Hey, guess who just got *rooted*? I’m a thrifty gal, and I don’t usually seek out uncommon plants. Most of my plant collection comes from pure serendipity as I encounter cool picks from nurseries, flea markets, and grocery stores. BUT, I’ll occasionally do a little bit of fancy foliage shopping online, especially when I’m feeling lazy to go outside or feel a bit safer avoiding crowded stores. (Have you been to a Home Depot on a Saturday afternoon?!)
Anyway, my friend recently gave me a beautiful grey dragon from Hey Rooted, and I wanted to check out their selection just to see what they’re all about. While trying to calm down three dogs on the Fourth of July, I did a little plant retail therapy and smashed that checkout button for this beautiful, monstrous monstrose cactus, AKA the cereus peruvianus monstrose.
How much it cost to order from Hey Rooted
It retailed for $25 dollars, which wasn’t bad considering that it was a one-foot tall cactus plant. (Thankfully the two-feet cutting was out of stock, or else I would’ve splurge for sure.) I also received a 10 percent off coupon by signing up for their texts. Shipping cost about $10 or so, which was to be expected given that it was a huge plant shipping from Florida, where their greenhouse is *rooted*. I checked off the carbon neutral shipping option (more on that here and how it reduces net greenhouse gas emissions), which was $0.75 more. You can donate a small portion of your purchase to your charity of choice — I chose the Ali Forney Center. I don’t know if it’s the case for all orders, but I received $10 credit through Catch.
The journey to my house
Shipping only took about a week or so, and it was already within the vicinity of my town in California within four days. (Fedex had it in transit for another three days.) My plant was essentially a giant cutting packed in thick, thick paper for obvious reasons: to secure the cactus and keep you from hurting yourself with the spines. I don’t know if it was because it was bare rooted, but I appreciate how neatly everything was packaged without using plastic.
How I situated my bare rooted monstrose cactus
With an abundance of caution, I situated the cactus in some mystery succulent soil from our garden and mixed that with a TON of perlite inside of a terracotta pot. After receiving a good drink, the cereus is currently sitting by my northeast window for the time being because I don’t want to subject it to triple digit temperatures. It’s a little crooked, so I’ll probably rotate it every so often—but I also like that its shape gives it some character!
cacti collectors: this is hideous. I must have it
— stacey🌷 (@yecats_n) July 5, 2022
Between a healthy plant, decent shipping time, and careful packing, Rooted has been awesome! I’d definitely order from them again, especially given their selection of hoyas.
