A man shopping at a Walmart garden center says he discovered something unusual among the store’s cacti. He claims the cactus’s decorative element appears to be plastic.
On July 18, a man (@collectorofhobbies) posted a viral video that amassed over 552,000 views as of Wednesday.
“This is some of the most heinous s*** ever,” he said.
What Did The Man Claim About The Walmart Cactus?
The shopper then holds up the decorative object attached to the Walmart cactus and identifies it as plastic. “This is literally plastic,” he says. “You can see the glue on that one. They glue them onto the [expletive] cactuses.”
The man then turns his attention to another type of cactus that looks unusual. He explains that the plant actually contains two different cacti joined together.
“This is two different plants,” he says.
The colorful cactus on top may look strange, but grafting itself does not represent a scam. Gardeners commonly graft certain cacti because some colorful varieties cannot survive independently.
The shopper argues that the upper portion depends on the lower cactus for survival. He says these plants can become difficult to maintain and eventually die.
“They’re very hard to keep alive,” he says. “That’s why they graft them onto there.”
He then warns viewers who have purchased similar plants. “So you [expletive] waste money buying these, and they die,” he says.
The shopper goes further by claiming Walmart intentionally sells plants designed to die. However, that claim lacks support from the video itself. The biology behind some grafted cacti also differs from the shopper’s description. Certain colorful moon cactus varieties genuinely cannot produce enough chlorophyll to photosynthesize.
Are The Man’s Claims About The Walmart Cactus True?
While the practice shown in the video can happen, the clip appears to combine two very different horticultural practices. Garden centers sometimes decorate plants with artificial flowers, figurines, or other novelty objects. Sellers may attach those decorations with glue. That does not mean the plant itself represents a fake or fraudulent product.
The claim about grafted cacti also needs clarification. Grafting is a legitimate horticultural technique. Gardeners use it to join two compatible plants. The technique can help plants with unusual traits survive.
The classic example involves the colorful “moon cactus.” North Carolina State University explains that these plants often combine a colorful Gymnocalycium top with a green cactus rootstock. The colorful top can lack chlorophyll, which prevents it from producing enough energy through photosynthesis.
That distinction matters because the video makes grafting sound inherently deceptive. A grafted cactus can remain legitimate even though two different plants form one retail plant. The colorful top may eventually die, but that does not prove the seller designed the plant to fail.
A store generally can decorate a plant with an artificial object. The important issue involves what the seller tells consumers about that object. Federal consumer-protection law prohibits deceptive advertising. The Federal Trade Commission says advertisements must remain truthful and non-deceptive.
That principle can apply to physical retail displays and product presentations. For example, a seller could face a problem if it represented a plastic flower as a living part of the plant. The same could apply if the seller falsely claimed that a plant possessed characteristics it did not have.
@collectorofhobbies #walmart #cacti #plantsoftiktok #fyp #ripoff ♬ original sound – Harley – Lorax in Training
Subplot reached out for comment to @collectorofhobbies via TikTok direct message and the TikTok comment section and to Walmart via email.
