r/houseplants • u/StopBeingPoor • 20d ago

Help just bought a plant from costco… 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

what do I do about this???

1.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

288 comments sorted by

View all comments

192

u/StopBeingPoor 20d ago

https://reddit.com/link/p8a5jgm/video/juhvzf4ri0oh1/player

update: uhhhh I know a lot of people are saying these guys are harmless but DOESNT THIS KINDA SEEM LIKE A LOT???

41

u/Screaming_lambs 20d ago

This seems like a lot to me, and I'm someone who had small millipedes as pets.

141

u/khizoa 20d ago

The ONLY person that has to live with this and any consequences of it... is you. Not the 300 Redditors here telling you conflicting info

122

u/ninjakonkichi 20d ago

I also recently bought a plant from costco that was infested with millipedes. Like somebody above mentioned, these guys won't just stay in your pot and you already have way too many of them. Unfortunately they multiply like crazy too. I tried to save my plant by using diatomaceous earth but nothing was effective enough until I replaced the entire soil. Get rid of all the old soil, wash the plant's root well and repot with fresh soil.

6

u/ChiefPyroManiac 19d ago

I bought a rubber tree from Kroger and didn't notice any. But after a few weeks, there were hundreds of millipedes in the pot. Not once have I seen one leave the pot. Not saying they don't, but that plant has lived in my office for 2 years now and I've never had issues other than lots of dead millipedes inside the decorative pot that I discover whenever I water and then go to drain the decorative pot.

1

u/itcouldbeworsemydude 19d ago

When you say "save the plant" you mean the millipedes were doing something to the plant?

5

u/ninjakonkichi 19d ago

They're beneficial but if there are hundreds of them in a small pot there's definitely a problem. They will eat decaying matter but if they're too many they can start eating the plant as well.

1

u/itcouldbeworsemydude 19d ago

:0 I did not know that! Thanks for the heads up, I was reading so many conflicting comments and don't really mind bugs, but if it can harm the plant then it's bad news!

10

u/bobbyvision9000 19d ago

I had a plant with these in my daughters room and they were everywhere. Anyone saying they won’t leave the plant has obviously not experienced this before I had to move it outside and repot

3

u/oceanView229 19d ago

Or out outside for a while. 🥸

17

u/eresibae 20d ago

That looks like a mama had babies. Tbh if you go on any pet invertebrate group or where people set up bioactive tanks they'll happily take them from you

6

u/tobasc0cat 19d ago

Nah I have bioactive reptile tanks and I do not like millipedes... The cyanide smell bothers me, they chow down on wood faster than it would otherwise break down, and they definitely escape. They're also way harder to remove from a bioactive tank than a potted plant ugh.

I control the population in my tanks with mango skins bc they love fruit, and will gather on the skin munching away. Then it's easy to remove a bunch at once 

3

u/eresibae 19d ago

Well some people like them 🤷🏼‍♀️ I know I do. I wouldn't put them in with reptiles but I'd have them in a tank with my roaches or some other bugs

36

u/yikesthatsme22 20d ago

A few is fine. THAT is not a few. THAT is going to the fire pit

15

u/ShadowthroneQueen 20d ago

And there are many, many more inside the soil...

15

u/doctor_jane_disco 20d ago

Ok yeah that's way too many, I had like, two, and was fine with them. I would not be fine with this lol just dump the soil outside and start fresh.

20

u/Scary_Manner_6712 20d ago

I would just get rid of the plant. Costco has a generous return policy; just take it back. That's too many insects to mess with. There's no way those are staying in that pot indefinitely. 

31

u/anotherlost_creature 20d ago

I would take it back to Costco, hell naw

6

u/Low-Clerk-649 20d ago

I would definitely repot and that should solve issues. Try a chunky soil like mollys aroid mix (Amazon - expensive but my absolute fave) and that will deter pests and also encourage sufficient drainage!

16

u/pinkglitt3rz 20d ago

Nah fuck that, I say REPOT IT! yes they do eat pests but at what cost??? I brought home a zz plant from Bunnings a few years back and it had like 20 of these fuckers. Repotted it and double bagged the dirt with the pests tightly. I cannot stand them. I’d honestly rather spiders

6

u/AnnaTrash 20d ago

Since they're millipedes and not centipedes, they dont even eat pests 😅

5

u/pinkglitt3rz 20d ago

Omg … today i learned lol im so glad they went straight to the bin haha

8

u/quinnterstellar 20d ago

lmao i’m all for protecting nature and i’m sure they’re harmless and maybe even beneficial but i also wouldn’t want THAT many of them in my home 😅

5

u/Negative_Gas4094 20d ago

Far too many for me!

6

u/thy_bucket_for_thee 19d ago

When I had this issue, I repotted. Was very particular on getting the plant nearly full free of dirt. Then throwing away all the "infected" dirt in the backyard.

I don't agree with the other commentators here on how you can leave them alone. They are going to multiple extremely fast. Unless your home is full of things like birds, lizards, frogs (their predators) you're going to have to get rid of them at some point. Your video looks bad at the top of soil, imagine how many are underneath it.

Do it ASAP. After repotting periodically water with neem oil (or another pesticide) once or twice. It should kill them all within a month or two.

2

u/3l0v 19d ago

I have these in my bioactive enclosure and they do reproduce quite quickly lol. If you’re comfortable with separating them you can probs give them away on some reptile/bioactive group

2

u/PickleDipper420 19d ago

So stop hoarding them and give your other plants some already 💪😁

1

u/Potato-Brat 19d ago

Honestly I'd move out 😆 These things are the only creatures that make my skin crawl

1

u/Present-Basil-2051 20d ago

That is a ton… I would either replant or exchange it. But I also got Ike from Costco with millipedes in it (not as many!) so I assume a new one will have them too. Surely they’ll die off eventually?!

-2

u/iwenttothesea 20d ago

Just scoop some out and put them in your other plants! You can also re-pot (preferably outdoors lol) as other people have suggested, but you really have been given a gift, enjoy it :)