A former home improvement store employee took to Reddit to ask garden center shoppers to refrain from purchasing a particular plant that was anything but natural.
"Please don't buy these," the poster wrote in the r/Lowes subreddit, sharing a photo of more than a dozen Kosmik Kaktus plants with other succulents overshadowed on the periphery.
"Just capitalism bs. They may catch your eye and look cool now, but this does more harm than good to the succulents. They won't look so cool when the paint is all cracked and the succulents have grown out. Just buy a normal, healthy succulent," the Redditor added.
In a comment, they clarified their distaste for the product after someone noted they were just plants and it didn't matter if they were hurt.
"I more so care that people are paying for a plant [that] has a significantly higher chance of dying so that they have to buy more," the poster said, indicating in another post that they previously worked at Lowe's over the summer.
It should be noted that Lowe's is not the only retailer to sell these — they can be found at The Home Depot and Walmart, for example. And some commenters pushed back, noting the plants can live long lives if properly cared for.
One user relayed that, despite their price tag ($7.98 for an 11-ounce plant in this case), the flora can inspire new plant parents. "It attracts people who are new to caring for plants, and cactuses/succulents are relatively easy to care for," they wrote.
Another Redditor said their mother had bought a purple one for $1 and it was "doing fantastic," having doubled in size and lost its artificial veneer. "It was kind of neat to see the green taking over tbh," they said.
Wherever you stand on this debate, the Kosmik Kaktus brand is a marketing gimmick of Altman Plants. And as gardening expert Gerhard Bock of Succulents and More pointed out, it's a dangerous one. The "colorful coating" is supposedly non-toxic, but at least some of the cactuses come with a Proposition 65 warning, which means the state of California has determined the product exposes people to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.
As the poster pleaded, it's best to stick to natural plants when you're shopping for your yard, garden, or home. Especially if you're growing your own food, you don't want anything remotely dangerous coming near your plants.
Natural plants are the answer, and it's strange to even wonder who had the idea to paint plants — and who greenlit it. Native plants are even better, as they're fit for local ecosystems and have evolved over thousands of years to coexist with native fauna.
Before you head to your local big-box store or nursery, make sure you're educated about your options, as even turf grass can be invasive. In that case, partially or fully replacing your lawn with clover or buffalo grass can turn a monoculture environment into one where pollinators and other wildlife thrive.
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