Woman Buys an Orchid Plant From Home Depot — Then She Noticed Something Strange Coming Out Of It

House plants, while lovely to have, can often turn into a nightmare. Most people do not like to have plants that are too delicate to care for and require a great deal of attention. TikTok user Sierra (@sierrakamel) had no idea what she was getting herself into when she bought an orchid plant from Home Depot. In a video, she explained her foolish decision not to check the potting properly before bringing the plant home. When Sierra tried to remove the netting, she was welcomed with an explosion of ants who happened to be hibernating inside the potting soil. 

Detailing her ordeal, she said, despite being careful, she somehow missed checking the soil properly. “So, I go and buy this orchid. Mind you, I look at it, I don’t see anything. It’s in a wet, like a netting, so I can’t really check that well,” said Sierra. Pointing out that Florida still had chilly temperatures at the time, she recalled placing the pot in her car, hoping that any bug would get out with the movement, and driving home. However, the creator did not have the patience to deal with the orchid right away and placed it on the floor of her home. She planned to fix it up the very next day. 

As soon as she returned home late at night the following day, Sierra was determined to pot the plant properly. “I start lifting it up, and I see, like, a few ants. I’m like, Okay, well, that’s expected. It’s soil, there were gonna be a few that probably got on,” she noted. To her shock, ants oozed out of the soil as soon as she cut the netting. “It was like an explosion of ants came out…They just start crawling all over me,” she said with a trembling voice. Then, she had the next bright idea to “rinse them off” in the sink, which only made the situation worse. Having tried everything, from vinegar to window cleaners, to kill them, Sierra realized nothing worked. 

The next day, Sierra drove back to Home Depot to ask for a refund and also to convey her concerns about the ant problem. She was told that there were eggs in the potting soil in addition to hibernating ants that poured out as soon as the plant hit the warmer temperatures of her home. “I had no idea there was an entire colony of ants in this tiny orchid,” the TikTok creator admitted. She shared the video as a cautionary tale for her viewers, but also appreciated the helpful Home Depot workers. The video was a stitch with the original snippet showing a colony of ants crawling around her house and bathroom. 

The creepy sight went viral, amassing over 1.4 million views and a dozen comments from concerned viewers. Most people asked her about her decision to solve the problem inside her house, or why she washed it in her sink when she could have simply done it outside. Having learned her lesson, Sierra confirmed that she will be careful in her next plant purchase. In the original video, one person (@munalee) confessed, “I'm throwing it out… I'm not doing none of that,” while another viewer (@armygreengame) stated, “Yep, I don’t even bring them inside. I wash the plant with the hose until it’s only the plant and roots, then repot it.” Others wanted to clarify if the bugs were actually termites or ants.

You can follow @sierrakamel on TikTok for more videos.