# Expensive pot plant



## foxfish (18 Jan 2022)

I spotted this plant in our local garden centre, offered at half price in the January sale.
I dont know anything about it apart from it is expensive!


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## Wookii (18 Jan 2022)

I know nothing about the plant but it might be typical garden centre pricing:









						Philodendron 'Pink Princess' - philodendron
					

A climbing, pink-green, variegated tropical houseplant




					www.crocus.co.uk


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## MirandaB (18 Jan 2022)

Yes that's silly pricing even half price for those as they're showing little variegation.


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## mort (18 Jan 2022)

Pink princess is a variegated cultivar with pink variegation. If you've seen any philodendron or variegated houseplant price recently you will see they have gone for crazy prices. It's quite lucky I hate variegation but in the example you have seen at the garden centre, you can see that the variegation can be non existent in some leaves, even some plants, but can develop in others.
I'd personally buy a rojo Congo,  if you like the colour as they are far cheaper and far more beautiful imo.


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## MirandaB (18 Jan 2022)

Nowhere near as expensive as Philodendron Caramel Marble


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## foxfish (18 Jan 2022)

Well I am unlikely to buy one, I prefer the skip outside…. even if I did get shouted at last year for rummaging in it but, four months later and my freebees are doing fine!


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## MirandaB (18 Jan 2022)

Good for you having a skip rummage @foxfish as there is horrendous wastage at garden centres and nurseries.
When I worked at one sometimes we would dump thousands of pounds worth if a growing contract got cancelled and the garden centres didn't want them


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## jaypeecee (18 Jan 2022)

MirandaB said:


> When I worked at one sometimes we would dump thousands of pounds worth if a growing contract got cancelled and the garden centres didn't want them


Hi @MirandaB 

Is it the case that the garden centre (where you worked) preferred to dump thousands of £ worth of perfectly good plants rather than give them away? I suspect I know the answer to this question.

JPC


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## MirandaB (18 Jan 2022)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @MirandaB
> 
> Is it the case that the garden centre (where you worked) preferred to dump thousands of £ worth of perfectly good plants rather than give them away? I suspect I know the answer to this question.
> 
> JPC


The nursery is where I worked and yes they'd  rather have dumped them than give them away even though most of it was contract growing so they'd already been paid a fair proportion of the plants value beforehand.


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## jaypeecee (18 Jan 2022)

MirandaB said:


> The nursery is where I worked and yes they'd rather have dumped them than give them away even though most of it was contract growing so they'd already been paid a fair proportion of the plants value beforehand.


Hi @MirandaB 

I feared that would be the case.

JPC


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## foxfish (18 Jan 2022)

Well the centre in question normally keeps their skips out of sight but back in October I noticed a skip in the car park and it was full pf plants!
Sarah was going mad at me for embarrassing her by rummaging around but I did not feel guilty in any way, happy to save a few pot plants and glad to get one over on the center where I have spent thousands of £s …..
Unfortunately   this guy started shouting at me but by then I had already filled my car boot.


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## dw1305 (18 Jan 2022)

Hi all, 


jaypeecee said:


> Is it the case that the garden centre (where you worked) preferred to dump thousands of £ worth of perfectly good plants rather than give them away?


Same business practice when I worked on a <"large commercial nursery in the 1980s">. We must have destroyed 7 out of 10 of the plants we produced.

cheers Darrel


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## jaypeecee (18 Jan 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Same business practice when I worked on a <"large commercial nursery in the 1980s">. We must have destroyed 7 out of 10 of the plants we produced.


Hi Darrel (@dw1305)

And what was the nursery's rationale for doing that, if you don't mind my asking?

JPC


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## MirandaB (18 Jan 2022)

Most of the problems are down to people wanting plants to be like tins of beans,all the same size and shape...we used to grow for the likes of Homebase and they were an absolute nightmare for rejecting whole lorry loads because a few plants were not up to their unrealistic standards.


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## dw1305 (19 Jan 2022)

Hi all, 


jaypeecee said:


> And what was the nursery's rationale for doing that, if you don't mind my asking?


It was explained to me as:

Not selling a product for what it cost to produce, plus a profit margin, but 
selling it for what <"the market would stand">. 
If you sold the trees cheaply it undermined both their value and the value of the brand.

I believe the manufacturers of <"exclusive brands"> (and Viagra) still use the same business model. 

cheers Darrel


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## jaypeecee (19 Jan 2022)

Hi @dw1305 & Everyone,

What kind of world are we building for ourselves? I find it difficult to believe that these business practices are sustainable in the long run.

JPC


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## not called Bob (19 Jan 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> It was explained to me as:
> 
> ...


there was a similar story on the luxury watches made by the Swiss, only a tiny percentage of high end watches sell, yet shops all over the world hold stock, at a certain time the brands buy back the stock and smelt them down etc and so keep the range limited and exclusive, obviously the high end are not willing to wait for the time taken to make a watch, so its cost effective to over produce and destroy, since they get rare metals and stones back, 

I have seen shipping companies destroying tonnes of unused PPE when the logo changed, though with the last 5 odd years of oil downturn there was a company flying people in, to unstick logos and then apply a new one, in the area in the south of Norway where a very high number of survey boats have been cold stacked for years. 

the nursery and outlet I worked in once, also had the policy of no clearance sales of plants, if they were not in top form they went on the compost heap, or for a little while on a fire at the nursery, plastic pot and all


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## KirstyF (19 Jan 2022)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @dw1305 & Everyone,
> 
> What kind of world are we building for ourselves? I find it difficult to believe that these business practices are sustainable in the long run.
> 
> JPC



Whilst I completely agree with your moral standpoint I’d have to say that it is not always easy to change.

The business can sell 10 plants for £10 each or 100 plants for £1 each but the questions for that business have to be, is there a market for those 100 plants, do I have shelf space to only sell higher quantities at lower prices, is it economically viable to pay staff and pay rent and so on and so forth without bolstering income with a certain amount of high profit goods. 

Whilst they could sell them off cheap rather than just bin them, what impact does that have on their overall business model. Are people going to pay £10 or £20 or £50 for a plant that they can pick up for a song on the day before bin day. 

I think businesses are more conscious of waste than ever, primarily because their customers are demanding that they must be, but ecologically and environmentally sound practices can also still demand a higher price point than many can afford or are willing to pay. 

Ultimately it’s a tough call but the upside is that ultimately, any change will likely be led by customer demand, so we all have the power to vote, with where and how we spend our pennies.


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## jaypeecee (19 Jan 2022)

Hi @KirstyF 

You make a lot of very valid points and I, for one, haven't a clue how it will all pan out. Only time will tell.

JPC


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