Check out the Seed forum where they've been discussing this. Apparently good germination and fast growth, but can become rootbound, starts out green, becomes purple in the sun. From their photographs, it dowsn't appear that you get a lot of cuts.

I thought to avoid it because of the pricey seed, but from what they're saying it breeds true so you can save your own seed. I thought about trying it this year, using the foliage and saving the seed.

Ray

I tried both seed savers and seed exchange and did a search in each place. Only found info on people who had some for swap or had saved last year's seed.
Does anyone else have any experience growing this, and how many stems can you get from one plant? Are all the stems of equal quality, and how much can you get per stem when calculating the price of a bouquet? Thanks...Ann

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/seed/msg021024027429.html

Ray

Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Majesty

My experience with Purple Majesty has been that you can actually purchase it for less than the .233 from Johnny's.
But, let's say you did buy it from them. You can pot up 5 of those plants in quart containers and sell them for $5 each. Thus, you would recoup your investment. We did sell some potted the year before last. The question I hated the most was, "Is that corn?"
I think if you pinch out the terminal bud, you will get better side shoots. Live and learn. We didn't do this. So, we got a large center shoot with smaller side shoots. The cuts were wonderful for late season.
Some drawbacks. You need to cut them before they produce all that yucky yellow pollen. You don't notice the pollen in the field because all the happy insects take care of it. It can be pretty nasty a couple days after cutting.
Second, the root systems are just a bear. We think they are worse than corn, and way worse than sunflowers.
You can save the seed. I had a rather large dried flower arrangement with the Purple Majesty; and, I fully intended to save the seed. But, I walked the arrangement out to the compost pile last spring with an obviously empty mind because I never thought twice about it. We didn't grow it last season either!!!

Ann
I love the stuff. I grow 200 or so of them each year. The germation is high 90% or better. Do not pinch. Grow in a seed flat, transplant at the 4 leaf stage. Transplant into a 48 or larger cell. Plant in the field as soon as you can. You can expect 6 to 10 cuts per plant. I have gotten as many as 15. Cut before they go to pollen. Leave 10 to 15 good large seed heads toward end of season to collect seeds.

All seed collected will give you a purple millet seed head. The F1 hybrid is bred for the purple foliage. If you don't care about green or purple foliage, save all your seeds.

P.S. You can see what mine look like in a arrangement. I posted the pic.

Bryan

Pennisetum glaucum produce one to three main stems and two to 3 secondary shoots. The secondary shoots are not as large as the main. The more sun the plant receives, the deeper the color. The plants are well suited for pot production be it 4" on up to gallon size. As indicated in a previous post you would be able to recoup your seed expense if you so choose. As a fresh cut it has a funky smell which some customers may find objectionable.
Pete

How do you know when to cut, and when it's too late? I cut some too late, and as flowerfarmer warned, they formed pollen a couple of days after planting. Also, I am planning to try and sell some to a florist, can someone advise as to a ballpark price to ask for?

Thanks,
Sherri