Expert: Greg Simpson - 4/20/2007

Question
I recently recieved a wonderful cactus for my birthday. Though I enjoy it's beauty, my 3yr old broke one of the flowers off of it. When I examined the flower more closly I found that Sorensen Greenhouses Inc. hot glued the flowers on to the cactus!!! When I contacted the store that it came from they said that it was just for decoration. My question is, will the hot glue damage the plant? and why would Sorensen Greenhouses do that????  

Answer
Kati,

It shouldn't hurt the plant, but it can't be removed without damaging the plant. The greenhouse will usually do that because most cacti do not flower for many years and for decoration. Chance are the flower that was glued to the plant looks nothing like the actual flower. Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Greg