some of us swap plants by personal choice and sort out postage arrangements the same way. But there isnt a formal system so far as I am aware.

i was thinking about this the other day. Maybe someone could start a blog called plant swap and people could post their wants and what they could give on there I wonder if this is within the rules?

I'm sure this has occured to many GoY'ers, I have so many surplus plants/seeds etc that a swop system would be such a bonus. Amongst my gardening friends we exchange plants as insurance that if one fails in my garden it will be available in someone elses. At the moment I am repotting & dividing my cactus & succulent collection, there are surplus plants now available. As long as no money changes hands then I think it's a superb idea.

We used to have a seed swap system, but it was hardly used, so Peter & Ajay decided to remove it. :-((

Thats a shame cos Bizzyb has a good point. I don't keep all my plants in the same place for the very same reason.

But here's a little cautionary tale for you. I have a fellow aroid grower I am in contact with via the IAS, who lves in the British Virgin Islands. He gave KEW GARDENS the specimen of Rhaphidophora guamensis they have in their collection back in the early 90's. Several years later his own was lost in one of their hurricanes. Now KEW REFUSE to give him a cutting of the plant that if it wasn't for him they wouldn't have in their collection in the first place! How rude!!

I haven't got anything to exchange :( but I have got lots of ivy and brambles!!! lol Next year maybe. :) It's a grand idea if like Bizzyb says, no money is exchanged.

Personally I think its a good idea, however, Whilst I'm sure that 99.9% of everybody on here is like minded, in today's world , unfortunately, there are some nutters out there who could use this site for other reasons. ie. stalking , scams etc. Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid. I've gratefully received stuff by post from fellow GOY'ers. This was done through the PM section, so I suppose there is a safeguard using that method. Interesting to get other points of view.

Yes, I agree LL.....pm's can be a safeguard and I think via blogs and comments you can soon get the measure of someone and instinct tells you all is ok. :)

Perhaps a good compromise would be to have an area where people can post wants and what they can offer but all transactions would be carried out using private mail?

You'd need to suggest it to P&A via the 'contact us' link, Anchorman.

I'll do that

thanks you all for the comments,
it looks as though we would all like a section for plant/seed swap.
i will try swapping through the question area and see how that fairs.
Hopefully the site admin will consider a section for swapping.
thank you all.
Jamie

I've sent a note via the contact us section to see if something can be set up. I'll let you know what they say when they respond

thanks anchor man seems far too popular not to have.

I belong to a group on yahoo called freecycle (there are local groups all over britain) i have put my surplus plants and seedlings on there in the past but would possibly prefer to swap with GOYers! The principle thing on freecycle is you DON'T put your phone number on yor post for security reasons! You could just put the area you live in and arrange pick ups or drop offs in your local area in a neutral place ie supermarket car park. It could be all done via phone and email. That only works though with people who want to swap that are near to each other! Don't no how it would work for posting things as people would then have your address!

I've had a reply from the "contact us"people and they say they had a swap section but it was so under utilised that they gave up with it so sorry they won't be starting another

Thanks for the update, AM. All is not lost....GOYers can still do swaps via pm's as previously. Good of you to make contact with admin to see about it. Ta.

Perhaps we could set up our own swap section ?

If I started a blog called "Swaps" with a few basic rules posted at the beginning maybe that would work?

Maybe something like this:-

Blog Heading: - " Swap plants or seeds"

Initial blog entry :-

"If you would like to offer plants/seeds to swap or make requests for plants/seeds please feel free to do it on this blog "

All transactions can be carried out by the private message system or via normal messages if you prefer

Sonmeone could then recommend this blog to a relevant part or parts of the index of GOY

Comments anyone?

yes ok sounds good to me thanks.

Anyone else with any views on this?

gardeners in the main are into swaps as it adds to the enjoyment of our interests. I like the idea. We all understand the issues of privacy these days but common sense has to prevail.