An employee who has just returned to the office after two years of remote working got a surprise when they found their desk plant had grown almost to the ceiling.
A photo of the enormous dieffenbachia is now going viral on Reddit, where it has received more than 13,000 upvotes and over 700 comments since being posted on Wednesday.
More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still shaking up working life for Americans. Many thousands quit their jobs in the so-called Great Resignation. Among those who didn’t, some got so comfortable working from home that they don’t want to stop. A Pew Research Center study released in February found that 61 percent of remote workers in the U.S. were now doing so by choice.
Other employees are finally returning to their workplaces to face new challenges—such as overgrown plants that look a bit Little Shop of Horrors.
Thankfully, Reddit’s houseplants group is here to help, diving into the comments to offer advice to the photo’s poster, who goes by the username ndewing and captioned the image: “Two years of remote work and I come back to THIS! Any ideas on replanting, or do I leave it alone??”
One Redditor, froststomper, had grappled with a mutant plant before, commenting: “I had a schefflera that my grandmother only watered and kept too far from a window that grew sideways…. for me surgery was the only option because I couldn’t get it to fit in my house.
“So, I cut it as low to the base of the stalk as I could without curves and put it in water that I replaced every couple of days, I let roots get super established and then plopped it in a pot, now it’s nice and straight. Maybe you could do something similar?”
Another user, sucsucsucsucs, suggested: “I would take multiple cuttings so you aren’t putting all your hopes and dreams on just one. That’s my practical advice.”
Redditor Adventurous-Law-697 had a somewhat different idea: “OK, so what you do is vary carefully leave him absolutely as is, maybe you fashion him an arm out of pipe cleaners so he can properly lounge against the divider. You get him a name badge … This plant is your co-worker now.”
Other commenters were more concerned about who had been watering the plant for the past two years, when nobody was in the office. Dieffenbachias need to be watered once a week or once every two weeks, according to the website Plantcare for Beginners.
When one Redditor joked that it must have been Jesus who kept the plant alive, ndewing replied: “Plant Jesus at least, our local gardener did out of kindness.”
The plant’s owner also revealed that the dieffenbachia—nicknamed Dee— is now just 8 inches from the ceiling. Newsweek has reached out to ndewing for further comment.
The post ‘Feed Me Seymour:’ Worker Back in Office After 2 Years Finds Gigantic Plant appeared first on Newsweek.
