The shepperd hook I have has a straight botton, i.e. needle sharp like, so it's actually very easy to insert the pots from the bottom up. You say yours has double prongs on the end side? How about drilling a hole large enough for the prongs to be able to fit? One word of caution regarding the metal pots idea: depending on where you live and how hot your climate is, you may wish not to do this. In my climate, metal pots left outside in the afternoon sun are a sure way to fry the plant's roots. Even plastic pots have similar problems in Summer. Clay works very well, even though we have to be more dilligent concerning watering. Eduarda

"The best way to find out what it is is to look at photos and compare them with the actual plant you have". Actually Dilly_Dally I DID do a search for pictures! That's why I posted and said "I'm leaning toward it being the Mistletoe Cactus. I did a search for pictures of it after Liz mentioned it". Thanks everyone else! I'm still thinking it's a Mistletoe Cactus. I've never even heard of them. Walmart only had 2. Soxxxx..it probably would have jumped in my buggy, but I had to do some rearranging to make a place for her to sit! lol I also asked and posted the pictures over on the Cacti & Succulents Forum. Got a couple of responses, but only thing I understood was "It's not a Pencil Cactus", then they started using the "fancy" names! lol Here is a link that might be useful: Cacti & Succulents Forum

Image by: wintersown That's okay, don't worry too much about that. Experience is a great teacher and we all learn as we go along. I personally don't know the botanical name of lots of my plants. When I first started gardening and trading I actually didn't know the common name of most of my plants ;-) But I still felt comfortable about trading my seeds because I put a good description of them on the packets. I trade my seeds and if I don't know their name I make as good a description as I can in my posted trade offerings so there's no confusion. I feel confident when I make a well described seed trade....the other trader knows the plant description and they trade for my seeds knowing that I have done my best to decribe what I'm offering. It's fair that way. New traders are often new gardeners too and so they haven't had enough experience with plant names to accurately name the plant they gathered seeds from. What information should I put on the packets? I always put the following information on my packets: Common Plant Name and/or Botanical Name Flower color or "mixed" Height at maturity Sunlight requirements: full sun, part shade, or shade (fs, ps, or shade, or sometimes fs-ps which means full sun to part shade, or ps-shade, which means part shade to shade) A, P, or B (annual, perennial, or biennial) My email address (optional) My name (optional) ======================================================== My trader didn't put all the information on the packet that I thought should be on it....what should I do? Email your trader asap and politely ask for specifics....sometimes a trader can't offer them as they're sharing/trading the excess of a humongous pack of seeds that came their way and IT wasn't labeled with specifics. If you've got a packet that's not labeled with specifics grow it anyway. A packet that says something as simple as just "marigolds" is often a joy to grow. WHY? Well...you know it's an annual, marigolds love full sun. So put the seedlings where they'll get full sun. But I don't know the height.... Plant it in the middle of the border or up front. If they grow tall then you'll have added "dramatic depth" to your garden and reduced the monotony of everything short being up front. A brilliant patch of tallish flowers at the front of the border is often fascinating and is NEVER boring. But I don't know the color..... Marigolds can be yellow/gold, orange or mahogany red. These are the choices....sometimes they have a blend of those colors on the same flowers, or it might be a pack of mixed single colors. What I'm trying to say is that suprises are part of gardening and that you should celebrate the beauty of your plants even if they aren't what you expected. A garden is for relaxing and enjoying. It's NOT for causing frustrations....expect an occasional suprise and you'll be very happy in your garden. ========================================================= Flower Colors...I'm putting in this list as a help in labeling seed packets....no one is perfect in their eyesight so being "close" is just as acceptable as being "accurate". (This color list came from the "Field Book of American Wild Flowers by F. Schuyler Matthews, 1902) Pure yellow Deep yellow Golden yellow Pure orange Scarlet Pure red Pure pink Crimson Crimson-pink Magenta Magenta-pink Pure purple Violet Blue-violet Ultramarine Pure blue Madder purple Madder brown

I don't believe in buying new stuff like that just to sell a house, i.e.: design stuff but which you can't take with you. If you're going to spend $200 on a light, 1) you're not going to get anything great, so the improvement won't mean much in terms of selling; 2) wouldn't you be better off offering potential buyers a $200 credit toward buying those lights themselves? THAT would be much bigger toward selling. Point is, I wouldn't do either. You go and buy a new light, they buy the house, and replace the light for something they like and is in their taste. You offer them $200 toward lights they prefer, and you've just gone and spent $200 on a purchase they'd have made anyway themselves. Replacing lighting is not an expensive thing to do, not like knocking down walls or replacing kitchen cabinets, granite, putting in a new heating system, etc. It's the BIG costs that turn buyers off, not the little design things. And make sure the house is spotless. I think that's the other big factor. Better to invest that $200 in a really good cleaning company to come in and really detail the place, i.e.: baseboards, windows, dusting tops of doors, behind toilets, etc., etc. This post was edited by Tibbrix on Tue, Dec 23, 14 at 13:31