Plant cuttings: a guide for LCCOS staff

We recently shared a blog post outlining five easy steps to support our colleagues and customers with the cost of living crisis over the winter months. One of these suggestions was to share plant cuttings. Plants are scientifically proven to improve mood and focus and clean air of pesky toxins. Plant cuttings are a very cheap way to share plants. Here Katie and Sofina from the Institute of Archaeology Library share their tips.

Plant cuttings

1. Plant cuttings can be taken from your plants between April and September when plants are growing and active. If you’re not sure how to take cuttings from a particular plant, there are lots of useful video guides on YouTube. For example, ‘How to propagate spider plants’:

2. You will need soil and multi-purpose compost to get started. You can get free compost online from the following places:

• Freecycle
• Freegle
• Streetbank

Alternatively buy in bulk from:

• Wilko
• Wickes

You can also start to make your own. The East London Waste Authority (ELWA) offer some useful tips on Home composting.

3. You can use the sites above for free pots, but you can adapt your domestic waste to make pots too! Tins, cans, plastic bottles, yoghurt pots, old shoes – you can use them all and even decorate them if you want to. Pinterest is a good place to search for ideas and tutorials.

4. Once you have a cutting, pot, and soil, you’re ready to go. You can also share plant cuttings through competitions, run a plant swap event or just offer them on a first come, first served basis. Advertise through the UCL Sustainability MS Teams site, LCCOS List, department lists and put up posters around your sites!

For more inspiration, check out the IOA Library Plant Guide: