I have two questions regarding the plants i have in my room. The first, I've had this plant, unsure of its name, for years. I got it from a plant in a building i used to go to, noticed it grew through budding (thanks to 9th grade biology) and decided to do a little experiment and see if it would grow... so i cut off a little and planted it in a pot. and it did indeed grow, a lot too, but for some reason it does not seem to be growing a stem, and the original plant did have one. so my question is what do i have to do to make it grow one, or is it destined to be an ugly plant?

Picture here: http://www.geocities.com/bassmanjoe326/IMG_1308.JPG

My other question, is a new assortment of plants i bought recently (this past Sunday). The person who helped me said they only need to be watered every 12 weeks. 1 week for every inch, the pot is 12 inches. I'm just curious if this is correct because that seems like a very long time to me. Also, would these plants do better in direct or indirect sunlight? right now its fairly direct through the window and seems to be growing, but i might as well make sure while I'm here. Theres 7 different plants in the pot and i tried to include them all. One moss covering much of the pot, another grass, one cactus like thing and the rest i don't know what they are, so i took some photos instead of attempting to decribe

Pictures here:
http://www.geocities.com/bassmanjoe326/IMG_1309.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/bassmanjoe326/IMG_1311.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/bassmanjoe326/IMG_1313.JPG

any other useful information is greatly appreciated

PS: theres some wood ornaments in the middle of the pot, just in case you can decipher what they are

thanks for the information and the website...
i found the links didn't work when i clicked on them but did when i copied and pasted the address

also if you get a "exceeded allocated data transfer" message its because geocities isn't that great and doesn't let too many people to visit one thing... ill see if i can find a more reliable system

your first plant belongs to the familiy of plants commonly called easter, christmas or thanksgiving cactus, the latin name is schlumbergera ~ or rhipsalidopsis ~, formerly called zygocacti. it isn't a true cactus, but closer in relation to epiphtics (orchids, cereus). however, it does behave much like a succulent.

one thing you should know about them, they do need more water than the cacti type succulents. i wanter mine about every 3-5 weeks, sometimes more often, depending on the dryness of the soil(not a lot of water at the time, about 1/2 a cup) and it is in a 10" haning basket. they do very well in hanging baskets.

to get a fuller, happier looking plant, take cuttings anywhere along the plant at the joints. lay the cuttings on top of the soil in the original pot. feed regularly during the growing and blooming season. each plant is subject to it's own natural bloom cycle, but if you want to force blooming at a particular time of year, you can click here to find the instructions on how to force holiday plants like these and poinsettias.

hope this helps!