“They are my prized possessions.” Mumbai-based Mamta Sukhija Joseph is talking about the Dendrobium nobile orchid, a double-petalled red azalea and a cherry plum in her terrace garden. She got them from Darjeeling in exchange for a gulmohar bonsai from her collection.
The pride of place in Sunita Hooda’s garden in Gurugram, Haryana, goes to Sansevieria cylindrica, a snake plant variety, which she got from a grower in Chennai after she swapped her pink syngonium (arrowhead plant) for it. “I sent the person crinum lilies too because while my plant costs ₹30, sansevieria is usually priced at ₹800-900. Also, he might have spent quite an amount on packing and transportation as well,” says Sunita.
Mamta and Sunita are gardening enthusiasts who trade seeds and plants online. Helping them do this are groups — both pan-India and city-specific — on Facebook, many of them started during 2020. There are also multiple swap groups for specific plant varieties.
“I was part of several online gardening groups and these pages saw unprecedented traffic during the lockdown. It felt good to make new friends via these pages,” says Mamta. She is a member of five swap groups and co-admin of Free Seeds and plant for Swap, founded by Hyderabad-based P Anilkumar.
Anilkumar, also a member of over 20-plus gardening groups, says that the group has 6,800 members, from across India and abroad. “Until I formed this group, I swapped plants only locally. After the lockdown restrictions were eased, new members are joining in large numbers,” he says. Hemant Dhingra, a teacher from Palwal in Haryana and admin of Spread free seeds and Plants is overjoyed that the membership in his group crossed 10,000 within six months of its launch.
Chennai-based Minal Thamarai Selvan, member and moderator of one of the earliest swap groups, Seeds and Plants Swap Community (India), says that they get at least 50 requests per day for membership. The group, formed in 2017 by Lawrence JD D'souza, Shivanand Kare, Placido Dias (all from Goa) and Lynn Periera (Mumbai), has over 25,000 members. “The group was started to help with gardening but later the focus shifted to swap and share. Now we have another group for gardening-related queries,” Minal says.
Why the rise now
Ludhiana-based Mona Chopra, an avid gardener and a regular swapper, feels that the spurt in members has to do with people missing new friendships in a period of social distancing. “You interact with people from all over, some of whom you will probably never meet. I learn something new about plants and also get to share what I have with others. It is fun,” says Mona. While pan-India groups exist, it is easier to go hyper-local in hobbies like these. Cities such as Mysuru, Pune, and Ludhiana have swap groups.
Give and take
Adventure coordinator and snake rescuer, Pradeep Gangarkar, who started the Mysuru group in January, says he returned to gardening and farming during the lockdown. “Mysuru is a beautiful city with blooms everywhere. Most of the plants in my garden were collected during my snake rescue missions and I began the group to share them with interested people.”
Delhi-based Dimple Agarwal chooses to swap in and around the Capital, even though she runs a pan-Indian group (‘free plants exchange’). “The whole exercise makes me happy. I started this page because I had seeds and plants in excess even after distributing it to my relatives. However, I am not keen on sending them by courier and prefer people to come and collect,” says the 47-year-old entrepreneur.
Swap, don’t shop
The basic rule of these groups is that no buying or selling is allowed. However, postal charges can be claimed, especially if the other person does not have any plant or seeds to swap or share.
An obvious advantage of swap/share groups is that those varieties priced high (not the rare plants that cost a fortune) in nurseries can be purchased for free or by paying only postal charges. This makes it a good platform for gardeners to fulfil their wish list. Succulents such as aloes, cacti and agaves cost between ₹100-300 in nurseries or even online.