The price for these plants is $99, which feels insane for something that isn’t even a mature tree by our standards here.
Chance said:
It’s not just about keeping thieves out; it’s about keeping the plants in!
“Excuse me, how would I go about stealing a cutting from one of your plants?”
No joke, I work in a greenhouse that sells Thais, and someone literally asked me that!
They first asked for supplies to root a monstera cutting, and I didn’t realize they meant they wanted to steal it from one of our plants.
People stealing cuttings are the worst. Every leaf adds value, so when someone takes a cutting, it drops the value of the whole plant.
Lex said:
People stealing cuttings are the worst. Every leaf adds value, so when someone takes a cutting, it drops the value of the whole plant.
I’ve picked up fallen succulent leaves from the floor at Home Depot since they just toss them anyway, but I’d never rip something off a live plant for sale. That’s wild. 
@Jaden
It’s wild how some people weren’t raised right.
Lex said:
People stealing cuttings are the worst. Every leaf adds value, so when someone takes a cutting, it drops the value of the whole plant.
It’s the same in the US. On houseplant forums, people generally agree it’s a scummy thing to do.
Lex said:
People stealing cuttings are the worst. Every leaf adds value, so when someone takes a cutting, it drops the value of the whole plant.
I’ve taken cuttings from my adansonii, but my monstera deliciosa? Never. It took me three years to get the leaf shape I wanted, and I’d lose that progress if I took a cutting.
Even in Southeast Asia, Monsteras can be expensive. I just checked, and one-leaf plants go for around $10.
Gardening is great, but stealing cuttings? That’s awful.
Scout said:
Even in Southeast Asia, Monsteras can be expensive. I just checked, and one-leaf plants go for around $10.
Gardening is great, but stealing cuttings? That’s awful.
What about fallen succulent leaves? Those are fair game, right?
@Tatum
The problem is people “accidentally” knock leaves off to steal them. If it’s genuinely fallen, no one cares, but policies have to be strict because some people fake it.
Scout said:
Even in Southeast Asia, Monsteras can be expensive. I just checked, and one-leaf plants go for around $10.
Gardening is great, but stealing cuttings? That’s awful.
Corporations create fake scarcity, profit massively, and people are worried about a leaf that grows back? It’s absurd.
@Vesper
Nobody’s suffering because they can’t have a houseplant. It’s not a necessity. If people want to spend money on these plants, that’s their choice.
Kingsley said:
@Vesper
Nobody’s suffering because they can’t have a houseplant. It’s not a necessity. If people want to spend money on these plants, that’s their choice.
The plant isn’t the issue; it’s the principle. Read between the lines.
@Vesper
You do you, but I don’t agree.
They had Monsteras cable-tied to trolleys in Bayswater last week. Didn’t stop people from snipping cuttings, though.
Marlow said:
They had Monsteras cable-tied to trolleys in Bayswater last week. Didn’t stop people from snipping cuttings, though.
I saw that. They were just sitting on trolleys two weeks ago. I bought one legit!
Calling them rare is a bit much. They propagate so easily.
Monstera jail!
$99 isn’t rare—it’s just high demand.
Thorne said:
I can get a Thai Con at Home Depot for $10. And I live in the middle of nowhere.
Getting them to Perth would be an absolute nightmare. Australia has crazy strict biosecurity, and Western Australia is even stricter because of the desert separating it from the east coast.