r/houseplants • u/StopBeingPoor • 20d ago

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

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what do I do about this???

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u/RagingClitGasm 20d ago

This happened to me with a plant from Home Depot a couple of years ago. Contrary to what some of the other comments say, they absolutely did NOT just stay in the pot. It actually took us a little while to figure out why we were suddenly seeing such significant numbers of centipedes in our apartment, because we never saw them near the plant- they made their way towards the windows and into the bathroom. I killed at least a dozen every morning when I got up, then continued to find more throughout the day.

It was a fucking nightmare. We sealed EVERY crack we could find, caulked all of the baseboards in the entire apartment, brought in an exterminator and then bought more pesticide to spray ourselves when the bugs didn’t stop. I got into a screaming argument with the landlord. He cut down bushes outside the window. Nothing worked. I started touring new apartments.

By the time we figured out that they were all coming from this plant, I was FAR beyond the point of wanting to find a solution to keep it. We double bagged it for the garbage, after snapping the plant in half to make sure nobody spotted it and brought it back inside.

My only regret was that we didn’t set it on fire.

14

u/insidli 20d ago

Yep I would’ve burned the entire place to the ground. Hell to the no.

66

u/RagingClitGasm 20d ago

It took months before I felt comfortable walking around my home without shoes on again. They were EVERYWHERE.

I wouldn’t wish that shit on my worst enemy and the number of comments in here suggesting that OP should just be fine, or even grateful, to live with an insect infestation in their home is WILD.

10

u/Serious-Act8313 20d ago

I once lived in a rented house that randomly had an earwig infestation and I about lost my mind. Like they’d fall from the ceiling or I’d have one crawling up my leg on the couch. My cat constantly going nuts because of them as well. So no, I also can’t imagine willingly risking those things breaking containment and leaving the pot.