Allotments 4 All

Does anyone sell their unwanted plants / seedlings either carboot or other means?

In the past have only had a few so  gave them away, but this year,

a- have more, due to more types of seeds.

b- no family local to give them too.

What does everyone else do?

If I can't give them away, (family, friends, neighbours and school), then I ask on here, and if still no, then onto the compost heap they go.  This doesn't happen terribly often as I always manage to squeeeeeeeze them in rather than bin them.

When friends and family are exhausted, any spare plants go to acquaintances and chance visitors. District Nurse went away thoroughly pleased with six chitting spuds she's going to plant in pots for her daughter, plumber got caulis, electrician got tomato plants, Scrabble club gets veggie selection during glut season etc. etc. People seem really charmed by gifts of living veg plants - don't be shy, offer them round and bingo, there's a new dimension to the relationship! :)

you can always try local schools

I am bit of a billy no mates in the gardening sense, I live in Hull, no family local, My mum lives in France, I have a brother in Leigh who will get his free plants again (if he comes and sees me), a sister who is in manchester who has not got a clue.

"plumber got caulis" So am I any chance SS

Might try a school but hard to approach .

I have given up with trying to sell things;

Sadly I find that choose how cheap I sold them people seemed to think because I grew them they should be cheaper.

Example;

I grow Chrysants as a 'hobby plant' if I want new stock I have to spend around 85p per plug plant ( haven't checked prices for a while).

Usually I have to grow this plug on for a year to make an established plant.

The following year I take cuttings (see http://tinyurl.com/ym8r2c ) grow them on till planting out time.

Generally I take a few more than I need in case of losses, however if I don't lose them I have a surplus. These are generally plants in 3" pots, hardened off, stopped and ready for planting out.

These I try to sell at 40p each ( less than half the price of a plug plant) or 6 for £2 and people still want them cheaper..........now you know why I don't try to sell............. I give my surplus to charity shops/stalls instead!.

Quote from: gary on January 22, 2007, 00:20:12
"plumber got caulis" So am I any chance SS

Prompt and cheerful service deserves caulis! ;D ;D

our local allotment's grateful for surplus plants but we're trying to raise some funds for the allotment assoc. so we're planning a plant sale day,
we know someone who sells his extras at a car boot, doesn't sell loads but the table's £8.00 per go so he must make something or he wouldn't carry on  ;D ;D

I sold a few chilli plants last year at a car boot.
They were a sideline to my usual stuff, I couldn't make enough money selling them on their own to warrant getting up at some ungodly hour and covering the pitch fee.
I even had one buyer who said 'ooh look they've even got chillies on' (what do you expect).
You always get some smart alec offering a really stupidly low price for the lot.
(they will be wanting to buy cheap to sell them on their own stall).
I was selling them for £2 a go, they were about 1ft tall.

BTW people in 'well to do' areas are more willing to pay more for stuff, so if you can, sell in those areas.
You can always price high and come down, but if you start low, people will always try to get you to go lower. It seems 'getting a bargain' is more important than the actual price.

Why not try a local grower/nursery and see if you can do a swap for something you want - we have a few by us and they are quite approachable - have swapped for bedding plants and seed stray ect.. ??? ???

good luck

Thanks for the replies. I like the charity shop idea, as i will only have a few plants it would not be viable to pay for a stall on a car boot (I don't do Sunday mornings).

Or may just leave them in the front garden with a sign "help yourself" and let my neighbours have them.