Who will grow my pits and propagations in NYC?

May 19, 2023 9:21 AM

I need to find and hire someone who will grow some plant cuttings and avocado pits in water for me, for a trade show in August. Who should i look for, where should i post the ad/listing. Difficulty level: I'm in Europe and I won't be able to check the results until it's too late for a plan B.

I'll be exhibiting at a trade show in NYC in mid-August. One of our products is a little tool/display for water propagation of cuttings, succulents or pits such as avocado or mango pits. Very niche.
Normally I grow my own display cuttings and pits for this purpose, and it looks awesome at trade shows local to me (europe). However, I can't fly with (enough) live plants to the USA. The maximum is 13 plants, and it's also very risky for me if the TSA decides to chuck them on arrival, I have no backup.

So, I'd like to hire someone in NYC to root cuttings in water and grow a few avocados and mango pits, so they'll be pretty and leafy by mid-August. I'd need that someone to be super reliable, so I can be assured to have those plants ready to pick up for the show. They don't need to be a professional, but it'd be great if they've plenty of experience and access to sufficient space on a sunny windowsill to grow these.

Where should I hire this someone/ where do I post a listing, and how do I pay this person for the job in a safe and fair way?
Ideally, I could pick the grown cuttings up in Manhattan, but I'm flexible on that. Shipping by post is too risky though in the summer heat.

posted by PardonMyFrench to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

I would probably look to see who does this work themselves in NYC already (Etsy might be a good way to find them), and then ask them if they could do this and how much they'd charge. I wouldn't pay them until you pick them up. An old college friend who I've lost touch with had an Etsy shop around hanging succulent bowls she designed, so I'd try to find someone like her.
posted by coffeecat at 9:32 AM on May 19, 2023

I will check with people I know. Could you post this in mefi jobs. Alternately try posting it to MetroHort.
posted by sciencegeek at 9:33 AM on May 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

You could try contacting a local florist and seeing if they have an employee who would be interesting in taking this up as a side project. Personally I'm a fan of Plantshed since a received a gift of extremely happy and productive orchids from them. There are also a ton of local Facebook-based plant swap groups with enthusiastic amateurs who might be interested in this sort of project.

This also might be a good one for MeFi Jobs.
posted by A Blue Moon at 10:08 AM on May 19, 2023

Having no plan B ican be overcome by over hiring for plan A. Whatever number of each item you need grown, hire multiple people to do multiple plantings such that you end up if all goes according to plan (A), you have triple or more of what you need. Also, have each one doing this send pictures every two weeks or whatever is appropriate. If one person's plantings are not up to standards, you can nurture the other people to make sure their [inset pit or cutting here] is thriving.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:15 AM on May 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

MeFi Jobs is just a click away.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:30 PM on May 19, 2023