I recently heard about “proplifting” like shoplifting but for plant cuttings. I’ve had the occasional thought to take a cutting when I’m out and about(like at a coffee shop that doesn’t take care of its plants well), but never from a greenery??? What do you guys think? Is this stealing?
by Salacia_mov
42 Comments
They run a business propagating plants, and you’re going in there and taking their work without paying? Yep.
Plants basically cost nothing; the work it takes to raise them and the cost of the land to do so is what costs money, so taking cuttings without paying for it is stealing their labor and overhead costs.
It is stealing. Best to ask friends and family for cuttings. Most people are happy to give some away. Local social media works too.
It’s stealing, yes, even from a coffee shop.
The nursery has overhead costs for operation. They sell plants and plant-related products to cover that overhead. If you take a cutting, you are damaging the merchandise and stealing.
Think of it like this: no, you aren’t taking the entire plant, but if you opened a bag of M&Ms at the store and ate one handful, the store wouldn’t be able to sell that bagnof candy either, and you would have gotten what you wanted for free at the cost of the store’s ability to sell it. That’s stealing.
There’s a difference between a big-box retailer that will slather paint and glitter on their plants and a professional nursery.
If I’m at the big home improvement store and I see a fallen leaf or a rotting fruit, they’re fair game. Otherwise they’re just gonna get swept up and thrown in the trash.
I its a home depot or a lowes, dgaf. But dont be rude to small business
If you ask the coffee shop and they tell you yes it’s not stealing.
If you take a cutting from a plant you don’t own, you’re stealing. Plain and simple.
If I took from a bag of m&ms in a store I would permanently reduce the number of m&ms. I agree that proplifting is akin to stealing but not in the same level as most of you are suggesting. These are not the patent holders for genetically pure poinsettias or a novel lineage, they’re commonly available plants. A sample on the floor is of no value to the company aside from denying people access to force them into a sale.
Not if its lowes
I always thought proplifting was more picking up succulent leaves from the floor. Damaging the plants that are for sale by taking cuttings is taking the piss. They won’t be able to sell those plants.
I think it’s ok to ask in a coffee shop or wherever if you can take cuttings, but if they say no then you have to respect that. If everyone took cuttings there would be no plant left.
At a place like Home Depot or Lowe’s? That’s not proplifting, that’s just life. But at a smaller, independently-owned greenhouse that’s theft.
I would still consider it stealing, if you didn’t pay for it, it doesn’t come home with you 🙃
It’s stealing, don’t get caught
I’ve never done it at a local place, but Home Depot is fair game.
I agree. If one appropriate it without paying, it’s plain and simple stealing. If you wanted something, buy it.
It was consenting tho…
It baffles me that people go into stores and take cuttings off of bulk retail plants that cost $5 – $10 for a whole plant. To me this is like old people who take as many free coffee creamers and condiment packets as they can fit in their pocket.
Proplifting
It’s thefty theft theft
If I see a stem/leaf/ something on the floor/laying in a tray I damn well pocket that. But I could never bring myself to rip something off a healthy thriving plant. And if it’s not healthy /thiving , I ask if I can get it discounted and try to rescue it!
And if it were my place… I’d have a whole rack of Jell-O shot cups located conveniently at the cash register with tons of propagation cuttings for sale for a buck a piece.. cheap enough that you’re practically giving them away but still making a dollar to pay for the supplies.
It’s a damn store. Of course it’s stealing.
they won’t prosecute, but it is stealing from a nursery
Agreed but… i do take the pieces that have fallen on the floor. But i wouldn’t cut off a piece of the plant myself😅
Just say you tripped
Freaking propzis!
It’s stealing. This sign is correct and valid
It’s stealing, plain and simple. You’re going into a business and taking part of the product without paying. That’s stealing.
Completely valid sign. Only a thief would try to take cuttings from a garden center.
At first i thought this said “TALKING PLANTS” and i really wanted to know more!! Are we talking about plants? Yes id like to talk! Do the plants talk? Yes im interested!! But taking plants? Nah thats theft
Never from local shops, always at big corporations.
To be fair, that’s the same rules as shoplifting. The bigger company can eat the cost, a mom and pop shop can’t.
Side note, my grandma used to pick up fallen green beans from the floor for her birds. She told me very clearly that the beans on the floor are now waste, but we can wash them and then use them as treats. That 30+ year old memory is *exactly* why proplifting is okay.
Going places peoples job is plants and bypassing them when their literal job is plants is theft. Especially when there’s a sign
Not knowing how to take cuttings and damaging a larger plant and also not getting a viable specimen is common and I feel like it’s more why the signs are there. Because people are stupid and kill a plant worth the price of a used car trying to take a piece when that plant could mean the world to someone else. I know two people with nurseries that have decades old plants and they are ones they won’t sell. If you damaged their child they’d probably lose it. I would.
If you know what your doing I won’t knock ya though. Some plants propagate from the smallest of pieces. it’s wild. Unless you’re gunning to open up a competing nursery in the same town or something it’s not that nefarious. It’s mehhhh.
Possible unpopular opinion, if the place respects its customers, treats the plants and people with care, i would consider that a no-go, but if the place is taking a piss on its people, what cameras can’t see… can’t hurt you.
It is never okay to take a cutting from someone’s plant without asking, but I would say it is okay to take pieces that have fallen on the ground of a shop as long as you ask before leaving the store with it.
If the shop in question is a big box store, the staff likely wouldn’t mind, but if it’s a mom and pop shop, they might want to propagate it themselves.
Well if you open a bag of cookies in the grocery store and only eat 1 and leave 11, is that stealing? Of course it is.
I’ve never heard of people stealing props like this. Pretty lame thing to do.
You’re not gonna get prosecuted
I mean on paper. Naw.
I don’t agree with breaking off pieces of cutting off parts for your own use. That could hurt the plant.
For nurseries and small businesses I wouldn’t do anything.
That being said.
If I am at a big box store and a piece has fallen to the ground that I could propagate. It is mine like a dropped penny.
IT’S NOT STEALING I’M REHOMING THEM 😭 does this apply to cuttings already dying on the store floor
Cost of losing cutting vs lawsuit don’t make sense. They’d lose more on the lawsuit than worrying about cutting.
My opinion is If you cut it, it’s stealing. If you find it on the floor, that’s on them for not keeping a clean shop. If it’s Home Depot or Lowe’s then you should just *liberate* the entire plant because fuck them for collaborating with the gestapo.
Not if you find it on the ground.
I agree. Stealing is stealing.
Taking cuttings from a nursery, plant store, greenhouse, or conservatory instead of buying the plant is, indeed, stealing.
Taking a cutting from a sidewalk planter the day before the municipal government rips the whole thing out to make a seasonal switch is not stealing.