It's just something that gardener's do. It's not as if they can sell those broken pieces!

Stealing or not, I can't say I wouldn't do it.

If they try to sell those to you, they've got problems lol

Of course, I'd be asking for all of the dead plants. Compost material!!

I'm not sure I'd waste my time on fragments of plants that have been lying on the ground for who knows how long. Why don't you just buy one healthy plant, and snip a bunch of cuttings off of it?

I was simply wondering what others thought. I already bought all my plants a while ago

You could always ask the staff if you can have the broken off piece. Worst they can say is no.

I've asked at some of the Big Box stores as I see plants that I could possibly bring back with some care, but they responded that they get a refund for plants that don't make it. It doesn't really help them to discount distressed plants.

I worked at a nursery with Spec Ed students and their whole job was to dump plants into a compost pile. It drove me crazy, cause I knew I could bring them back, but we had to sign an agreement that I wouldn't take any off of the property. Someone actually got busted selling plants at the flea mart and got fired! Nancy

Stealing is taking, without permission, that which doesn't belong to you. So, yes, taking a dead plant is stealing, especially if the seller can turn back any plants that don't sell.

I believe that some cities have laws against loading trash into a vehicle, to prevent organized crime from profiting from stuff. But if you walk by a trash can on the street and pull something out of it, that's OK. That being said, some communities have enacted laws against dumpster diving aimed at dumpsters on private property. Formally, trash is owned by the trashee, until the trash is put outside in public domain. As in, on the street for pickup. Trash waiting there for pickup is not protected by law.

But again, if we're talking about pieces of plants on the ground, who cares? Not worth the effort. If we're talking about dying plants on display, of course you need permission to take them. Imminent death doesn't negate ownership.

My question is about the parts that have already been cut/broken and are no longer part of the things they would sell or can return to the distributor.

Taking the pot itself even with a dead plant would be 100% stealing.

True true Ariel.

If it's on their floor, it belongs to them. Period. Whether plant pieces or dead plants in pots. Do people go into restaurants and scrape up food that people have left behind off of their plates after they leave? Nuke 'em to kill germs, and they'd be good to go.

So you're going to get permission to sweep the plant pieces up, root them, and outsell them at a county fair? No self-respecting entrepreneur would be dumb enough to let you get away with that.

As I said, the horticulturally smart and legal way to go would be to buy a plant, and scalp off of it many pieces that you reroot. One plant turns into many. But for goodness sake, the horticulturally smartest thing to do would be to just buy a packet of seeds and root them instead. For the price of a packet of seeds, I'll bet that I can make more new plants that you could scraping stems off the floor.

thats true dan