Plants are magical, addictive things. I can’t resist buying them. However, plants have gotten more and more expensive. Here’s how I get plants free or cheap!

Propagate, Propagate, Propagate

Propagating plants can be easy-peasy (or incredibly difficult!) Propagating plants comes in several ways:

Rooting Cuttings

I LOVE taking cuttings and rooting them whenever and wherever possible! I love it because plants take off quickly and grow much faster than from seed (in my opinion). I also love it because its so EASY and FREE!

I take cuttings from my pomegranates, grapes and figs every winter. I take branch cuttings about the size of a pencil or slightly larger. On figs I pull the root suckers that spring up every year during the growing season. I place them in moist soil, coco coir or sawdust and wait for spring. I use Rooting Hormone (available on Amazon) on the cuttings and usually more than half will survive and leaf out.

Another easy way to propagate plants is to cover a branch (tomato, berries, vines, etc.) with soil and leave it attached to the mother plant for a few weeks. They will develop roots and then you can separate them and move them to a new location.

Splitting Existing Plants

The VERY first thing I do when buying a plant from the store is examine it to see if there is a way to separate multiple plants from each other. Plants in the grass family like bamboo or lemongrass are incredibly easy to gently split. Many vegetable plants from the nursery are planted with several plants in the same container, just be very careful and gentle when separating their roots! Again, enjoy your bonus free plants!

Digging Bulbs or Tubers

Bulbs and tubers are a no brainer! From sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, irises and other flowers, there’s almost no end to the plants you can propagate from root bulbs and tubers. I am super excited to dig up a bunch of my canna lillies this winter and spread them all over my yard! My sweet potatoes did very well this summer and their clones will carry on for them next spring.

The absolute easiest plants I’ve found to propagate from the roots are my blue agave. They sprout pups from their root system and can be easily popped out of the soil with a shovel. They can hold up for days in optimal weather before being transplanted. Then in a year or so, they are on their way to full-size and having pups of their own! Aloe vera are very similar.

Save Seeds

Saving Seeds from Produce

When I see a beautiful heirloom tomato, watermelon, or sweet pepper, I can’t resist scooping out some of their seeds and setting them out to dry on a paper towel. I have dozens of sandwich bags labeled with sharpie pens in a drawer just waiting for their growing season! More free plants!

Let plants in your garden go to seed

I’ve been letting my pak choi, lettuce, kale and cilantro go to seed the past year in my garden. I’ve still been collecting the seeds from my garden plants and saving them in ziplock bags once they are fully dried and ready to put away.

Collect seeds from established trees/shrubs

Have you ever been driving by a city park or walking out of a restaurant when you spot seed pods hanging off a cool looking mesquite tree or desert willow. I have. Now I have thornless mesquite trees started in grow pots and seeds saved from a vine I planted at my parents’ house 20 years ago ready to plant this spring.

Giveaways

Facebook/Craigslist

You would be shocked the number of people on local Facebook groups I see trying to get someone to dig up and transplant a plant out of their yard. If I had more free time, I would probably split it between yard sales and picking up free plants and/or livestock. I have recently seen a full grown saguaro cactus, full size blue agave and nopales cactus all available in my county to first come, first serve.

I have also seen people advertising for someone to transplant trees and/or shrubs that will die if their root system is disturbed, so it’s important to understand what species will be easily transplanted (palm trees, cacti, deciduous trees that are dormant) and plants or trees that will NOT be easily transplanted (mesquite trees, oleanders or ANY plant in the hot months)

Neighbors

I love good neighbors! My neighbor down the street knows I love plants and gave me pups off her night blooming cactus and another “neighbor” who lives 5+ miles away and knows I like weird plants brought me back a couple handfuls of walking onion seeds from his trip to Washington state.

Nothing says “Happy Birthday!” or “Merry Christmas!” like a new naval orange tree or a Katy apricot tree! My boss loves to give me bare-root trees as a bonus every year. It’s the gift that keeps on giving! I recently sent my sister on the other side of the country a rooted dragon fruit cutting as a gift.

Free plants are everywhere – just keep your eyes open!

Good luck! And let me know what awesome deals you find on plants! Click here to read more of my blog posts. Subscribe and never miss out!