Anyone else rescue half dead supermarket plants?

[ToClimb]

I've found I can't walk past a half dead plant. I take them to customer service and ask them to heavily reduce them. A few times they have just given them to me for free. I have about an 80% success rate at reviving them, although sometimes I have to wait until the following year before they rebloom.

Pic attached of last week's rescued bonsai tree.

I bought three gorgeous big dahlias at Aldi today, just a bit wilted. Watered then when I got home and they're looking great! 6 quid for the lot of them.

I've had 3-4 pounds of strawberries off half a dozen plants I got for 20p each off the B&Q shelf of doom last year. Also have a beautiful yellow climbing rose that is now over 12 feet tall and covered in blooms - £2 end of season job.

A friend's son works for M&S and she's always giving away rescued pots that their plants come in - they skip the dead plants and smash the pots 🤨

You'd be better keeping it in a shady place indoors then, and put it out when you return. Bonsai are in small pots and can dry out completely in a couple of hours. When we go away, a family member moves into our house for the time we are away and waters them for me and feeds the cats.

Customers don't like buying dead plants either!

They are literally throwing money away by not watering these plants. They are losing far more in sales than the NMW they'd pay someone for a couple of hours a day to water them. I've seen dozens of dead and dying large plants at my local Sainsburys, and they were price at £10 - £20 each. That's several hundred quid right there. Just on one trolley on one day.

Yes I have two lovely completely free fruit trees from Tesco, so neglected even the staff didn't want them!
I always buy reduced plants because you never know. Sweet peas are perfect because there's always some reduced once they have sprouted in pots.

Rescue acers are my weakness….got some beautiful acers in pots that started off a dead looking twigs at B&q or tescos.

I’m no green-fingered garden whiz, but I rescued these geraniums from our local Walmart (we’re in the US) where they were looking sad, wilted and flowerless, and were half-price. Lots of watering and Midwest sunshine and they’re looking lovely against our green house.

my best buy was last year at home depot, an extremely wilted frilly shasta daisy it was on for $15 cad. there was one flower on it well past it's prime so i knew what i was getting. overwatered and dehydrated at the same time due to shitty cheap soil.
the manager marked it down to $5
the best bit was that the 5 gallon pot had THREE plants all easily separated.

I am so tempted to guerilla water the ones in a supermarket near me. It is so wasteful that the majority of the plants shrivel up and die.

Lucky you…..couple of weeks ago there were lot of plants on shelves ready for the bin at B&Q (one of the workers told me they took them of the system as they were ready for disposal)….asked if I can take some home as it would be a shame for them to go in the bin and would be wasteful and I’m being environmental friendly. All they needed were lots of water and some trimming. The staff asked the manager. Manager said I can buy them for half price. WTF…..my mind just boggled …

@ToClimb can I just say thank you for posting this, you seem to have triggered my neighbour who is moving houses and I got his whole plant collection and pots. Okay it’s only four plants 😂 but a big yucca elephantipes, medium African milk tree, small snake plant and a sorry looking Dracena, and lots of funky pots too. Am well chuffed.

Yay @Koulibiak lucky you. There is nothing as satisfying as saving a half dead plant!! We will need pictures when you have revived them!

Our local garden centre was giving away free herbs last week. It’s interesting that even they couldn’t keep them in tip top condition.
I took a few home!

Result!! Let us know how you get on.

I refer to the shelves of dying plants as the Pity Aisle. I now have a 10 ft border of lavender that was originally 4 plants from the Pity Aisle at 50p each

The bottle bush standard I rescued from b&q last year is doing really well…from half dead stick at £1.50 to covered in bees this year. The standard rose from the same haul is still looking very sad….

I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE.

DH and I bought a £2 almost dead apple tree sapling from b&q last year. This year, it has 5 tiny perfect apples!!

Yes, it’s great to do this, I bought a dreadful looking begonias type of houseplant in Lidl, reduced as I like the pot, when the cashier put it through she said that needs some water. It’s on my kitchen windowsill, my plants all seem to thrive on there and it is beautiful, lots of healthy leaves, flowers. I feel so proud when I look at it. It’s amazing with just a little care the difference it can make.

I work for Tesco and our plants are most definitely watered as they drip everywhere! At the end of the night we can take the reduced ones that haven’t sold . I have had some real successes but my best buy was a £1.50 fuschia from M&S that’s now 4’ tall and about 6’ wide 😀

I bought a decent sized but wilted Penstemon for £1.35 from Morrisons during the week. It's now in the garden and it looks like it has settled in well.

No because they still want full price for beyond dead and shrivelled plants.

You have to ask them to reduce them!

I want a 6 ft wide fushia!! 🤣 Actually that would be half my garden!!

My sanctuary for rescue plants:

Cat also rescued: