As winter approaches, some of us local Somerville plant lovers have switched from focusing on gardens plants to indoor plants. This winter we're trying to share the love, taking cuttings of some of our house plants, and giving them to the community in the hopes of brightening and greening up the houses of our neighbors. Please feel encouraged to take a plant and bring it home - unlike with library books no returns are expected!
The library should have a caddy of ziplock bags and paper towels. Wet down a paper towel (either at the water fountain, or just dip it in your plant's jar), wrap it around the base of your plant (the part that was in the water) and tuck it in the ziplock bag. Feel free to take the tag with the plant's name and information as well.
The easiest thing to do is create a similar set up to the library, where the base of the plant is in water, and the leaves are above water, until the roots are 1-2 inches long. Place the container according to the light level for your particular plant (which should have been tagged with name and light level at the library). If you're unsure, most plants will survive, if not always thrive, in bright indirect light. Change the water every week or two to keep it fresh.
Once the roots have grown, you can (if you'd like) transfer the plant to a planter in soil if you'd like. Once in soil continue to water weekly.
We have limited supplies of rooted cuttings, so please limit yourself to one plant a week, so more people have a chance to get one.
At this point we're set for 2026. If you're interested in helping out next year (should we do this again) feel free to reach out to ! If you have plants which root in water easily, and you are confident said plants are free from pests (no spreading thrips, scale etc please!) please reach out to sharekk+wbl@gmail.com to coordinate plant hand-off.
The goal is to have the propogation station full of plants for the month of December. We've never done this before though, so it's really more of a "while supplies last" situation.
Whoops, sorry! Please do reach out to me [email sharekk+wbl@gmail.com or SMS (901) 593-2228] and I'll restock ASAP!
That sounds like a statement! Please do send your question to sharekk+wbl@gmail.com. If multiple people ask the same question it'll be added to this page.