Indoor plants are one of the best ways to add life to any dull room. With hundreds if not thousands of varieties to choose from, ranging from a few to a few hundred dollars, making the decision can be hard on both yourself and your wallet. We’ve decided to help with our guide to finding the right plant deals that wont break the bank.
There are a few different methods and ways to increase your house plant collection on the cheap, we have found the 2 best methods that work for us below as well as our method for getting free indoor plants.
Finding cheap indoor plants online
Online trading platforms for peer to peer private sales are a great way to find a great deal for indoor plants. You can find cheap established house plants or some people sell cuttings of their mature plants, which can be even cheaper and a great way to grow your plant collection. Purchasing cuttings is a great way to avoid breaking the bank if you know what you are doing. If you are unsure on how to grow cuttings checkout our guide on 5 ways you can propagate indoor plants.
Best sale platforms for cheap plants
The most common places online to find cheap online plants through private sales are Gumtree, Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. There are also some local Facebook groups that allow for the sale and trade of indoor plants and are definitely worth checking out.
Things to lookout for when buying plants privately
Be sure to check for signs of poor plant health before purchasing to ensure your new potential house plant will survive for years to come, as private sales do not offer refunds. Some people can not have your best interest at heart and can knowingly sell diseased or dying plants to unsuspecting people. This is not always the case but can occur so be mindful to inspect the plant thoroughly to avoid heartache.
How to find cheap house plants at stores
Local plant nurseries and retail stores like Bunnings are a great source of cheap, discounted plants if you know what you’re doing. Most stores will have a reduced price section where all the house plants that need rescuing hide. Reduced plants can even be hidden among others of the same variety so be sure to check all the price tags.
Plants can be reduced for a multitude of reasons so make sure to choose plants that will have the best chance at pulling through and surviving. Peace lilies are a common house plant that is reduced due to droopy leaves which is caused from dry soil, with a healthy water you can expect them to stand back up good as new.
Here is an example of a reduced Alocasia Zebrina found at a local Bunnings for just $1.01 AUD. Although the plant only had one leaf the plant showed signs that it could recover so it was purchased and isolated for 2 weeks.
Precautions of buying cheap plants
Some risks associated with purchasing privately or discounted include the introduction of new indoor plant pest and diseases. It is recommended you isolate any new house plants you purchase to ensure there is no potential spread to your established plant collection. We recommend isolating your new plants for at least a week with monitoring to ensure there is nothing that can affect your plants health.
How to get house plants for free
Nothing beats something for free, but how can you get free house plants? It’s pretty simple just ask!
Whether it’s a relative, friend, neighbor or fellow indoor plant addict there are plenty of people who are happy to give you free cuttings of their established house plants all you got to do is ask (nicely). You can always sweeten the deal and pass it forward by trading cuttings of your own indoor plants to help both parties expand their collections, who could say no to that?
To give your new cuttings the best chance at survival make sure you have read up and are confident with propagating indoor plants. There are many commercially available hormone powders and gels that give your house plant cuttings a kick start to establish a healthy root system. If you are trying to remain budget friendly we recommend Doff Natural Rooting Powder which offers great value under $5.
Above is an example of some free cuttings we got from a relatives established pink syngonium. They were taken at the nodes with small aerial roots already showing and placed in the tray with a mix of Premium indoor potting mix and perlite at a ratio of 9 parts potting mix to 1 part perlite to allow for drainage. They have been watered once every two days and are establishing a healthy root system quickly.
Be sure to checkout our other articles for easy to follow tips and care guides on growing indoor plants, dealing with pest and diseases and ideas.
