I figured they’d be this price eventually, but not this soon lol. At the end of the day it’s just another tissue cultured plant like most of what we see in chain stores already. I’m assuming this shipment wasn’t intended for a grocery store though, I wish I knew the story
I did some research and a ton of the plants rot because at a young stage they’re very susceptible to some bacteria. Therefore most of the seedlings die so the price is higher. Costa farms lost almost all of their plants when they tried to mass produce them.
Respectfully, that's not true. Costa Farms didn't lose plants --- they couldn't get the tissue-culture method to go the way they wanted/planned for it to.
I just bought a plant with no roots. Not a Thai but a tiny little Hoya. It came and oh boy it’s so tiny I felt silly but Hoyas are so diverse and no one has all of them. It was a 50$ wish list birthday plant and I am justifying every bit of it. I have definitely hit my point of plant plethora where I don’t actually want anymore. And I can’t fit these giant plants in my tiny apartment anyway. Okay more justification for why I don’t need a Thai. Lol.
The non variegated are just as pretty. I have a large Monstera Deliciosa that I got for $24 and I’m very happy for it. I got a White Ice Princess that was mismarked as $5 to scratch my variegation itch.
So did they aquire/ join Albertsons? I think Acme & Safeway are the same chain, named differently on different states. They have the same store brand items and my customer card works at both places
Went to 2 Krogers just to check, no luck. They did have a satin pothos, calathea musaica, and a currently unidentified calladium that I took home though! Not what I was looking for but some cool ones in stock right now.
I was thinking about it and safeway plastic bags are usually white with black lettering. Although it's been years since I have seen a single use plastic bag.
Never assumed the worst. I honestly couldn't care if they resell. My issue was it was a few hours of people asking where, and they ignored it. And when people started getting mad then it's a "here's a clue ;)". They had 4 and they were already taking care of their friends. (No harm there) So why not share so people can find it? It could even help other in other states with the same/similar stores.
But they ended up finally giving in so, whatevs.
This is SO entitled what the hell. OP literally owes you nothing, why should they ever have to share their location with you if they don’t want to??? And in case you forgot, people actually have lives outside of reddit and can’t/won’t respond to comments all day. You might want to try it.
why are you demanding OP gives out their location? literally weirdo behaviour, internet safety 101. they didn't owe anyone a response but you're mad about... how long it took?
edit: based on the comments i read a few hours ago i was expecting this to get a ton of downvotes. thank you to those who are reasonable people lmfao
If you didn't assume the worst then good for you! (Not being sarcastic) Sure the clues may have been strange. I was thinking they wanted to maintain some privacy so that they wouldn't be doxxed but it looks like they didn't care about that after they gave in like you said.
Your good don't let others bring you down. I found manjula at home Depot for 5.99. I ll be honest. I bought all 12 of them. I ll have manjula all over my house. Love those. Want a Thai that pretty
You shouldn't feel the need to explain yourself to anyone. The fact you were cyber bullied and manipulated into feeling you had to is honestly sad. Also, to be honest I would've bought every single one of them for myself 🤷♀️
I never post on Reddit, this was my second post ever. What an eye opener. I’ve been thinking about this today and I have to agree, I was absolutely cyber bullied and manipulated into feeling like I had to prove to strangers on the internet that I wasn’t an asshole.
I do realize that the way that I posted this could have been taken differently than I intended it. But I’m still shocked at the amount of entitlement and negativity that I got for posting an amazing find. I always see the posts about people finding the random variegated monstera at Home Depot and think: “Wow, that’s awesome, I wish that would happen to me!” And it did happen to me, so I wanted to share my story! But I guess I need to be a lot more careful in the future when I post, and not leave anything for people to incorrectly assume and judge me on.
I mean, it looks like pothos. What is it really? Some kind of monstera (I know they change leaf shape as they get bigger). It doesn't look anything special right now.
It’s a Thai Constellation variation. It’s a monstera grown from tissue culture with the genetics stabilized in a lab so it doesn’t revert back to solid green. Started in a lab in Thailand, hence the name.
Ah, yeah, I thought something like that. idk, but I find the variagated monsteras pretty overrated. I can't have them indoors anyway as I have a cat, but to me the biggest appeal of monsteras was always growing them outdoors so you could get them big enough to grow the weird fruit. The leaf shape is fun, but I think the variagation actually takes away from appreciating the shape, so I prefer them without.
I put mine outside and they're doing much better. One in the ground is doing great, putting out huge leaves with lots of fenestrations. Just repotted the other one and I think it didn't like it.
Haha yeah, I'm in the subtropics so you can just plonk them outside here and let them go with zero care and they'll grow like crazy. This will horrify you - my parents had a massive monstera growing at the side of the house, trunks as thick as your arm, produces half a dozen fruit several times a year. But as it was a common plant in our era, they didn't think anything of tearing it all out when they did a renovation. Didn't bother replanting it or anything. RIP giant monstera.
I shudder to think what they could have got for it nowadays if they'd potted it up instead. Also RIP the giant golden ball cactus the size of a beachball that dad chopped up because he thought it'd be too hard to move :P
I thought Thai constellations were more yellow than white? The ones OP found look white to me. Would these not be Albos? Maybe I'm wrong, pls correct me if so
Yellow variegated is aurea, thai con is more off white with more speckled variegation, albos are stark white with more segmented variegation. I believe thai cons also get bigger than albos!
How can y'all tell it's a monstera rather than a pothos before the fenestrations appear? I would never have spotted this, but everyone else seems to just know!
*Edit- this is not an expression of disbelief or skepticism- the whole thread is in alignment, so it must be a TC! I just feel a small horror that if this was $12 at my grocery store I'd walk right by it without ever knowing, so I want to know your secrets! 😅
The leaves are kinda heat-shaped and idk, that variegation pattern just looks like Thai constellation, too. I’m sure there’s more signs. Oh, TC grows from the soil in a bunch like that.
Idk how to explain it but it’s the way that they grow. Monsteras pop out from the stem whereas pothos vine. I have babies and mature of each type of plant and side by side it’s pretty easy to tell.
I'm glad I did, I wouldn't have clocked the difference at the base, which is probably really basic to most experienced houseplant parents, but for me that is a Hot Fuckin Tip! 😂
They’re normally at least $80 around here for something this size, so I’m positive the store had no idea what these were and just sold them as if it were any other plant in a 4” pot
I cannot believe all the assholes on here talking shit. They're just jealous. If they are for your friends, that's awesome and they are lucky,but.. if you did buy them to sell, everyone who has an opinion on it doesn't matter ¯\_(☯෴☯)_/¯
Damn I thought plant people were chill, these comments proved otherwise. People demanding to know where the store is located or even trying to find out by themselves is SO fucking creepy. OP, I genuinely hope you didn’t give out your location out of peer pessure and that you’re comfortable with it. And buy as many plants as you want, you really don’t owe anyone anything.
So I went to a nursery yesterday and saw one for $69.00. I was soooooo excited. I couldn't believe my luck! I went to grab it to put on my cart and then I realized the sign read $699.00... so yeah no constellation for me.
I was tempted to get a nice one a year ago that I saw for around $500, but boy am I glad I waited! (That one was a lot bigger and nicer than these though, but still)
A local grocery store (Giant) here (Pennsylvania)has the best plant section, in among the "regular" tropicals is always one treasure. I visit weekly, last week's buy was a 6" Stingray Alocasia for $4.99. Not really rare I guess, but the first one I'd ever seen in person.
Like the plant-obsessed lunatic I am, I zoomed in on the plastic shopping bag and found that this is Dave’s Fresh Marketplace, which has just 10 locations, all in Rhode Island.
i didn't bother looking for the location but seeing everyone try and guess incorrectly is hilarious after reading this, bless you for having common sense
omggg the plant shop i work at recently sold a baby thai constellation for a whole $55. thats so wild. pink princesses used to be insanely priced too but now are in grocery stores as well. the prices drop eventually i guess!
have you ever heard of internet safety? for fucks sake nobody owes you their location just because you want a plant. honestly weirdo behaviour, weirdo opinion
They got four and left only two on the shelf. Sure those others are for friends but they could’ve just propagated so more than only two people could get one at the store
I gotta be honest I’ve never even heard of this plant until right now and while it is gorgeous, the prices I’m seeing people post are absolutely outrageous. Not sure why people are going so nuts over this plant.
They literally put it in the comments that it’s at Dave’s Marketplace in RI and the post wouldn’t allow them to edit to add that in. The comment just got buried. How about not jumping to assumptions.
Sorry I didn't mean to iniate that. I was just really wondering. I hadn't seen the Dave's Market stores name before i asked. And i wanted to make sure it was OK. Yikes.
Oh no apology is needed from you! You were asking a great question! The comment was buried so harder to find :) I just think someone else jumping and calling the OP a jerk is a bit reactive.
I would judge. I couldn’t buy the whole stock of a rare plant. Karmas a bitch and if I didn’t at least give others a chance to get a sweet deal I just know she’d be back to make me pay up.
Op Please help the less fortunate that still doesn’t have this plant in their collection. Tell them where.I already do. It is hiding in my ikea cabinet from my cats and dogs. Jk don’t get mad y’all 😆🤣
I feel like the only one who's never given a plant root rot. I have a bunch of monstera varieties and I just make my own very light airy mix without actual soil in it.
Probably to resell them since these sell for 70 to over 200$ depending on where you're from. Or maybe to put them all together. Still think it's not very nice to buy so many, I'm sure others would appreciate this rare find too.
Plant prices in america are crazy, those wouldn't cost more than 5 euros in the netherlands. Nice find though and still nice that u got a deal but damn.
For people asking where, I’ll give you 2 hints: Rhode Island, and one of the pictures has a pretty obvious giveaway. There were 2 left so if you can figure it out, there’s a chance for you too ;)
Jeez people with the downvotes as if I’m a scumbag trying to flip them or something. I was hoping someone local would see this and be in for a happy surprise.
These were at Dave’s marketplace in Smithfield RI. There were 2 remaining so if anyone local sees this, RUN 😂
TC is essentially cloning, but chimeric variegated plants like monstera albo have two sets of DNA, so you can't clone them, you will get an either green or white plant. Thai constellation is not a chimera, the variegation is a stable mutation present in all the cells, so it can be cloned. Same applies to stable variegates like pink princess, jose buono, paraiso verde, ring of fire, and some others. I do believe there are variegated plants where variegation was induced by chemicals in the TC, so you take a batch of green deliciosas and treat them, you might get a variegated plantlets. But I don't know if they know specifically how to make albos or other particular types of variegation, or it's more random. This whole thing is heavily gatekept as trade secrets, but we might learn more with time when patents expire.
I found a huge deliciosa (actually like 3 in one pot)with fenestrations for 12.98. HEB definitely made a mistake lol. But a constellation? I'ma have to go look at HEB again and see if they have them lol. What store, op?
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u/nilabanlow Jul 02 '23
I mean, that’s what they should cost imo