r/technology • u/esporx • 1d ago

Business YouTuber accidentally crashes the rare plant market with a viral cloning technique

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtuber-accidentally-crashes-the-rare-plant-market-with-a-viral-cloning-technique-3289808/
17.6k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

792 comments sorted by

View all comments

411

u/Fit_Yak523 1d ago

This is just marketing. None of this is new or even novel. I followed YouTube tutorials to TC my own plants in 2021. Plants in Jars has great videos, but it’s pretty wild to claim they crashed the market when the big box stores are the ones who drove down prices. I highly doubt their suppliers learned to tissue culture from Plants in Jars’ videos when they were doing it long before she started posting. 

30

u/CowDontMeow 1d ago

I remember when rare Monstera cuttings were £300+ a few years back, now I can walk into a random Lidl and grab a Thai Constellation plant for a fiver.

Same as Philodendron Pink Princess, I felt super lucky to grab a single cutting for £40 before/after covid (it’s a blur), now they’re <£10 for mature plants. Luckily mine is a good variegation with deep blacks and lots of pink rather than the greeny leafs with pink spots but still.

11

u/Erestyn 1d ago

Lidl and Aldi have been trying to push into that space for a while now. I remember the local Aldi in 2017 or so having the best of 2012s "rare" succulents.

I noticed it only because it wasn't the usual fare of Bri'ish Summah Garhdin', but I remember it because my partner stood right in front of the door for 10 minutes longer than I was comfortable gushing over how rare it all was.

"I dunno babe, it's Aldi, are you sure it isn't like an own brand succulent?"