While you’ve always been curious to find your inner green thumb, you may have been discouraged by your lack of yard space. Students living in small spaces isn’t a new concept. We’re crammed in dorms, small apartments, or other less than ideal rental situations.
Luckily, with the rise in popularity of indoor gardening, it’s easy to search Instagram and find beautiful indoor arrangements of tiny potted succulents, hanging ivy, and wondering window seal pathos ready to make anyone green with envy.
Just like any hobby, indoor gardening isn’t cheap or easy. Plants, soil, fertilizers, grow lights and pots can quickly add up in cost. On top of this, you’re guaranteed a few or more plant casualties.
Ask any plant expert and they’ll tell you they’ve killed more than their fair share of foliage. Gardening is all about experimentation. All plants have different needs that vary according to the seasons. It’s a bit of a learning curve.
If you have a real passion for indoor gardening, why not share that passion with others at your college.
What an Indoor Gardening Club Might Look Like
While it’s completely up to you and your peers on what you all want to do in your club. Here are a few of our best ideas for events, fundraisers, and club advertising.
Events
Bring in Experts
Have someone who works at or owns a local nursery speak at one of your meetings on a topic of their choice. They can bring in some plant examples and talk about anything from what plants work best in bathrooms to holding a propagation (plant breeding) masterclass.
While this helps members learn from someone with years of knowledge, the expert also acquires new potential customers, so it’s a win-win situation for both parties.
Your experts don’t always need to be in the industry. If you have a member or officer who is very knowledgeable about a plant subject they can teach a plant class to members.
For example, if your secretary is obsessed with hydroponics (growing plants in a soilless system), have them bring in their own hydroponics system to show members how it works.
Plant Swaps
A plant swap is a great opportunity to get new plants for free and meet people with a like-minded enthusiast for indoor gardening. These events just get better the more people who attend, so it’s best to open this event up to all people, not just members.
If your plant swaps get really popular, it can even open up the possibilities for your club to get sponsors to advertise and give out free food, plant products and(or) discounts at these swaps. Another possibility is to charge a small entry ticket price to non-members to raise money for club projects.
Getting Crafty
Hold a BYOP (Bring Your Own Pot) Plant Arrangement Party. Officers can shop for special bulk deals on plants that can ideally share the same pot together. Let members get their hands dirty by mixing and matching plants.
Or just search plant DIYs and you’ll find all sorts to beautiful projects from making macrame plant hangers to concrete succulent planters!
Have you found several cool small projects, but don’t know which one to pick? Create a poll on social media to garner votes on the most popular DIY project for the next meet.
Get Thrifty
I know I’ve already mentioned this, but… students are typically a broke bunch. While the planters at home depot were pretty, most of them can run $20 and more. So I turned to my local thrift stores, estate sales, and garage sales to pilfer for plant holders. Some of my favorite pots only cost $1-$5 at these second-hand sellers!
Pick a Saturday or Sunday to shop around the area with other members for unique plant pots and plant boxes for your indoor gardens. Why not even buy up these cheap pre-owned plant holders to upsell at events to create a club profit.
Plant Store Crawls
Especially in more urban areas, there can be plant shops and nurseries lined up one after another. Go as a group, visiting all these stores checking out all the seasonal plants and do some on-the-spot research on the plants that spark your interest.
Exploring Your University’s Greenhouse
My university had a couple of really great greenhouses (with cute in-house cats too!) that anyone could enter to learn about the residential plants. Contact a professor, TA, or a knowledgeable student to conduct a tour for club members.
How to Prepare for Meetings by Creating an Agenda!
