Hello, Mark, I'd like a cutting if they're still available. Please email me at cacatnip@yahoo.com. I also have some cuttings of Senecio orbicularis if you are interested in trading. Thanks! Here is a pic of S. orbicularis. It will also form tuberous caudex from a cutting: -curiouscomputer

Wouldn't you be asking for trouble, at least in some cases, if you tried to sell or trade damaged plants? By mail that is--in person would probably be OK, of course. I would give them away freely, without expecting anything in return. Even if you tell people you don't want anything in exchange (say you really don't have room), many will offer you something now or in the future. Maybe if you don't want it, a friend might. And if you can find someone to give the plant(s) to on this forum or through a local cactus/succulent society, those people will likely maintain an interest and continue to acquire new and interesting plants. Hopefully they will remember you when they find something interesting and they will also be generous with their plants towards others. That said, what bothers me about Gardenweb is that there is no decent mechanism set up to give away plant/cuttings/seeds in this manner. In fact the exchange forums are hostile to the idea. From the instructions: "The exchanges were created to facilitate the arranging of trades of plants and seeds between members. Please do not use them to solicit donations, ask for free plants or seeds, or ask for items in exchange for postage. All requests must be in the context of arranging a trade. If you have nothing to offer at this time, please wait until you do." The attitude in the last sentence in particular rubs me the wrong way. A hypothetical example: let's say there is a teenager with limited resources who has developed an interest in succulents. However, his/her jade plant, "mother of thousands", etc. aren't exactly going to go so far in the way of trading. He or she just can't "trade up" very easily. There isn't a decent way except investing a lot of money and time (except perhaps those seeds that are cheap and desirable and quick...). In general, the person is shut out by the restrictive rules. I don't know how strictly they enforce the rules, but I would encourage people to give away those seeds, cuttings, etc. that might otherwise go to waste. There are people who would really appreciate them, and I'm thinking largely (but not entirely) of younger people and those just getting started. If there's a danger the offer is not seen as a "trade" and might be rejected, be creative. For example, on another Gardenweb forum I suggested that the "trade" would be a commitment to return a cutting if my mother plant died. Of course, the possible loss of your own plant is one of the best reasons to give cuttings and seeds to others. Anyway, it would be nice if Gardenweb had a "free" forum. Why should we have to go to any other free site, such as craigslist free, where the recipient may or may not have a real interest in what they are getting? Does anyone know of a way a free forum could be set up here? And oh, I do have something free at the moment--either I give them away or they go in the trash: rooted cuttings of Coccinia quinqueloba, a tuberous cucurbit.. I actually do not know if they can be grown as caudiciforms or if the cuttings will reproduce tubers. It would be an experiment, and in the worst case you would end up with a vine with nice leaves. I'll spring for the stamp even, but I can't send anything to Texas or Florida--C. grandis is invasive there.

I've come late to the party, but thought I'd post anyway... I bought a jicama from the store which sprouted two vines off the top when I left it too long. I decided to try to plant it just to see what would happen. Although I cannot yet report back on any progress because it's only just happened, I thought I would pass along some information I got from a very nice man who grew up in the countryside in Mexico where people commonly grow jicama plants. My largely forgotten high school Spanish didn't permit me to understand everything he said, but here's the gist of it: He said I should cut the jicama in half and only plant the top of the tuber with the vines coming off of it - in other words use only the tuber's "northern hemisphere". You want loose soil that will allow the tubers to form easily. The vines should not be trellised unless you want an ornamental vine and no jicamas. If you actually want to harvest some tubers you need to bury the vine in the ground. Examine the vines and you'll see that every so often there are buds which you should leave uncovered. The plain stems between those buds should be covered with earth and they will sprout roots and tubers. Note: these should not be regarded as separate plants. Everything should be left connected together. Those buds will sprout leaves to feed the plant, and you just keep burying the new vining parts as they appear. It sounded like this would take up a fair amount of ground space. He was also saying something about circles and digging trenches to water the plants, but try as I might I couldn't quite make sense of it. He might have meant planting the jicama in a mound of earth and training the vines out from the center in circles... or something. Best of luck to all of us in our jicama endeavors!

WOW! This thing's a monster! After asking about the mother plant for so long I finally decided to look for a tuber. The plant is in a hanging basket 7 feet (2 m) up in the air and I thought a tuber would be buried a bit, so I didn't want to disturb it. I found that the tuber was right below the surface. I moved my finger straight out from the stem in just one direction. Finally 2.75 inches (7 cm) out from the stem (just under the top of the soil) I reached the end of the tuber. So if the tuber formed a circle around the stem (I'm sure it doesn't), the radius would be 2.75 inches. I guess I rubbed it a little too hard--it looked like a potato missing a bit of skin (there's no question it's a tuber). Of course I don't know how far the tuber extends in other directions--and I don't plan to find out in the near future--but suffice it to say that it has grown quickly. This is a seedling which I assume was germinated in the winter or spring. I bought it much smaller a month and a half ago in a 4 inch pot. It's now in an approximately 2 gallon (8 liters) hanging pot and it grows several inches a day from several vines. Even if I "only" got a 2.75" tuber that's not bad. If its as big (or bigger?) in all directions that would be pretty amazing. And obviously even if cuttings produce tubers, but they are significantly smaller than these they may still be worth growing. I bought my seedling at Annie's Annuals in Richmond, CA (north of Berkeley). They don't seem to sell in online--I don't know if their store still carries it. Silverhill (S. Africa) lists seeds in their catalog. I know of no other sources. I looked around quite a bit to see who carries it when I was trying to find info on these; they are very hard to find.