Blossm, an app dedicated to plant swapping, is helping plant enthusiasts in the San Diego area to find plants, locally and further out, through swapping and buying. 

The “plant-dedicated platform”, which is for everyone from budding enthusiasts to seasoned green-thumbs, encourages users to upload photos and descriptions of plants they want to swap, which are featured as thumbnail photos on the app’s home page. Though the majority of listings are for swaps, there are also options to list items for sale or offer them for free.

For those willing to ship them out, plant swaps can happen in different states all across the country. In those cases, they suggest rooting the plants in moss or other moisture-absorbent foundations to ensure the plant makes the journey safely.

Other features of Blossm include a community forum where people can chat and connect with fellow plant enthusiasts and share plant knowledge, DIY ideas, and help with plant ID. There’s also an extensive index with plant care information, which includes details about a plant’s sun, water and soil needs, along with its official genus, common names and plant type.

Blossm currently has around 2,000 users, most of whom are from San Diego neighborhoods, and a few further out in the US.

Blossm, which launched last year during San Diego’s first pandemic lockdown, was set up by plant enthusiasts and Ocean Beach residents Brian Feretic and Nick Mitchell. The idea for the plant swapping app came about in October 2019, when Brian Feretic found his way to a local garage sale. After setting aside some items to purchase, he came back with money and a rubber plant he had recently propagated as a gift. In return, his neighbour let him pick out something from her garden.

Brian Feretic said: “Blossm was born from a desire to meet like-minded folk who enjoy growing their own food, treating their plants like their babies, nerding out on optimal propagation techniques & just wanting to share the knowledge they’ve learned over the years.

Initially, the concept behind Blossm was tied to community and in-person interaction with the idea of hosting plant swap events, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Blossm team to makes revisions including encouraging people to ship their plants.

Blossm

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living.