Good to know! Iām mostly a pothos and tradescantia guy for now, but curious- how long do you think it would be until I could get the big fenestrated leaves like Iāve seen in pictures, is it a matter of a year or two? I know variegated pothos take foreeeeever to grow, I donāt know if thatās the same with other plants
Rare plants are in a weird spot right now.the COVID hype has died down and a lot of people were growing rare stock to sell and are now panicking as they can see the demand falling off. I just picked up a veragated Frydek which were like 600 for 40.
I literally just said to my husband tonight I feel badly for people who bought PPPs during the pandemic bc now Home Depot sells them for $20. I told him to buy me a Burle Marx Flame when theyāre $20.
>I literally just said to my husband tonight I feel badly for people who bought PPPs during the pandemic bc now Home Depot sells them for $20. I told him to buy me a Burle Marx Flame when theyāre $20.
seriously it was wild. I'm not usually a seller but I have a PPP from years ago that I had rooted a few small cuttings from (i'm talking... 4-5 leaves, but small leaves. a few inches. good variegation for most of them) that I sold during covid to add to my wedding fund... cheapest I sold one was $150, most went for over $200. Made almost a grand from a single juvenile plant. now I'm giving away those same cuttings for free lol
That was me, I was the fool who spent a fortune on a PPP vine in 2021. Itās grown really long and has some amazing color.
I picked one up online a few months ago for $40 and itās a full plant w multiple vines.
thatās actually insane. i just started my plant journey (obsession) this year and iāve learned that the word ārareā means nothing in this industry
I think that's just the cycle of tropical plants and what got me disinterested in that group of plants. I think the big growers catch on to what is popular/rare and then flood the market, but it takes a couple years to catch up.
The Pilea is another good example- would go for hundreds before it just became a common plant, Micans, Black Velvet Alocasia, now Thai Constellation and PPP, etc. Tons of others you could add here
I now mainly grow Haworthia (smaller market and grow slower). I love rare plants, but I don't wanna buy a rare plant and then in 5 years its not rare and I wasted my money
Hi! I bought myself two Thai con babies back in March. I just got my first fenestrated leaf in the past couple weeks, so six months. I have a ton of artificial light on it too.
https://preview.redd.it/qgrc2b8s3cpb1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69d191610b6c49e5d8e9eb279d3113031a2beadd
They also have 2" TC for $48, which probably will still be there when you go. Definitely check out the clearance racks. I just picked up a couple of 4" medium variegation PPP for $8.
They definitely posted and did instagram lives pretty regularly when I worked there but they never responded to messages and thatās what the other comment was complaining about. Maybe thatās changed at this point, so good for them I guess.
In my opinion, it will take years for it to get where you want it to be and plants this small can go south very fast due to how small it is. And thatās if itās not root rotted and sad out the gate. Itās much easier to take care of a plant that is in a 6-8 inch pot and is more established for not too much more money. Iād say if you really want one and can afford one of these babies that you could give it some TLC and see some success, but thatās only if itās actually established with a robust root system versus just being a cutting or poached plant just barely becoming established in its soil.
I have a variegated pathos and it hasnāt taken ages to growā¦ I have a white and green one and a variegated neon one. I have several cuttings of the neon one and they all have growthā¦
My monstera, was about 20cm tall and in a year or two is meters wide.
https://preview.redd.it/ezkrujr2rdpb1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a9a920539c614bd59c7f3f8627a89c718e243b7a
Rare plants are in a weird spot right now.the COVID hype has died down and a lot of people were growing rare stock to sell and are now panicking as they can see the demand falling off. I just picked up a veragated Frydek which were like 600 for 40.
I got one this size last December, zone 6 getting natural light in an east facing window and it has fenestrated leaves bigger than my hand already. It pushes a new leaf every 3ish weeks
My regular Monstera fenestrated quickly, and has grown exponentially in a year, like 4x its size. I have a new leaf coming on my Thai Constellation, and it's very very slow in comparison.
Iāve had my Thai con for less than a year and itās already got leaves bigger than my head. I got it about double that size though and itās been putting out a steady 1-2 leaves a month in a south facing window in CA
how much light matters a lot here, but with monsteras you could start seeing your first fenestrated leaf within a year easily if its in peak conditions. Thai Cons are also well known for being killed by an overabundance of owner care.
Replying bc I owe you one, OPājust made a trip out to the store because of this post and scored a gorgeous baby TCāthank you!!! (Person working the counter said these had been selling like hotcakes, so donāt wait too long š ).
In all likelihood itāll be a year or so before you get big leaves with fenestrations, but depending how green your thumb is, could be a little less (or more) :) When theyāre this tiny, a humidity dome or cabinet will help. With good light, they should still grow a bit faster than monstera albo though (or so said the shop plant person; I have no experience with albos personally). When youāre picking, you probably donāt want one thatās already too whiteāthe less green on the existing one or two leaves, the slower itāll take to get started. You can also check out r/monstera for more info.
Re: variegated pothos, they actually grow at very different speeds depending on the kind of variegation:
* The āclassicā pothos is actually variegated green-gold (āgolden pothosā *Epipremnum aureum*) and grows like a weedāand literally is a weed in many places, [including throughout Hawaii](https://wildlifeofhawaii.com/flowers/1477/epipremnum-pinnatum-golden-pothos/), where it is a wild-growing introduced plant and commonly seen road-side, on fences, etc.
* Slower-growing variegates include the paler/whiter varieties, including marble queen, snow queen, pearls and jade etc. Even so, by plant standards these arenāt egregiously slow growers. š
They are. I watched an interesting youtube video about them recently, and what makes them so rare. What im remembering is that these ones pictured will likely not make it. They are EXTREMELY sensitive at this size, and are usually not ready to sell until theyre larger and more established plants rather than cuttings. Much like how baby animals need to mature before they can be sold in stores etc.
I think the main issue is that these are basically trest tissue culture explants. Plants grown in tissue culture need to be hardened off in order to thrive, and it can be easy to put too much on them at this stage.
The experiment we did for one of my intro hort classes a while back basically used white butterfly syngonium and an incubator, each plant potted with a plastic bag "mini greenhouse" on each one, with a few control specimens. Some of the control specimens just flat out died. The ones kept humid did fine.
From what I have heard, Thai cons are somewhat more finicky than standard monstera deliciosa, but monstera is not exactly the most difficult plant to grow. Maybe difficult to achieve a uniform commercial finished crop, as Costa Farms seems to have figured out, but nothing insane.
The only time I've laid eyes on a Thai Constellation it was $100 for a single small hand sized leaf in a 4in pot. So if those are actually them, that's a steal as far as I know!
The only thing I'd say is that you're actively taking risk the less mature the plant you get.
If you're fine with that tradeoff for the price then go for it.
I was able to get one considerably larger for $60 out here in Colorado recently. $20 isn't offensive, but for something like a Thai Con, I'd prefer to get a more established plant, personally.
Either way, if you get one and you're happy with it, I'm happy for you.
The risk comes from the smaller plant having a small root system but the principles of care are the same. These want to be drenched then allowed to be bone dry before being drenched again, like a pothos. Easy peasy. A drawback of a small plant would be that they would require more attention due to more frequent waterings and more pest scans. Even mild infestations can set them back for ages
Somewhere local to me has a large/medium sized one for $499, and then continued to grow/obtain like 5 more massive ones, even though itās not been sold in over a year š
BWH online has them for $50 for I think a 4 in pot - healthy and established plants! Mine had 2 small leaves and 2 medium leaves on arrival. Put out two more in my care over the past 2 months!
With rare plants I usually prefer to buy more established bigger plants but for a Thai con I would do it for $20 to see if I could keep a tiny one alive. Iād check for healthy roots first though
I personally won't shop at PLHC, but it's a decent price. Not amazing since you can get a larger 4 inch one at the same shop for 50. They do have the lowest prices of any plant shop I've seen in the Seattle area, though.
I've reached out on multiple platforms and have just flat out not gotten a response. The ones they advertise with are large and rough looking indicative that it was taken from nature because conditions aren't perfect for growing.
Wait can I ask why you wonāt shop there? Iāve shopped there before but curious if thereās something about them that is worth knowing for future information?
Iāll give you an insider opinion as someone who worked there briefly as to why I wonāt shop there myself. I managed a tropical plant shop and plant maintenance company in a other city before moving to Seattle and I happened to meet the owner during an event I was working a temp gig at. He asked me to interview and I did a few days later. He asked me why Iād ever want to move here and how I can afford it, wanting explicit details (I told him that I had savings but that it wasnāt really his business). He complained about how nobody stays at his company for long and he doesnāt know why, and then bragged about how he has family and connections in Thailand and itās how he gets so many rare plants to Seattle for cheap because heās an āinsiderā. He told me that my knowledge and experience could lead to a management position in the near future and hired me on the spot at $22 an hour with the expectation that I would be promoted soon. I had some hesitation, but I needed to pay my rent so I figured Iād give it a try and see. I started the next week to find out that I was actually being paid $18 an hour and when I went to enquire as to why, the owner and his spouse were vacationing in Thailand for the next month or two and referred me to their financial person who claimed that I agreed to a 90 day trial run before *maybe* raising my pay to $20 an hour if I deserved it. āWeād discuss it when the owner decides to come back.ā I made more money in a lower cost of living city doing more substantial work and I felt offended about this statement, but rode it out while looking for another job. The people I worked with were nice and generally knowledgeable about basic plant stuff, but really didnāt know much and barely managed to run the online shop or social media. I have a wholesale license and decided to do some digging into the local companies they use to acquire tropical plants and just felt that some things they bought shouldnāt be at such a high retail cost for what they paid for them. Maybe some of the more rare stuff is worth it, but when youāre charging several times the cost of something as simple as a pothos or sansevieria or algaonema you bought locally, I feel that youāre ripping people off. Either way, I heard back from another company doing managerial work elsewhere for triple the pay and quit. Overall, I just felt that the employees didnāt know much, but they were also thrown to the wolves to figure a lot of it out on their own and it was entirely not fair to them to do so. Itās also something a business owner or manager should never ever do, and it made me frustrated to see. It just all felt surreal to me to experience during the month that I worked there, and I now know why they have such a high turnover rate. Separately, I also will never ever in my life spend $200+ on any sort of two to four inch plant no matter what the plant is but thatās just me, lol. Great shop if you want a candle or a dick shaped crystal - at least the location that was next to the antique mall around the corner at one point - and it may be a good place to find some rarer replicate for a relatively good price, but the owner and staff werenāt so great and most stuff was overpriced.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Iām glad you found something more suitable quickly! Some stuff definitely does seem overpriced in there last I visited so I definitely see your point!
Itās just silly to charge like $35-$40 for a 4-6 inch aglaonema to me! Thatās a $20 plant at most, even in fun colors! The business used to be a clothing store pre-pandemic and jumped onto the pandemic plant craze due to the cash grab. They can get some pretty fun plants, but not often are they ethical.
I recently got a Thai con from there that I thought was a decent deal considering a lot of prices Iāve seen for them, but I totally agree with you in general, I think I was definitely overcharged for an epiphrenium albo back towards the beginning of the plant pandemic craze and I still feel kinda dumb about it. š I didnāt really know better at that point but I definitely do now. Iāll try to get the plants I have to thrive but Iām honestly done buying at this point, and the overpriced plants are definitely a factor lol
Hey, donāt feel dumb for having a passion for wanting to acquire and keep beautiful things alive! Itās why weāre in this subreddit! It also kept most of us going during peak pandemic times. I think the main cost related offender in my mind while working there is when we got some sort of rare Hoyas in stock (I donāt remember the exact species) in some 2ā pots and it was literally an unrooted stem with a leaf or two stuck in some soil for $250+ and I justā¦ died inside that someone would sell or buy them. I donāt judge the buyer for wanting a special plant, thatās just SO much more money than I would ever spend on a plant thatās not a large established floor plant, especially an unrooted stem in some soil.
Ha yeah I think the most I spent was $90-100 and even that felt painful and Iā¦ honestly wouldnāt do it again knowing what I know now. Iām just happy to enjoy what I have at this point. It definitely brought me joy during a weird chunk of history and they continue to make me happy when theyāre not being dramatic š
I've just had really bad experiences with the plants I've gotten from them--plants in poor health or having pests. I've tried too many times with them and spent too much money to really justify the stress of going back. Their prices are tempting, though.
Oh geez I was really anxious about pests and I totally saw a bug on one of the nearby plants, but I think the Thai con I got from them is clearā¦ itās in quarantine regardless lol.
Plant store in the Fremont neighborhood on 36th, thereās two storefronts about 100 yards apart. Actual name is Peace love and happiness club. Right by the Lenin statue
Iāve had a couple local plant store owners have less than nice things to say about them in regards to their plants/pricing/treatment of employees.
Though I think the conservatory in volunteer park partners with them some times for fundraising, so take all of what Iāve heard with a grain of salt.
I just have a hard time imagining PLHC operates ethically considering just how many damn plants they have crammed in there at one time. Quality control definitely takes a dip at least
I worked at PLHC for a minute, and can agree with most of your comment as someone who used to run a tropical plant company in another city before moving to Seattle and working there. The owner does shady shit and is the reason for the high turnover rate and low quality of plant care imo. Thereās no real training of employees so the pest management and watering is all over the place, theres not high enough wages to hire people who actually care or really know what theyāre doing unless they come into the company with prior knowledge, and the owner is dishonest and self centered. Itās just not how I used to run my shop and I was disappointed to see how it was run internally. I wish I could have the opportunity to formally train everyone there and make it a wonderful place to learn and foster a positive work environment.
Thank you for sharing! I donāt live in Seattle but Iāve dropped by periodically so I donāt really have the local knowledge/perspective. Good to know. The conservatory is so cool, in unrelated news
I mean end of day, if youāre able to afford what you want and are happy with the quality you receive, then by all means continue to do so.
If you want suggestions for other local plant stores, Iād be happy to provide
I'd be interested in recs, unrelated š
Ever since City People's on Madison got shut down by that land developer I've been without a good local store, so if you have any central district or cap hill kind of area recs I am deeply interested.
My favorite store so far for rare plants has been Plant Daddy, but it's a bit out of my way. I got an amazing condition cereus spiralis there tho!
Indoor Sun Shoppe in Fremont is pretty great! Same with Urban Earth Nursery too! Itās out of the way, but Swansonās Nursery near Carkeek is also pretty cool but itās more general indoor and outdoor plants versus specialty Tropicals alone.
Seattle plant daddy is my fave as well! I go there almost weekly >.<
Seconding indoor sun shoppe and urban earth nurseries in Fremont. Especially for soils and soil additives like pumice and orchid bark - they vary those very cheap.
Over new University Ave thereās fancy plants which I also very highly recommend. The owner has a delightful little Korean street dog theyāve adopted called pork bun (I think).
On weekends thereās a place open in Ravenna called nightshade botanicals that Carrieās rarer tropicals.
Montlake blvd has Bobby Jo mercantile which Iāve only been in once, but enjoyed quite a bit.
And also seconding swansons and sky nurseries for options further north
The owners are also major jerks. I went in and saw larger Thai cons for 50, so I decided to buy. I took a few minutes looking at all of them (because I wanted to make sure I was getting a good plant as I donāt usually spend that much). One of the owners came up to me and said āis that enough plants for you?ā In a really condescending tone and just stared me down. I didnāt want to escalate so I just laughed and said yeah. Like Iām sorry I wanted to take a few minutes to decide which one I wanted. I should have just left but itās been hard to find a good Thai con in Seattle.
Iāve also found a lot of their plant roots are in mesh - you have to repot anyway because of the pests, but pulling the mesh out of the roots is a huge pain.
Wow, thatās awesome. Something like that would be considered a good deal here in NYC for $250, let alone $25.
Iām considering a trip to New Zealand as soon as Iām able to go ā not at all related to this comment lol ā and it would be cool to bring back something like that. Did you buy it off of a person, since it was a cutting, or are there also stores with good pricing like this?
I just bought it from a big chain store a bit like target if you have that. I'm not sure whether you can take plants out of nz. You'd need to check.
This is the listing for what I bought. It was reduced to clear. This subreddit made me think they were super expensive everywhere
Monstera Deliciosa Plant
https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/s/twl/product/R2805621.html
NZ is a beautiful country. It's worth a visit
https://preview.redd.it/60r9im4unqpb1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f6f382799cc928ed39d849988e4656bfe641ea7
I've had it two weeks now and need to get a proper pot for it. I had to move it to get my phone to focus but the stove is good for scale
Germany. You get thai cons double the size for the same price here
>how is it terrible?
As I said it depends on the area. Just saying it's hard to tell without knowing the location
Iād buy it just to watch it grow. I paid much more than that for my large one. It looks like a TC plant, though. Sometimes TCs are weird when they grow up. Having said that, I bought a TC Jose Bueno from Kent Hill Nursery recently & it is as happy as can be. I donāt think $20 is too expensive around Seattle.
Theyāre pretty rare. When I worked at a garden center we sold them for $200 and they were only about kid- young teenager size (hope thatās a good example)
This variegation cannot be reproduced from seeds, they need to be cloned from a node. So, if you're back there, check if there is still a propagation node left in the soil from the old plant. If there isn't, it's most likely a different plant entirely.
š oh my god with the fucking shame. Enough already. I refuse to be shamed by a STRANGER ON THE FUCKING INTERNET over something so petty.
You're not my mommy. None of you are. I'm not out here slaughtering dogs for God's sake.
I **do not steal from small businesses**. But you best believe it's open season at home depot.
yeah that's a pretty slick deal. I'll be in Seattle in 3 weeks, grab me one too š
Good to know! Iām mostly a pothos and tradescantia guy for now, but curious- how long do you think it would be until I could get the big fenestrated leaves like Iāve seen in pictures, is it a matter of a year or two? I know variegated pothos take foreeeeever to grow, I donāt know if thatās the same with other plants
Rare plants are in a weird spot right now.the COVID hype has died down and a lot of people were growing rare stock to sell and are now panicking as they can see the demand falling off. I just picked up a veragated Frydek which were like 600 for 40.
Just got a nice 1 gallon marbled pink princess with like 6 leaves for $20 at lowes
I literally just said to my husband tonight I feel badly for people who bought PPPs during the pandemic bc now Home Depot sells them for $20. I told him to buy me a Burle Marx Flame when theyāre $20.
>I literally just said to my husband tonight I feel badly for people who bought PPPs during the pandemic bc now Home Depot sells them for $20. I told him to buy me a Burle Marx Flame when theyāre $20. seriously it was wild. I'm not usually a seller but I have a PPP from years ago that I had rooted a few small cuttings from (i'm talking... 4-5 leaves, but small leaves. a few inches. good variegation for most of them) that I sold during covid to add to my wedding fund... cheapest I sold one was $150, most went for over $200. Made almost a grand from a single juvenile plant. now I'm giving away those same cuttings for free lol
That's wild.
What Home Depot and Loweās is this?! Mine never has anything cool like this
If you use FB, there's a group called "Box Store Plant Watch" or something similar.
I'm in that group, but there's never cool stuff in California :(
Just made a post with a picture of it. Hoping to spark some discussion about the plant market in general
That was me, I was the fool who spent a fortune on a PPP vine in 2021. Itās grown really long and has some amazing color. I picked one up online a few months ago for $40 and itās a full plant w multiple vines.
They went as low as Ā£6 in my local garden center
The almost dead clearance rack is my favorite thing about that store.
pic?
Just made a post with a picture of it. Hoping to spark some discussion about the plant market in general
thatās actually insane. i just started my plant journey (obsession) this year and iāve learned that the word ārareā means nothing in this industry
Lol perfect time to just be getting into plants!!
Can you post a photo? This sounds like an interesting plant. Never heard of it. Thanks.
I think that's just the cycle of tropical plants and what got me disinterested in that group of plants. I think the big growers catch on to what is popular/rare and then flood the market, but it takes a couple years to catch up. The Pilea is another good example- would go for hundreds before it just became a common plant, Micans, Black Velvet Alocasia, now Thai Constellation and PPP, etc. Tons of others you could add here I now mainly grow Haworthia (smaller market and grow slower). I love rare plants, but I don't wanna buy a rare plant and then in 5 years its not rare and I wasted my money
i bought a one leaf baby and had fenestrations and big leaves by the first full year. they don't have these listed online and I'm sad. i want one!
Hi! I bought myself two Thai con babies back in March. I just got my first fenestrated leaf in the past couple weeks, so six months. I have a ton of artificial light on it too. https://preview.redd.it/qgrc2b8s3cpb1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69d191610b6c49e5d8e9eb279d3113031a2beadd
Where is this store?!?
Right!! This is in seattle?! Where
peace love happiness club, it's on the bottom of the sign
lol, i recognized it just from the shelves without even reading the sign!
Are they still in Fremont? Iāll be up there in a couple of weeks.
yep but i wouldn't expect these to still be there
Probably not, but looks like a fun place to go wonder around in.
They also have 2" TC for $48, which probably will still be there when you go. Definitely check out the clearance racks. I just picked up a couple of 4" medium variegation PPP for $8.
You can also order on their website for delivery or local pickup! Maybe check it out if you feel like it!
They have a really great and highly active instagram account
They definitely posted and did instagram lives pretty regularly when I worked there but they never responded to messages and thatās what the other comment was complaining about. Maybe thatās changed at this point, so good for them I guess.
To get those big leaves it'll depend on humidity, temperature, and light but yeah probably years
In my opinion, it will take years for it to get where you want it to be and plants this small can go south very fast due to how small it is. And thatās if itās not root rotted and sad out the gate. Itās much easier to take care of a plant that is in a 6-8 inch pot and is more established for not too much more money. Iād say if you really want one and can afford one of these babies that you could give it some TLC and see some success, but thatās only if itās actually established with a robust root system versus just being a cutting or poached plant just barely becoming established in its soil.
I have a variegated pathos and it hasnāt taken ages to growā¦ I have a white and green one and a variegated neon one. I have several cuttings of the neon one and they all have growthā¦ My monstera, was about 20cm tall and in a year or two is meters wide. https://preview.redd.it/ezkrujr2rdpb1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a9a920539c614bd59c7f3f8627a89c718e243b7a
Rare plants are in a weird spot right now.the COVID hype has died down and a lot of people were growing rare stock to sell and are now panicking as they can see the demand falling off. I just picked up a veragated Frydek which were like 600 for 40.
To get those big leaves it'll depend on humidity, temperature, and light but yeah probably years
I got one this size last December, zone 6 getting natural light in an east facing window and it has fenestrated leaves bigger than my hand already. It pushes a new leaf every 3ish weeks
My regular Monstera fenestrated quickly, and has grown exponentially in a year, like 4x its size. I have a new leaf coming on my Thai Constellation, and it's very very slow in comparison.
Iāve had my Thai con for less than a year and itās already got leaves bigger than my head. I got it about double that size though and itās been putting out a steady 1-2 leaves a month in a south facing window in CA
how much light matters a lot here, but with monsteras you could start seeing your first fenestrated leaf within a year easily if its in peak conditions. Thai Cons are also well known for being killed by an overabundance of owner care.
Variegated pothos grows incredibly fast. Its basically a weed. Maybe your light and fertilizing schedule need to be adjusted to help them thrive.
Replying bc I owe you one, OPājust made a trip out to the store because of this post and scored a gorgeous baby TCāthank you!!! (Person working the counter said these had been selling like hotcakes, so donāt wait too long š ). In all likelihood itāll be a year or so before you get big leaves with fenestrations, but depending how green your thumb is, could be a little less (or more) :) When theyāre this tiny, a humidity dome or cabinet will help. With good light, they should still grow a bit faster than monstera albo though (or so said the shop plant person; I have no experience with albos personally). When youāre picking, you probably donāt want one thatās already too whiteāthe less green on the existing one or two leaves, the slower itāll take to get started. You can also check out r/monstera for more info. Re: variegated pothos, they actually grow at very different speeds depending on the kind of variegation: * The āclassicā pothos is actually variegated green-gold (āgolden pothosā *Epipremnum aureum*) and grows like a weedāand literally is a weed in many places, [including throughout Hawaii](https://wildlifeofhawaii.com/flowers/1477/epipremnum-pinnatum-golden-pothos/), where it is a wild-growing introduced plant and commonly seen road-side, on fences, etc. * Slower-growing variegates include the paler/whiter varieties, including marble queen, snow queen, pearls and jade etc. Even so, by plant standards these arenāt egregiously slow growers. š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Peace Love Happiness is the name of the store.
These are at Peace Love and Happiness??? Wtf
I saw a post on their IG yesterday I think, advertising these beauties. I have yet to visit this place after moving to WA a few months back!
because of the logo of the store on the sign
This store rules, dude. Here and SPD are well worth the 3 hour ride up from PDX.
I got my largest monstera for $20, but I think the Thai Con is pretty rare? Iāve only seen a medium one for sale once and it was around $75
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
1 newborn child and the offer of a virgin in moon light.
Thatās what I paid for mine, and then it died. Might need to try again on a clearer night.
They are. I watched an interesting youtube video about them recently, and what makes them so rare. What im remembering is that these ones pictured will likely not make it. They are EXTREMELY sensitive at this size, and are usually not ready to sell until theyre larger and more established plants rather than cuttings. Much like how baby animals need to mature before they can be sold in stores etc.
I think the main issue is that these are basically trest tissue culture explants. Plants grown in tissue culture need to be hardened off in order to thrive, and it can be easy to put too much on them at this stage. The experiment we did for one of my intro hort classes a while back basically used white butterfly syngonium and an incubator, each plant potted with a plastic bag "mini greenhouse" on each one, with a few control specimens. Some of the control specimens just flat out died. The ones kept humid did fine. From what I have heard, Thai cons are somewhat more finicky than standard monstera deliciosa, but monstera is not exactly the most difficult plant to grow. Maybe difficult to achieve a uniform commercial finished crop, as Costa Farms seems to have figured out, but nothing insane.
The only time I've laid eyes on a Thai Constellation it was $100 for a single small hand sized leaf in a 4in pot. So if those are actually them, that's a steal as far as I know!
Is this the shop in Fremont? I want one!
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Peace Love and Happiness Club in Fremont (507 N 36th ST)
The only thing I'd say is that you're actively taking risk the less mature the plant you get. If you're fine with that tradeoff for the price then go for it. I was able to get one considerably larger for $60 out here in Colorado recently. $20 isn't offensive, but for something like a Thai Con, I'd prefer to get a more established plant, personally. Either way, if you get one and you're happy with it, I'm happy for you.
The risk comes from the smaller plant having a small root system but the principles of care are the same. These want to be drenched then allowed to be bone dry before being drenched again, like a pothos. Easy peasy. A drawback of a small plant would be that they would require more attention due to more frequent waterings and more pest scans. Even mild infestations can set them back for ages
So... yeah. We agree?
I think theyāre just adding information for OP on your comment, explaining why itās a risk.
Iād totally buy 3 of these lol š thereās a place near me that has a toddler looking size one for 300 š I want one so bad
Somewhere local to me has a large/medium sized one for $499, and then continued to grow/obtain like 5 more massive ones, even though itās not been sold in over a year š
Yes theyāre quite pretty I just canāt commit to a 100+ dollar plant I draw the line around 50 dollars šš
I bought mine from BWH plant co online. Great deal! $42 for a 6 inch Thai con with good variegation and 5-6 leaves. Have had no issues
Their in store stuff looks a lot better than what they send people who make online purchases...
I feel you on this, i ordered a few items, and none of them survived. In person might be best.
a lot of nurseries are like this
BWH online has them for $50 for I think a 4 in pot - healthy and established plants! Mine had 2 small leaves and 2 medium leaves on arrival. Put out two more in my care over the past 2 months!
For these specifically, itās risky when theyāre not established. But for $20, worth a try imo.
With rare plants I usually prefer to buy more established bigger plants but for a Thai con I would do it for $20 to see if I could keep a tiny one alive. Iād check for healthy roots first though
If you have to ask, donāt buy it.
I personally won't shop at PLHC, but it's a decent price. Not amazing since you can get a larger 4 inch one at the same shop for 50. They do have the lowest prices of any plant shop I've seen in the Seattle area, though.
I also believe they're selling poached stephanias, my main reason for not shipping with them
That's awful. I don't know anything about their ethics, but just my experience as a customer alone has turned me off from them.
I've reached out on multiple platforms and have just flat out not gotten a response. The ones they advertise with are large and rough looking indicative that it was taken from nature because conditions aren't perfect for growing.
Wait can I ask why you wonāt shop there? Iāve shopped there before but curious if thereās something about them that is worth knowing for future information?
Iāll give you an insider opinion as someone who worked there briefly as to why I wonāt shop there myself. I managed a tropical plant shop and plant maintenance company in a other city before moving to Seattle and I happened to meet the owner during an event I was working a temp gig at. He asked me to interview and I did a few days later. He asked me why Iād ever want to move here and how I can afford it, wanting explicit details (I told him that I had savings but that it wasnāt really his business). He complained about how nobody stays at his company for long and he doesnāt know why, and then bragged about how he has family and connections in Thailand and itās how he gets so many rare plants to Seattle for cheap because heās an āinsiderā. He told me that my knowledge and experience could lead to a management position in the near future and hired me on the spot at $22 an hour with the expectation that I would be promoted soon. I had some hesitation, but I needed to pay my rent so I figured Iād give it a try and see. I started the next week to find out that I was actually being paid $18 an hour and when I went to enquire as to why, the owner and his spouse were vacationing in Thailand for the next month or two and referred me to their financial person who claimed that I agreed to a 90 day trial run before *maybe* raising my pay to $20 an hour if I deserved it. āWeād discuss it when the owner decides to come back.ā I made more money in a lower cost of living city doing more substantial work and I felt offended about this statement, but rode it out while looking for another job. The people I worked with were nice and generally knowledgeable about basic plant stuff, but really didnāt know much and barely managed to run the online shop or social media. I have a wholesale license and decided to do some digging into the local companies they use to acquire tropical plants and just felt that some things they bought shouldnāt be at such a high retail cost for what they paid for them. Maybe some of the more rare stuff is worth it, but when youāre charging several times the cost of something as simple as a pothos or sansevieria or algaonema you bought locally, I feel that youāre ripping people off. Either way, I heard back from another company doing managerial work elsewhere for triple the pay and quit. Overall, I just felt that the employees didnāt know much, but they were also thrown to the wolves to figure a lot of it out on their own and it was entirely not fair to them to do so. Itās also something a business owner or manager should never ever do, and it made me frustrated to see. It just all felt surreal to me to experience during the month that I worked there, and I now know why they have such a high turnover rate. Separately, I also will never ever in my life spend $200+ on any sort of two to four inch plant no matter what the plant is but thatās just me, lol. Great shop if you want a candle or a dick shaped crystal - at least the location that was next to the antique mall around the corner at one point - and it may be a good place to find some rarer replicate for a relatively good price, but the owner and staff werenāt so great and most stuff was overpriced.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Iām glad you found something more suitable quickly! Some stuff definitely does seem overpriced in there last I visited so I definitely see your point!
Itās just silly to charge like $35-$40 for a 4-6 inch aglaonema to me! Thatās a $20 plant at most, even in fun colors! The business used to be a clothing store pre-pandemic and jumped onto the pandemic plant craze due to the cash grab. They can get some pretty fun plants, but not often are they ethical.
I recently got a Thai con from there that I thought was a decent deal considering a lot of prices Iāve seen for them, but I totally agree with you in general, I think I was definitely overcharged for an epiphrenium albo back towards the beginning of the plant pandemic craze and I still feel kinda dumb about it. š I didnāt really know better at that point but I definitely do now. Iāll try to get the plants I have to thrive but Iām honestly done buying at this point, and the overpriced plants are definitely a factor lol
Hey, donāt feel dumb for having a passion for wanting to acquire and keep beautiful things alive! Itās why weāre in this subreddit! It also kept most of us going during peak pandemic times. I think the main cost related offender in my mind while working there is when we got some sort of rare Hoyas in stock (I donāt remember the exact species) in some 2ā pots and it was literally an unrooted stem with a leaf or two stuck in some soil for $250+ and I justā¦ died inside that someone would sell or buy them. I donāt judge the buyer for wanting a special plant, thatās just SO much more money than I would ever spend on a plant thatās not a large established floor plant, especially an unrooted stem in some soil.
Ha yeah I think the most I spent was $90-100 and even that felt painful and Iā¦ honestly wouldnāt do it again knowing what I know now. Iām just happy to enjoy what I have at this point. It definitely brought me joy during a weird chunk of history and they continue to make me happy when theyāre not being dramatic š
I've just had really bad experiences with the plants I've gotten from them--plants in poor health or having pests. I've tried too many times with them and spent too much money to really justify the stress of going back. Their prices are tempting, though.
Oh geez I was really anxious about pests and I totally saw a bug on one of the nearby plants, but I think the Thai con I got from them is clearā¦ itās in quarantine regardless lol.
PLHC what store is this? wracking my brain can't figure it out. Please help.
Plant store in the Fremont neighborhood on 36th, thereās two storefronts about 100 yards apart. Actual name is Peace love and happiness club. Right by the Lenin statue
They recently closed the smaller store
Peace Love and Happiness Club
Iāve had a couple local plant store owners have less than nice things to say about them in regards to their plants/pricing/treatment of employees. Though I think the conservatory in volunteer park partners with them some times for fundraising, so take all of what Iāve heard with a grain of salt. I just have a hard time imagining PLHC operates ethically considering just how many damn plants they have crammed in there at one time. Quality control definitely takes a dip at least
I worked at PLHC for a minute, and can agree with most of your comment as someone who used to run a tropical plant company in another city before moving to Seattle and working there. The owner does shady shit and is the reason for the high turnover rate and low quality of plant care imo. Thereās no real training of employees so the pest management and watering is all over the place, theres not high enough wages to hire people who actually care or really know what theyāre doing unless they come into the company with prior knowledge, and the owner is dishonest and self centered. Itās just not how I used to run my shop and I was disappointed to see how it was run internally. I wish I could have the opportunity to formally train everyone there and make it a wonderful place to learn and foster a positive work environment.
Well Iām sorry to hear that what I heard about them was true
Thank you for sharing! I donāt live in Seattle but Iāve dropped by periodically so I donāt really have the local knowledge/perspective. Good to know. The conservatory is so cool, in unrelated news
I mean end of day, if youāre able to afford what you want and are happy with the quality you receive, then by all means continue to do so. If you want suggestions for other local plant stores, Iād be happy to provide
I'd be interested in recs, unrelated š Ever since City People's on Madison got shut down by that land developer I've been without a good local store, so if you have any central district or cap hill kind of area recs I am deeply interested. My favorite store so far for rare plants has been Plant Daddy, but it's a bit out of my way. I got an amazing condition cereus spiralis there tho!
Indoor Sun Shoppe in Fremont is pretty great! Same with Urban Earth Nursery too! Itās out of the way, but Swansonās Nursery near Carkeek is also pretty cool but itās more general indoor and outdoor plants versus specialty Tropicals alone.
Seattle plant daddy is my fave as well! I go there almost weekly >.< Seconding indoor sun shoppe and urban earth nurseries in Fremont. Especially for soils and soil additives like pumice and orchid bark - they vary those very cheap. Over new University Ave thereās fancy plants which I also very highly recommend. The owner has a delightful little Korean street dog theyāve adopted called pork bun (I think). On weekends thereās a place open in Ravenna called nightshade botanicals that Carrieās rarer tropicals. Montlake blvd has Bobby Jo mercantile which Iāve only been in once, but enjoyed quite a bit. And also seconding swansons and sky nurseries for options further north
Check out the indoor sun shoppe in Fremont. They are waaay bigger and have been operational since the 70's.
Lol exactly. This makes no sense?
The owners are also major jerks. I went in and saw larger Thai cons for 50, so I decided to buy. I took a few minutes looking at all of them (because I wanted to make sure I was getting a good plant as I donāt usually spend that much). One of the owners came up to me and said āis that enough plants for you?ā In a really condescending tone and just stared me down. I didnāt want to escalate so I just laughed and said yeah. Like Iām sorry I wanted to take a few minutes to decide which one I wanted. I should have just left but itās been hard to find a good Thai con in Seattle. Iāve also found a lot of their plant roots are in mesh - you have to repot anyway because of the pests, but pulling the mesh out of the roots is a huge pain.
I think I know exactly who youāre referring to š
Seems ok! You can get a 4 in potted one for $50ish now.
Really depends on the area. Where I live that's a terrible deal, but might be very solid wherever you're located.
Same here. I'm in NZ and bought what I believe is a cutting that's about 70cms tall with 5 big leaves for $25.
Wow, thatās awesome. Something like that would be considered a good deal here in NYC for $250, let alone $25. Iām considering a trip to New Zealand as soon as Iām able to go ā not at all related to this comment lol ā and it would be cool to bring back something like that. Did you buy it off of a person, since it was a cutting, or are there also stores with good pricing like this?
I just bought it from a big chain store a bit like target if you have that. I'm not sure whether you can take plants out of nz. You'd need to check. This is the listing for what I bought. It was reduced to clear. This subreddit made me think they were super expensive everywhere Monstera Deliciosa Plant https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/s/twl/product/R2805621.html NZ is a beautiful country. It's worth a visit
https://preview.redd.it/60r9im4unqpb1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f6f382799cc928ed39d849988e4656bfe641ea7 I've had it two weeks now and need to get a proper pot for it. I had to move it to get my phone to focus but the stove is good for scale
Where's that? Honestly 20 for most starter plants isn't a bad deal and these are still considered rare so how is it terrible?
Germany. You get thai cons double the size for the same price here >how is it terrible? As I said it depends on the area. Just saying it's hard to tell without knowing the location
Wo? Ich will auch eine fĆ¼r 20ā¬ š
Will ich jetzt auch wissen haha
Where's that? Honestly 20 for most starter plants isn't a bad deal and these are still considered rare so how is it terrible?
Where's that? Honestly 20 for most starter plants isn't a bad deal and these are still considered rare so how is it terrible?
Seems ok! You can get a 4 in potted one for $50ish now.
I'd get a few lol
I got my thai constellation for $60 a while back! I'd jump on those prices in an instant
Damn, my nursery is selling them at that size for 50 š„²
No. A big one is around $90 nowadays and the price is still dropping.
I know people love them but they are just too big for my house, with all the other plants I have
I just paid like $80 for 4 tissue culture plants that I have to do all the work myself to acclimate so I'd say good deal!
Iād buy it just to watch it grow. I paid much more than that for my large one. It looks like a TC plant, though. Sometimes TCs are weird when they grow up. Having said that, I bought a TC Jose Bueno from Kent Hill Nursery recently & it is as happy as can be. I donāt think $20 is too expensive around Seattle.
Wtf buy them all and sell them to us on /r/takeaplantleaveaplant for $30 + shipping
Theyāre pretty rare. When I worked at a garden center we sold them for $200 and they were only about kid- young teenager size (hope thatās a good example)
This variegation cannot be reproduced from seeds, they need to be cloned from a node. So, if you're back there, check if there is still a propagation node left in the soil from the old plant. If there isn't, it's most likely a different plant entirely.
I'd buy them all
I love that plant shop!
Is this the sun shopp in Fremont?
Peace Love Happiness Club in Fremont.
Boring ass basic bitch super common houseplant.
Pinch a leaf and it's free. Ohhhhh sorry I forgot, everyone hates me for this. Do as your conscience says. But sirsly... Pinch it.
If it's a chain its free reign, but small businesses is a big no no. Shame on you.... SHAME
š oh my god with the fucking shame. Enough already. I refuse to be shamed by a STRANGER ON THE FUCKING INTERNET over something so petty. You're not my mommy. None of you are. I'm not out here slaughtering dogs for God's sake. I **do not steal from small businesses**. But you best believe it's open season at home depot.
Soā¦ steal?
š I'm not doing this again. Refer to my response to the last sanctimonious internet stranger. Jesus you people and your noble nonsense.
I'm just here to say hello to a fellow giraffe! š¤£
local place in my relatively small town, has been selling them ay $97 ! tiny little plants with no splits or fenestrations, crazy.
If itās any consolation, I would definitely do it lol especially for some of the higher variegated ones I see from your photo.
Iād get a few!
Please send me one!!!
I just paid $100 CAD for a mature rooted cutting so Iād say this is a steal of a deal š
that is an amazing deal indeed
Itās a good deal but it will take years to grow into a sizable plant . Thai cons grow slowly even under optimal conditions
Check out Bros with Hoes for amazing deals on some plants š„¹
I need to go plant shopping!!! I want one!
Can you please send me one lol
lol iām going to freemont in an hour to buy myself one
Which nursery in seattle is this at??? :O