Joining a plant swap is a great way to share and get to know people within the plant community. It is a fun activity where we get to share our plants, talents and small surprises with one another, so why not try doing a swap this season or the next?
My favorite part of plant swaps is seeing how the tiny plant you shared has grown with their new owner!
Below are just a few tips and ways you can swap plants and plant-related items with people within your area or even further:
HOW TO SWAP:
BASIC STEPS
- Determine the area coverage of your plant swap.
- Determine the type of swap and it’s rules.
- Invite people to your swap and have everyone share the following:
- Plant wish list: this helps the secret santa know what plants you are searching for. (Social media account with plant wish list: your secret santa might need some help learning what your likes are)
- Name and mailing address
- Shuffle, draw and assign names for the participants
- Send all gifts within a certain timeline
- Specific date
- Within the month
- Swap/send your plants
- Surprise! You have secret santa mail! 🙂
PORCH SWAP
If you have a community around you this is a nice way to share a lot and not worry about shipping.
- If you picked Porch Swap, make sure to think about the coverage of your swap. Will it be just your neighborhood or a bit more than that? Make sure that the distance is drivable and not too expensive of a commute.
- Rules you might want to consider:
- People only in locations A, B and C can join to make sure that people don’t have to go too far to swap
- Plants must be pests free and healthy
- Plants must be labeled with plant name and contact of swapper in case there are any questions
MAIL SWAP
This is super fun as you can include people from everywhere in the country.
- Rules you might want to consider:
- People within the province/state or the entire country
- Determine if everyone will be sending through flat rate boxes or envelope as this will determine what people can buy and send each other
- Plants must be pest free and healthy
- Plants must be labeled with plant name and contact of swapper in case there are any questions
- A few packing tips:
ONLINE SWAP
Online plant swapping is another way to swap and be able to include even people from other countries. The plant community has people from everywhere in the world and especially now, companies have made it super easy for us to order an item and deliver it to almost anyone in the world.
Online plant swapping can be done in many ways especially if planned well in advance. The basics are the same as all plant swaps. The organizer gathers the information needed, distributes the name and people send their gifts within a specific time frame. The difference is how people buy the product and deliver it to their secret santa. Below are a few more common ways people have done online plant swapping:
Social Media
The organizer can either have everyone send their wish lists and create a post with all the lists or they can ask the participants to post their wishlist on their social media account for the secret santa to see.
Amazon
The reason why people like to use Amazon is the ability to track the package, being sure that the secret santa likes what you give them since they picked it as well as keeping everyone’s information private as Amazon won’t share the address details for privacy. Each participant will create their wishlist and share it with the organizer who will then share it with the secret santas. All the secret santa has to do is pick their gifts within the price range and send!
Elfster
Similarly to Amazon, the participants create a wishlist, but the wishlist can be from any store. The secret santa then chooses from the list and orders the item from the store to be shipped to the participant.
WHAT CAN YOU SWAP:
LIVE PLANTS
If weather permits then make sure you pay attention to the following:
POTTED PLANT:
- When swapping through porch swaps then make sure the plant is healthy, hydrated and in a bag with air holes. (The bag is to protect the plant from weather and pests)
- This is not a popular choice when shipping since it increases the shipping price.
ROOTED:
- clean all of the soil off of the roots
- wrap the roots with a moist paper towel OR sphagnum moss and wrap it with saran wrap
- Pack with newspaper to keep the cuttings safe during shipping
UNROOTED:
- Keep the mother plant healthy and hydrate until the day of shipping and only cut on that day
- wrap the roots with a moist paper towel OR sphagnum moss and wrap it with saran wrap
- Pack with newspaper to keep the cuttings safe during shipping
- *Succulent leaves can be sent as is
NOTES:
- WRAP: When wrapping with saran wrap, make sure to only wrap the roots area. Covering the entire plant with plastic will cause the plant to rot/melt.
- WEATHER: Before you even plan on doing a live swap, make sure that the weather conditions are good. You don’t want to do a live plant swap when it’s too hot or too cold. Noone wants to receive a melted plant or a dead frozen cutting.
- PESTS: Please make sure to inspect your plants before swapping any plants or cuttings.
PLANT-RELATED
Anything plant-related can be swapped! Here are a few samples to inspire some ideas on what can be a plant-related gift:
- Trellis
- Macrames
- Planters
- Plant shelves
- Jewelry in the shape of
- plants
- Stationary
- Pillows and sheets
- Books
- Mugs/glasses
- Mousepads
- Apparel with plant
- patterns
- Accessories
- Art/sculptures
- Terrarium
- Gardening tools
- Magnets
BOTH
You can also do a swap with both live and plant-related items. This will require more preparation and larger shipping boxes if mail swapping.
With this swap you would normally set up a minimum value and swap.
The beauty of swapping is that we get to share and have fun within a community that understands our interest in plants! These swaps can be done for Secret Santas or even just as a virtual activity for plant parents 🙂 . We hope that you get to try these swaps and have fun swapping with your plant friends!
