Not since I found out how hard interiorscapers have to work to keep the plants looking presentable, no.

Lol..That thought has crossed my mind, but for some reason I just can't seem to bring myself to do it..

I have actually seen people at the mall and places like Home Depot pretending to buy, or look at plants, carrying them around, standing around them, all the while pinching of pieces of and slipping them into their pockets..In particular succulents, such as Jade and plants such as spider or philodendrons..

My Aunt works there and says that it is a big problem, and nothing they can do to stop it..That could be a reason why half their plants look ugly by the time I go to buy one, within days of a new delivery..:-(

"and nothing they can do to stop it."

What if they sold nothing but opuntias and euphorbias?

;)

Nope! Never have!

It's called theft in this country.
I wouldn't want someone doing that to plants I cared for.

houseplantlover, I worked in the garden section of an "ACE" Hardware store and learned to my surprise that 'pinching a piece off plants' is shoplifting. A sign was posted warning of this.

mr_subjunctive.....I do agree with you the plants always do look great.meyermike
meyermike.....I cant beleive people would do that at a store, and yes it is stealing. Its too bad the plants do look so bad at these big box store cause I am sure they would double there sales if they looked good. We all know how many times we have walked out because all the plants look like crap but really wanted to buy something.
ronalawn82...Wow, Its sad that its such a problem that they have to post a sign about it.

I have never taken any snips but have thought about it. I own a store myself and would flip if someone did that to me.

amccour....Now there is a thought....Ouch.

I don't know. I don't think illegal cuttings is why big box plants look bad. I think it's more because most of the greenhouse workers don't know what they're doing (and the ones that do know what they're doing are immediately promoted to management or something).

I'm sure most of us have gone to a Walmart and found well-drenched cacti for sale in the middle of February is all I'm saying.

I have taken cuttings lying on the floor or table..in fact, I walked out of the store with cuttings in my hand..I felt there was nothing to hide..especially since they were wilted, looked dead.

The worse thing I saw and dwelt with was when I worked at HD. A well-dressed couple, in their 30's, walked in the gh. Neither looked like they'd steal, or needed to because they were living in poverty. On the contrary.

I knew they were up to something, so I kept an eye on them, while cleaning plants. About 20 mins later, I was called to the front desk. 'boy, was I pissed off.'
I was gone about five mins. When I returned to the gh, the couple were gone..I walked to the area they hung around.
Sure enough, this couple tried switching plants from square 6" pot, squished into round 4" pots..I guess they thought they could stick plants in the smaller pot, pay less money, and get away with it..Well, it didn't work..
If people can't determine a larger square doesn't fit in a smaller circle, they'd best go back to grammar school. No, Pre-School. I've seen 3-yr-olds place shapes in the proper fittings.

Amccour, you are so right..it's not the customers. Most clerks can't ID a weed from a Philo..but a lot of times, whomever ships certain plants, starts off on the wrong foot. For eg..I've seen numerous succulents placed in pots, the outer pot wrapped in foil.
Not only does it drown the plant, but the area STINKS. Sitting water..oh just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt. I've complained to 2 managers..they didnt have any idea, gh managers, what a succulent was, or why these plants would die if sitting in water..I practically shoved one COT's in the guys face..lol..I told him to take a wiff..

Taking a cutting isn't going to kill a plant, but if everyone started taking cuttings from the same plant, it might not kill it, but it's going to be a lot smaller.

I've also seen people DIGGING plants out of pots..well, one woman..she was just plucking away..before leaving the store, I walked up to an employee and snitched.
The employee couldn't care less..Toni

Amazing stories I'm reading here, LOL . If you take a clipping from the plants at your local mall , that isn't shop lifting , it's vandalizing and they have cameras everywhere so they are watching and they will prosecute to the full extent of the law . :)

I'm glad to see this topic come up every once in a while. Though the vast majority of us consider this a form of vandalism or theft, there will always be those few who think that it's not doing any harm.

The same goes for snipping cuttings in a park, a planting bed in front of a restaurant or office, etc.

An important thing to remember is that by asking permission from the owner (or manager), you are likely to receive what you want and much more. My husband (also a horticulturist like myself) and I have received permission to collect seeds, cuttings, stems (for buds for grafting) from all kinds of wonderful places.

At the mall I've seen the plants in the middle of the mall where it doesn't look like they're getting any of the right conditions. Most don't look very good and I feel so bad for the poor plants, but I dunno if it's due to people taking cuttings, I think it's more because of unideal conditions.

At greenhouses and big box stores, I would never take cuttings (not at the mall either or anywhere for that matter). I've thought about picking up leaves and stems from the ground but it just doesn't feel right to me.

I applied to work in the plant section of Rona store, but ya know what...after 11 yrs of plant experience, they wouldn't hire me. Who woulda thunk it? And I've applied to work at the local greenhouse here several times, but they've never even called me. What does a person have to do to be worthy to work with plants when they know more than the current staff does?

I'll admit, there are a few employees who know what they're doing, but still, yargh!

Oh and Toni...6" square in to 4" round? Um...duh!?

I worked in a garden center at Lowe's and it wasn't as bad as some of you are describing. Maybe I worked at the one good one or something. I suppose that someone could have taken cuttings when it was really busy, but I don't think it was much of a problem.

I know I've taken seed pods from plants before, but that's it. I can understand why taking a cutting might damage the appearance of the plant, but it doesn't seem like anyone would care too much about a seed pod. Obviously if it was on someone's private property they might, but it's always been in the plantings at shopping centers. Maybe it's just me though.

I never really thought of taking a cutting from a plant as that bad. But if my plants look a bit strange for a while, I don't mind. I know they'll grow back eventually. If someone took a cutting off of one of my plants, I'd be more concerned about whether they knew how to take care of it properly.

Moose, lol.. A neighbor has a red maple. In autumn, it gets and sheds tons of seedpods. They eventually fall to the ground.
One year I took a couple pods that dropped..since the pods split, it might be they're riper than those still on the tree..
So, next time you see a tree w/pods, try for those that fell.. :)
I think borrowing cuttings happens more in poorer areas, although, a sister nursery of one I worked in was in a, super, upper-class neighborhood..the people who shopped there lived in 2,000,000.00+ homes, yet, every so often, a customer pinched a cutting and got away with it. Probably because they'd spend thousands on plants..the manager told me he sure wasn't going to admonish a customer who helps pay his own mortgage..lol.

One problem, if everyone interested in 'taking a cutting' from a plant, snips a piece, that plant will soon be bare.

Bunny, duh is right..Toni

Moose, lol.. A neighbor has a red maple. In autumn, it gets and sheds tons of seedpods. They eventually fall to the ground.
One year I took a couple pods that dropped..since the pods split, it might be they're riper than those still on the tree..
So, next time you see a tree w/pods, try for those that fell.. :)
I think borrowing cuttings happens more in poorer areas, although, a sister nursery of one I worked in was in a, super, upper-class neighborhood..the people who shopped there lived in 2,000,000.00+ homes, yet, every so often, a customer pinched a cutting and got away with it. Probably because they'd spend thousands on plants..the manager told me he sure wasn't going to admonish a customer who helps pay his own mortgage..lol.

One problem, if everyone interested in 'taking a cutting' from a plant, snips a piece, that plant will soon be bare.

Bunny, duh is right..Toni

I think like amccour and Toni said, the bigger problem in places like WalMart, HD and the like is the abuse the plants receive from the employees. Drowned cacti and dried up tropicals. I can't tell you how many parched poinsettias I saw this year. They either don't have a clue or just don't care. How many millions of dollars worth of plants are tossed due to neglect from the employees? Compared to this abuse, I think the loss from cuttings or downright theft is minimal.

Christopher

Perhaps it's not always neglect from the employees. Perhaps it's just lack of knowledge. How many plants have most of us killed due to improper watering?

But yes, most is probably neglect. They get paid by the hour, what the heck do they care?

I'm sure if it were cost-effective for the employees to care for the plants, they'd be doing so. Wholesale plants are cheap, and payroll is expensive (comparatively speaking).

Glad to hear that people dont take things.... that is stealing. I know plants are cheap but I just HATE to see they dying.....they are like my babies when that happens.

I don't see the big deal with taking cuttings. That's probably where half of my plants come from. I "rescued" an abandoned Norfolk Island Pine in Key West. That one, for sure, was not stealing. It was just a Christmas tree that someone had ditched. I also dug up some Rhoeo plants while down there that were growing like weeds against a wall in a parking lot. It's considered a weed in Florida, for one, and it will grow back to probably twice what I dug up within less than a year. I'm sure no one shed a tear. They are probably crying more over the Key West cost of living. Hmm, what else did I collect/steal/whatever you want to call it? A big piece of Echinopsis that was on the ground. Smaller offsets of tropical Agaves that are common in Key West. I can't help myself. I'm not ashamed, either. I love growing plants and I'm addicted to them. Also, as far as garden centers go, I don't see harm in taking a few cuttings. I don't want to buy a huge peperomia plant. I only need a tiny bit to put inside my terrariums. Why buy an overpriced plant when all you want is 1/100th the size of the plant. If I had a greenhouse I'd probably go broke buying everything I could from the garden center. I just don't have a greenhouse.

I would not want anyone to steal, clip, take a piece, of any of my plants so I would not take from any store, my neighbor's yard or anyone else's plants. I have many pieces of plants that I have picked up off the ground when I was on business trips but as I said it was garbage and their was no doubt it was garbage. They were weeding and throwing away the plants.

It is true when I was in Florida, Arizona, Puerto Rico, They have an abundance of plants that grow like weeds but if they are not weeding their property I would not get in their gardens and weed it for them it is theft. One time in Arizona we were in a meeting and I walked past a garbage can full of succulents, cactus, more than I could carry at once. I kept leaving the meeting with a strange stomach virus (it just came on when I saw all that garbage) to grab a handful and run to my room. It took me almost all morning to get a suitcase full of plants. LOL

If I am going to Hell it is going to be for something bigger than a a cheap plant. LOL

Not from inside a building, but I've taken snips from outdoor plants in the city, like from planters...
even one I probably shouldn't have that was the only plant on the balcony of a small establishment, but I reeaally wanted it, hurr.
It'll grow back in no time. >_>;;

I've never taken snips from a nursery either, but sometimes it seems like they're asking for it when they only sell big versions of a certain plant. Then, when you buy the plant, what you're really paying for is the time and effort that went into growing it. So why would it be so bad to take a cutting, and pay for it with your own time and effort?
But I haven't.