worker and I also have a little area where we keep plants we started as 'experiments' and put a not for sale sign on them just to see if we can make them grow and flower ourselves (we still have some plants that previous co-workers started years ago we keep around as a reminder of them).

Sometimes when we must trim the plants, especially hanging baskets, we just throw the stems in the garbage. Im surprised at how many people will ask if they can pick them out of the garbage and we always say, 'Of course!' No harm in that! Other times people will ask for random pieces of plants and I'm more than happy to oblige (I know they aren't MY plants they belong to the company but if its my co-worker or myself giving out the pieces of plants we know which ones are much healthier and won't be injured in the process however the old manager would never give any pieces even from the garbage but she wouldn't mind taking some herself!). There is the odd time people will just pluck off a piece and walk out which does bother me. If they just ASK I'd be more than happy!

The one thing which REALLY bothers me is when people pick the flowers from the gardenias or stephanotises (stephanoti? Lol) or the cacti. These flowers are the Main attraction to the plant and for grown adults to show such disregard is disgusting. I don't care if it reminds you of your child hood back in your home country. BUY THE PLANT!

And rhizo_1 I would have gone outside and sprayed that little princess with the hose! Nothing would make me madder if I caught someone on my property harvesting my roses!

Will

Cactus you probably would like these. I have them outside in the driveway garden. They are hardy. They get snow and salt shoveled on them and they jump up and bloom every June. I get questions about them from the delivery people all the time.

{{gwi:92499}}

{{gwi:92501}}

{{gwi:92503}}

{{gwi:92506}}

{{gwi:92508}}

{{gwi:92510}}

{{gwi:92512}}

and.....I have never had anyone try to steal a piece of these. They fight back. LOL

I have cold hardy cacti outside. unfortunately I had to chop my opuntia up cause they started to turn yellow and die eeekkk! :(

FWIW, people often offer cuttings for trade/postage. For the price of the gas of driving to the store and back (for a lot of people,) one could increase their plants that way, often more than one kind of plant per box too. Something for the cuttings-starved folks to consider/look for.

I recall a circle of friends once who stole each other's lighters as a game almost. Sure there were the accidental incidents when one might find another's in their pocket later,but on the flipside their were those who kept their dead lighters so that if by chance you had one that looked like one of their dead ones they would switch them when you weren't looking.
I'm certain that there are people from whom a missing piece might never be noticed...especially if taken skillfully and with carefull consideration to what the taker would be leaving,but let's face it...if you've been monitoring your plants progress the whole time,you're going to notice(pretty sure I would anyway).

People even LOOK at my plants funny and I get edgy. LOL

No, I've never done it. Too worried of being caught and I've got a conscience.

I am a guy here too but older than my teens, LOL! I have always been interested in plants. I think my interest was greatly fueled in first or second grade when I found a broken off piece of wandering jew in a store. I rooted it in a cup of water and later potted it up. Hooked at a young age. I have taken small amounts of seeds and cuttings from wild plants that reproduced easily and had abundant seeds and pieces. Though I joke about it I would not do that in a nursery or public garden or at a homeowners. You would be surprised at how many people do ( I have worked at such) and can do real damage. On the other hand you will find that most plant folks are happy that someone has an interest in a particular plant they have nurtured and grown and will be happy to share if they can spare a piece and you show genuine interest in caring for it. An offer to pay for it even better offer a trade probably increases your chance of getting it even if the offer is not accepted. I have found freshly broken pieces in stores and asked for them or thrown them into my cart in full view. I got some coleus cuttings early this year that way. In the fall there are often bulbs that have come out of thier bags that the storeowners will happily let you have.......colors/type will be a surprise later to you.

I'm a male gardener too I'm 31 and do all my gardening in my apartment bedroom.

I have a table in front of a north window with a bunch of low light tropicals on it.
I also have a shelf system I built out of a 27 dollar book shelf kit and some grow lights from walmart. It isn't complete yet because I need to put more lights on it.

Any one want to see a pic of it?

Kuroc I would love to see the plant stand! What kinds of plants are you keeping on it? Grant

In Ireland and in the UK, cuttings taken from plants with or without permission are often known as 'slips', and an old gardener told me once that this was because the cutting should be taken (as in slipped away silently) either in secret or in pretend secret, i.e. with the owner looking the other way, as this ensured successful rooting. I don't know how old that tradition is, but around here pot plant and shrub cuttings were usually known as slips when I started out gardening.

I had the embarrassing experience of going around a famous garden with a local gardening club where some very elderly ladies took slips every time they fancied something, and it was clear to me that a young employee gardener was lurking behind shrubs and bushes watching them. I'm afraid I very quickly detached myself from the party, so I don't know what the upshot was.

When I first moved to our home here, forty years ago, my neighbour had several very exotic shrubs including a rare hydrangea which she freely admitted she had 'slipped' from another very famous garden. The tragedy was that when she died, her son, who hated gardening, sprayed weedkiller on everything, so that there is now only a square lawn, and in the spring, various bulbs which escaped somehow from the carnage.

I mentioned on GW before that I had read of a very impertinent pair of lady gardeners collecting slips in a garden centre, and then asking the proprietor to identify some of them for them, even providing a pen and labels for the purpose..

kuroc - lets see the pics!

also, was kuroc a video game for sega genisis?

sradleye I don't think it was.

thanks cactus I think I am thinking of a newer game turok and mixing it with an old game I still cant remember lol

also I damn near stole some stuff from walmart today. I was checking out a sorry looking crassula picturata when I realized some of it was broken off. but decided I needed to try and save then entire $2.50 worth of plant instead. told the guy he better put it in a bag for me so I don't lose some of it.

Marquest you have beautiful cacti. Love the color of the flowers. I have several different opuntia but not with the color of your flowers.
Also the wording used for taking cuttings or slips without permission is,"Look what I picked up at the store!" Lol.

Thank you Enterotoxigenic. They are real conversation plants in our climate. Because of all the snow and cold it is not something many Northern people grow in my neighborhood.

Okay, I'm going to be honest, 'Rhizo, please don't yell at me. :)'

My first three plants and plant book were purchased when I was a teen.
After reading plants could be rooted by cuttings, I admit I clipped a few cuttings from stores. Mostly Coleus, since I had no idea how to care for more difficult plants.

Ironically, I also read, when leaves are pinched, new foliage doubles. So, 'at the time,' I didn't consider it stealing..I thought I was helping!' I know, duh.

But, I think, deep inside I knew it was wrong. For instance, I'd never help myself to a friends plant or neighbor who kept house plants outside. EVER.
Nor would I 'borrow' cuttings, and this gh had thousands,' from a local, 'huge' green house I visited every paycheck.

Between teen years and 20's, I bought plants. Didn't bother w/cuttings.

Now, this happened, let's see, late 80's. Dh and I used to go to another gh. On one table were a group of plants w/o prices.
On the table I saw a plant that used to be available everywhere, but somewhere along the line, disappeared. Rhoeo, 'Moses in the Cradle.'

I lifted the Rhoeo. I believe dh felt these plants were not for sale..
I walked up to an employee, asking the price. The jerk grabbed Rhoeo out of my hands like he thought I was going to steal a priceless jewel. He grabbed hard!

Dh saw the transaction, but didn't utter a word. I'm the big-mouth in the family, so told the employee he was very rude.
After we left the gh, got in the car, 'yes, I bought plants even after dealing with the rude employee,' dh pulled out a 5" Rhoeo cutting.
I was a tad shocked, since we do not steal. In another way I felt satisfaction after dealing with that ass employee.
To this day I have the Rhoeo. Nowadays they're easy to find, but who knew which plants would be available in the future...or ever think one day we'd have a computer.

That was the last time dh or I took a cutting.

Now, in the past 10 or so years, when cuttings are on the floor, I will take them. BTW, I've done this in front of employees. When we're standing in the checkout line, I hold cuttings so the cashier sees them. So far, no questions asked.

I worked at HD, in the green house. Very few ppl took cuttings..they did much worse.
One woman and man came in..both acted suspicious.
I was about to go on break, but hung around a few minutes, while the couple browsed plants.
After 10 or so minutes, I went on break. When I returned, I found a big mess on one display.

The couple ripped plants from 6" pots, and tried placing in 4" pots..so they'd pay 4" prices. To top that off, these Bozos attepted placing 6" round pots in 4" square pots. Well, it backfired. They walked away empty-handed, and left me w/a big mess. Muddy soil on shelf and floor, plus torn, plastic pots.

I also watched people try placing trees, 'indoors,' that were potted in 12" containers in 10" pots. Same reason...less costly.

HD's policy was to contact a manager or security guard instead of approaching customers when theft was involved.

Stuff like this happened often..
I quit working at HD for three reasons. 1. Theft. you never know is someone has a gun, 2. unorganized management, and 3. at night, huge rats hid under pellets. When I'd walk by a pellet to water or prune, those damn rodents ran from under the pellet. I fear mice, can you imagine seeing a huge rat..I was also upset w/the manager because they placed rat poison in soil. That's so dangerous. People buy plants, repot, many w/o gloves. Assume rat poison/pellets are nothing but fertilizer. What happens if the person doesn't wash their hands after? Decide to eat a snack. Or have their child help repot.
After almost 2-yrs at HD, I quit. A week before I was up for a raise to boot. No amount of money would have changed my mind.

Sorry, I got off subject. lol.

One more thing. People stole plants from my garden.
Some actually pulled out entire plants.
One man stole expensive bulbs. I saw him the day before. He stopped his car, checking out my garden. Once he saw me he drove away.
The following morning, I looked out front. Something was amiss. Damn straight, I'm 99% certain it was the man from the day before. He plucked my Crown Imperials. 'Fritillarias.' Pulled them right out of dirt.

At the time we didn't have extra money to buy plants, so these bulbs were a treat.

Oh, one more story. lol. sorry.
One day dh and I went to a conservatory. The place was empty.
We could have walked out with Orchids, Bromiliads, Azaleas, and many more. No cameras, no employees.

It was stupid no one was around. The conservatory also has birds.
Their birds had been stolen before. One was an African Grey. If anyone here knows the price of AG's, 'not that money is the issue,' you'll understand what I mean.
Doves, finches and cockatiels were also taken. I pray those theives were caught and jailed!

Okay,, that's it for now, lol. I too 'was' guilty of pinching cuttings, but I'd never, ever do it again. Toni

PS: lol. Rhizo is correct. If one person desires 'x' plant, takes a cutting, others will follow the takers' lead. Before long, 'x' plant is bare.

Woow ^ I loved your story toni, is the "local" garden center youre talking about teds greenhouse, if so I just recently went there and it was amazing! huge bougainvilleas

gardenweb is giving me nightmares. i dreamt somebody stole my passion flower vines last night!

People can't steal most of my plants cause they're inside. I do sometimes fear that someone will steal my Opuntias that are outside in pots.

Aha! CB, if that happened, it would be Karma, right? Lol

Many years ago I put two huge pots out at the end of the driveway to hose them down. I had removed the trees to trim the roots of the trees they held. I came back after I thought they were dry. I do not know if they were dry because they were gone. To the defense of the thief we put our garbage at the end of the driveway maybe they thought grab them quick before garbage day since I did not have plants in them.

They were large planters that I planted trees in at the door on either side for structural Architectural effect. I always secretly hoped that whatever they planted in them died every time they put a plant in them. It took me months to find pots that big and as pretty as they were at the price I was willing to pay.

Years and years ago my aunt had put her tall palms out on the front step and one night someone stole them I remember how upset she was because she grew them from a small stump. I remember her saying she put out a note asking the thief to return the plant but he/she could keep the pot. She thought they stole the plant because of the expensive pot but now after reading this it was probably for the plants.

Last fall I sprouted some cat palms for her. I haven't seen them recently but she says they are doing great!

Will07, I feel bad for your aunt because she lost some of her "babies". it's hard losing a prized plant especially when she raised it herself.

what I would do is install motion sensors and hook them up to my sprinklers and put showerheads all around my property and near the porch so If anyone tries to steal, they get a free shower too!

MAD GENIUS ALERT!!

Pumpkineater...That's how to keep cats out of the house plants! Patent possibility??...Has it been done already?

Ok here are the pics.

pic of the whole bookshelf:
{{gwi:92514}}

pic of the top shelf:
{{gwi:92515}}

pic of the middle shelf:
{{gwi:92518}}

pic of the bottom shelf:
{{gwi:92519}}

Motion sensing sprayers are on the market, lots of different kinds. I think that they are designed to keep animals out of an area, but people have employed them to soak thieves, too.

Neat idea!!! I love it! And very inexpensive too :)

Also I'm building a lighted plant stand out of PVC just for succulents but I may put some mini roses on it too !!!

What I do when opportunity presents itself is buy plants that have another plant come up in the same pot. That's if it's something that I'd like, even if the original occupant of the pot isn't all that interesting. That's how I got my Gonatopus bovinii. I'd been after one for some time but have never seen them for sale. So when I saw it in another plant's pot I picked that one. At the cash register they were happily going to get rid of the "weed" for me but I insisted it stayed. So I've still got both plants and the Gonatopus has flowered a few times.

Sometimes I've got ferns that way, they'll spread their spores readily. I'll also pick plants that can be divided. Got a ginger that divided into 5 plants, made the price seem okay, when divided by 5, lol.