Some can sell for big money online
If you picked up all sorts of greenery in your local Lidl, B&Q or other stores over lockdown, you might be sitting on a fortune.
This is because small, naturally occurring variations in common plants can make them extremely valuable – something that supermarkets can often mistake for disease – MyLondon reports.
This means they sell the valuable plants at a reduced price. Some are sold by shops for around £10 but can sell for far higher prices online – even just a small part of it, like a left or a stem.
Perhaps the most common plant to find in any shop is the Monstera Deliciosa – commonly known as a Swiss Cheese plant because of the holes in its leaves.
While the regular green plant isn’t worth much, a variegated Monstera is very rare.
You can pick up a standard version for as little as £12 at B&Q – but a variegated version can sell for as much as £970.
Then there’s the Variegated Monstera Adansonii. A smaller cousin of the Swiss cheese plant, this one can develop white spots that cause shops to sell them for cheap.
However these can be easily confused for the beginnings of variegation, which has the same telltale white stripes on the stem as the Deliciosa.
Before Christmas, one of these sold on eBay for £1,400.
Philodendron White Princess and White Knight varieties are particularly rare versions of the Philodendron plant which is commonly found in South American.
Again, it’s all about those variegated leaves that turn it into something much more valuable.
One was sold for £370 on eBay last year.
The Pink Princess Philodendron is very similar to the White Knight and White Princess but has pink variegation instead of white.
They have dark green, heart-shaped leaves with a bubblegum pink variegation – but the pink can take a while to show as more than a shadow on a baby plant, which is how you could maybe pick one up for a bargain.
They can be expensive to buy – for example, a fully pink leaf plant sold at auction on eBay for £106.
And finally there’s the Monstera Obliqua, which has leaves similar to the other Swiss cheese plants on this list.
The holes in this plant are much bigger though – so much so that they can be mistaken for pest damage.
One of these recently sold on eBay for £110.
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Of course, even if you do find a hidden gem there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to sell it for any of the prices mentioned here.
However it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled next time you’re plant shopping. You may just stumble across a real bargain.
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