Windsor man selling the 'crown jewel of plants' for $2K on Facebook

A pandemic hobby may just pay off in a big way for one Windsor, Ont., plant enthusiast who took a risk on a rare plant species.

Ardell Gough said he first started out buying plants in March of 2021 with a few succulents and an aloe vera but the habit quickly ballooned.

"$200 later I have all these house plants and then after a few trips I have like 60 house plants -- my apartment's a jungle [and] to water them it's taking me two to three hours," he said.

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But Gough decided to focus his efforts on one plant after learning about the monstera albo online. It's a plant he said is considered the "crown jewel of plants."

"I just kind of decided I was going to learn how to grow these plants and I was going to focus on this plant," he said.

"One really, really good plant."

The plant is highly coveted because of a genetic mutation in its leaves that causes white colouring as well as the fact that it doesn't grow from a seed but rather from a clipping.

"The supply will always be limited," he said. 

Gough spent a few hundred dollars for one of those clippings which was shipped from Toronto last summer — a risky move as the plants can revert back to being just green.

"It doesn't always successfully propagate."

Up for sale

Gough said the soil mix, lighting, humidity, and temperature are all very important to nurturing a healthy plant. Today the plant has 15 leaves. With a newborn baby at home, he's listed the plant on Facebook Marketplace for $2,000.

He said while he does have a few offers and one potential buyer, many are confused.

"I get a lot of messages saying like, 'Is that a mistake?' or 'There's no way you can justify that,'" he said. 

Drew Beaudoin, a former plant expert at Colasanti's Tropical Gardens, told the CBC that the price was just right.  

"Most people's first reaction is 'Whoa, that's way too much,'" Beaudoin said.

"That's a lot of money, but then most people seem to stop and think about it, think about how hard it is to find, grow, take care of and all that, and then kind of go 'Yeah that makes sense.'

I think it's a perfectly fair price. I don't know if anyone will buy it here."

Gough said he's selling the plant because of the fact that he has a newborn son.

"It takes up a lot of space, it takes a lot of work and my life has taken on a whole new meaning," he said.

"Plants have kind of taken a back seat."