Plant swapping: plant mail is the best mail

Today we are talking plant swapping… because swapping isn’t technically buying more plants!

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’ll know about houseplantswap.com ; a site set up by my lovely friend Brad for our group ‘The Real Houseplants of Instagram’; to easily facilitate the swapping of plants for our plant community. But incase you didn’t know, here’s a post I wrote about it for you to find out more: ‘Get to know houseplantswap’

Today’s plant mail came courtesy of my instagram friend @happyhouseplanter.

THE SWAP

It all started after I’d been tempted to buy a begonia, but really was trying to not to buy anymore plants (a constant struggle). Instead @happyhouseplanter very kindly offered to send me some begonia cuttings of two that I quite fancied. The swap actually ended up turning into a bumper box of goodies which absolutely blew me away; plant people are so generous! It’s a win-win situation too because plants do appreciate a trim, which in turn means you can share the plant love a little by sending the cuttings on.

After hearing how hard @happyhouseplanter had been searching for a caladium, I decided that I would pass mine on; I’d enjoyed growing it from a bulb (and will probably get hold of some more at some point) but felt that the time had come to let someone else enjoy this plant! I also popped a pilea baby in the box too.

I was sent some lovely cuttings, and a whole array of succulents! In my excitement, I got carried away and photographed everything as I thought it would be nice to see all in one post. So here’s the run down…

Cuttings:

• Begonia Lucerna
• Begonia maculata wightii
• Philodendron green emerald
• Pothos n’joy

Succulents/ smaller cuttings (to name a few):

• Calathea musaica ‘network’
• Echeveria agaviodes
• Echeveria topsy turvy
• Echeveria setosa
• Stapelia variegata (grown from seed)
• Orostachys iwarenge (Chinese dunce cap)
• Agave colorata (grown from seed)
• Pachyphytum compactum little jewel
• Aloe bright star

A NOTE ON PACKAGING PLANTS

I’m used to sending plants in the mail for work, however for a lot of people, this idea is still pretty bizarre! I thought these photos would help to show that plants of all shapes and sizes can travel well in the mail provided a little care is taken when packaging.

It’s a good opportunity to get creative and use things that are being recycled – I have found cardboard tea boxes are ideal for posting succulents and cuttings, and as my swapper did here; egg boxes lined with kitchen towel worked amazingly well for delicate, smaller cuttings. Everything arrived in perfect condition! Simple brown paper is also very sturdy and if I have some bubble wrap left over from a previous parcel, or newspaper,  I’ll often use this before wrapping in brown paper. Plant packaging can then be recycled and used in your next swap. For larger plants, things like shoe boxes are great, or ask at your local fresh produce market/supermarket for any spare boxes if you have something particularly big to send. The key is to not give the plant too much ‘wiggle room’ by picking the right size box for the job, and padding well with anything you have spare (newspaper is great for this)!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my most recent plant swaps! Thanks again @happyhouseplanter!

Thanks for reading,

Laura

🌿

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