Here in Sweden we have "sticklingbytardagar", "cutting trade days", commonly arranged by enthusiasts in Facebook groups. Name a place and a time and people show up with their excess sprouts and cuttings to trade and give away.
this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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I've heard of several "Pflanzentauschtage" ("plant trade days") here in Germany as well.
I attended one in Slovenia a few years ago, amazing event
Wow that's exactly what I had in mind. I gotta check if that's already a thing here in Germany too 😅
Spermüllverschenktag maybe. Everyone just leaves their unwanted furniture out o the same day and everyone prowls around picking stuff up
How did I not know about that. Maybe because I haven't been on Facebook for over ten years.
Our local library has a table with young plants for exchange. I love it!
What?! Dangit, I wish mine had that. Never heard of such a thing. We do at least have a county public garden, but I think it's taboo to take cuttings. Only allowed to plant new stuff.
Create one!
Isn't that a "farmers market "? We have them all over Wisconsin in the spring and summer.
Yesterday at our farmer’s market half of it was people with too many seedlings they were selling.
Our local farmers market unfortunately only really allows vendors and requires an application process (and a sales tax license) - ie you can't just hang out and trade seedlings and stuff with people without paying a booth fee (of ~$300) so it's really only for people running a business. There's also a fine for every day you're late to your booth so it's not feasible to pay for a space if you're not going to show up and sell stuff all season long.
You also can't apply for a booth later than like 4 months before the season (applications are closed in like Dec) so it's really not geared towards someone who isn't selling lots of product.
Of course there's a fee, running the thing isn't 100% free. Probably about $20?
If it was only a small daily fee then it would be perfect for trading seedlings but you have to reserve a booth for the whole season (the fee is about $300 btw) and you have to pay a fine ($50) if you're late setting up your booth or don't give 48hrs notice that you won't be at your reserved booth any of the days it runs.
You also apparently need a sales tax license to participate.
In other words, like I said our farmers market is only for businesses. If you go stand in the corner and trade seedlings then you'll probably get kicked out
Not sure about all of the fees around here. But I get what you're saying. There are a few smaller ones that work out of storage units. But again, monthly fees.
I guess it kinda comes down to, where. Someone needs to sponsor or pay for a spot.
My town and a lot of nearby towns have regular plant sales this time of year. Check for community gardening clubs. Unfortunately the only medium for planning/announcing these, that I've seen, is Facebook...so...yeah...
Also my wife exchanges clippings with the neighbors all the time. We've got lots of them propogating indoors.
Maybe my farmer's market is really lax, but I've seen people sell young plants there (also mushroom starters, which I thought was super cool but had no room for).
Not sure I've been to a farmer's market where no one is selling young plants.
I think OP is looking for a more informal meetup kinda deal.
That's exactly what my local library is doing.
There are community gardens. They would probably be the best address for something like this.
In germany, we have places where you can share your plant seeds and such. They're usually connected to other social institutions and leftist spaces.
Gibt's da irgendwo ein Forum oder so?
Linke gruppen sind sehr dezentral wegen der hohen repressionsgefahr. Du kannst mal nach "infoladen" gucken. Gibts eigentlich in jeder stadt. Auf dem land ist bisschen mehr suchen angesagt.
I've seen people selling their cuttings on Nextdoor in the spring.
Ooh, reading this post got me to search "seeds and cuttings exchange Santa Monica" and I discovered there's a Seed Library in my area! "Sprouts" popped too many wrong results because it's the name of an organic grocery store chain.
I'm not religious but most churches around my area have plant sales every year to raise money. It's all just cuttings and seedlings.
Every friday we have exactly this in our town center.
We do this with my work colleagues.
I'm not into gardening much (no garden space). But I know most people exchange plant cuttings, sprouts and whatnot through online groups in several social media platforms
doesnt this exist? seed banks