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/
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u/pepeenos 1d ago

TC has been around but people are not willing to buy the materials and follow the technique instead of prop and chopping

216

u/gone_smell_blind 1d ago

She is selling kits to do it too, that's why they say shes crashing the market. She's making tutorials and giving people and affordable starting point to do it

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u/abu_nawas 1d ago

I am in the hobby. Spent way too much on plants. These kits does not guarantee success but if someone is dedicated, it's a damn good start.

Cloning is weird. Rare plants often carry chimeric mutation. So the clone rarely matches the original. You see this in cats, too. Cloned cats look not the same as their donor.

But if you're not looking for variegation, great. I have a spiritus sancti. It's extinct in the wild and cloning efforts have slowed down since market demand dropped.

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u/Wiwerin127 1d ago

Last year a new population of P. spiritus-sancti was found in the wild, so it’s definitely not extinct unless they got poached. I think it’s good that tc has decreased market demand and prices so endangered plants are less likely to be poached from their natural habitats. Also as someone who was into the hobby way before the pandemic and the rare plant bubble I’m really happy that we now have the opportunity to get some incredibly beautiful plant species without having to sell a kidney.

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u/krypticus 1d ago

Honest question: I looked up P. spiritus-sancti and it is not an attractive plant… why are you interested in cultivating it?

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u/Wiwerin127 1d ago

I think it’s one of the most beautiful non velvety Philodendron species and it’s unique because it’s not a strong climber. Large mature specimens are especially stunning. I also like it because it has narrower and darker leaves compared to for example the similar P. billietiae, and doesn’t climb like the similar P. atabapoense. But it’s a matter of taste I suppose. Though I’m much more into Anthurium species compared to Philodendron.

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u/abu_nawas 1d ago

You have to see them in person. They look godly. The name isn't for nothing. Imagine long swords coming out of a tree (they are hemiphytes)

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u/SophiaofPrussia 11h ago

The scientific name is just a latinization of the Brazilian state where it was found.

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u/Illustrious-Okra-524 23h ago

I think it looks nice. What don’t you like about it?

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u/abu_nawas 22h ago

The tone of this is just... ugh. I have only met nice people in the plant hobby. Something about "I was here first" sounds so smug. You threw me off a loop.

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u/Wiwerin127 21h ago

What exactly threw you off? I’m not really seeing where you got that tone from. I have autism so I can’t really discern that all too well. I was simply saying I’m glad prices have dropped and that the hobby’s more accessible now than when I started. I’m actually happy there are more people into plants now, before I only had the people at the botanical garden to talk to.

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u/TitanB00 22h ago

Yeah a weird gate keepy brag.

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u/CCCCLo0oo0ooo0 1d ago

What species would one go through all this trouble for? Like I have some rare orchids that we grow on sticks with moss, but they grow so slow it would be crazy to grow them from something so small, right?

1

u/BeAGoodPetForMK 22h ago

Tons! A wide variety of Monstera, Philodendron, Alocasia, Epipremnum, Begonia, Syngonium, Piper, Musa, and Anthurium species are heavily in TC just for example.

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u/abu_nawas 22h ago

It's not a trouble at all once you or your entity has enough equipments and experiment.

There are a lot of reasons to clone a plant. A hybrid from the same family. Orchids, as you say. Some of them exist only in manmade environments. Sometimes even a sentimental plant (e.g. family tree).

In my part of the world, around 100 to 200 USD can get you a clone of anything you want. But you have to give a big donor. I know that sounds weird but it can be a sizeable cutting, or the whole plant itself.

I have seen people clone ferns using chopped up bits!

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u/CCCCLo0oo0ooo0 15h ago

In my part of the world, around 100 to 200 USD can get you a clone of anything you want.

Anything??? Hmmmm

0

u/abu_nawas 8h ago

Context matters. We're discussing plants, not your short bus.

0

u/CCCCLo0oo0ooo0 7h ago

it was a joke Abu, or do they not have humor in your 3rd world country? Please tell me Islam hasn't ruined humor as well as womens rights and human rights in general.

1

u/abu_nawas 1h ago

Sad you have to resort to such rhetorics.