I think it's a good idea. That way if someone wants to contact them and send them plants, they know where to look. Also, they'll know what to expect when they post.

At one time there was a similar suggestion but I am not finding it now. It likely went away some time ago when the suggestion box was emptied...(as most things were not even suggestions, but rather questions, or problems that should have been reported correctly...another rant).

Anyway...I am pretty sure it is not physically possible to move a thread from one forum to another. It can only be moved about on the particular forum...say from the Exchange page to the Conversation page, or the Gallery.

At the Seed Exchange some of us were trying to encourage those who were new, with no seeds to trade, to respond to the many generous seeds for postage offers. Maybe something similar to that would help at the Plant Exchange...encouraging them to take members up on their 'offers'. There is really no easy answer.

I've (barely) started on trying to work up some additional FAQ at the Seed Exchange, addressing several 'new' member issues...no email link, nothing to trade, no want list, how to correctly handle sending what is needed for a Seeds For Postage offer...etc. Possibly when I get those finished, I could address something similar at the Plant Exchange....suggesting growing from seed if they have nothing to trade...or encouraging them to reconsider what they may have to trade...almost everyone has some sort of shrubs or something that they could list cuttings of for trading.

Additionally, instead of it being a forum for new members or those with nothing to trade to post, I think it should be a place where members could offer up what they have extra. Then they could decide who might be the best responder to receive it...due to it being listed as a want on their 'want list' or considering hardiness, and location and cost of mailing, etc.

Can you tell I too have given this some thought for some time now? I agree...deleting the posts (because the Special Instructions were either not noticed, not read, or just ignored) could definitely be a real turn off for a brand new member. By the same token, new members asking for seeds or plants for postage put the original poster on the spot of either having to just say no or else share what they really did not have extra to share.

Sue

Sue - It's nice of you to do the FAQ's.
I think if the new forum was imbedded like the Conversation Forum is at the Plant Exchange, the posts could be moved there. That way they're not lost forever. I really feel bad for people that request plants because of some tragedy and then get rejected.

i agree, they should have a forum just for people who have nothing to trade, but i do understand that some people will feel taken advantage of. but they still should have a forum for that and let the people who have the plants/seeds filter them out themselves. :'))

Well.... we do have something similar.. in the Round Robin area we have an Adopt a Newbie thread. Personally, I think each of the gardening areas should have one of these. That would be a good place for newbies to be able to post info about their zone, their garden conditions and their wants. Then experienced gardeners could browse it and consider adopting a newbie.

And on the Seed Exchange side we have the thread for "Neat idea for a trade" And actually, I think I'm going to post an adopt a newbie thread this morning. I know the seed for needy families threads have been left in place, I wonder if we could get one like I'm suggesting left in place.

And also in the RR area, Melissa (hazelnutbunny) created a RR and hosted it for experienced GW'ers to be paired with and adopt a new GW'er to send them plants rather than seed and the newbie send them a thank you gift.. I squeaked in under the member since date and I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of plants my Mentor sends me :)

I'm gonna go post that Wanted: Newbie to Sponsor thread on the exchange side and we'll see what happens with it.

by the way...

Happy Mother's Day to each of you!!!

Kathy

As someone very new to GW I would not expect someone to send me plants unless they state up front that they will send for postage. I recently gave away a large amount of thornless raspberries and I did not want anything in return. I was just happy they went to people who would eat them. I simply stated I only wanted postage. I probably could have made the post even easier and made the subject Have for postage: thornless raspberries.

I have met so many kind and generous people on GW that I find it difficult to believe no one would share. Kim

Round Robin is helpful to people getting started.

Recently someone posted in the plant exchange that had been battling cancer for a couple years. They were restarting their garden and requested plants. What they got was a message about rules and then got their post deleted. I think they wouldn't even know why their post was deleted if an individual didn't take the time to post it for them.
People have requested plants for various reasons, Katrina, personal tragedy or maybe they're just new to gardening but for whatever reason, there needs to be a better place for those posts to go instead than the trash bin.

Yes, it would be great to have a place to post for those of us having nothing to trade.
I have just moved from Michigan, a nice sandy, humid, home with lots of rain, shade and sun areas to Montana, where it is DRY, hard clay soil, no rain, very windy, and no shade. I took a few plants with me, but with the cost of the moving truck $2300.00, and we had to put a well in the other house to rent it out (it went bad the week before we left) $4200.00 We couldn't sell the house, the market in Michigan is too low, and we are getting just enough rent to cover the payment, that doesn't include taxes and insurance! The LAST thing I can spend a lot of money on is the local nursery! I wish I had room in the moving truck to bring some of my plant stuff I could trade, like extra pots, seed starting trays, extra hand tools, etc. Had I given it some thought, I would have offered them up for trade before I left and could have shipped my end and waited for the plants till I got here. Oh well, hindsight! (at least now when I "look back" I can see more than just my big a--!) LOL

I thought about posting Burdock for trade! That seems to be the only thing that grows like crazy here! LOL Or the horse poo that blows over from the neighbors yard, but I think I will till that into the soil!

Thanks for listening, and for all those I haven't talked to in a long time........I'm BACK!!!! hehehe

Vic