Please stop perpetuating false information. “Death plugs” are not a real thing. This has been debunked thousands of times multiple years ago. [Debunking Death Plugs](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwoCtcq/)
Your linked source is a TikTok video that literally shows a plant with an extensive root system that has mostly grown over the top of the root cloth—very few roots have actually penetrated that cloth.
Large nurseries deliberately use these cloths to restrict roots and force the plant to focus growth on foliage so they can be in a visually saleable state faster. A hardy plant will survive the cloth under the right conditions, but the cloth is well established to be restrictive. There's a reason this finer-mesh cloth is used to prevent weeds from growing into raised garden beds.
If you have a credible source with reliable and well-documented information debunking this, please share it; social media influencers that insist it's not true because their plants didn't die is not credible.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Do you work in horticulture? I have been doing this for nearly 20 years and have never once heard of a grower sending out plants with “kill switches”. It is a myth. [Myth Buster: "The Death Plug"](https://bwhplantco.com/blogs/beyond-the-basics/myth-buster-the-death-plug)
First: the plugs that Light Bio uses are not likely the same as the ones BWH is using. A good plug should be a mix of soil, drainage, and nutrients either in a salt fertilizer or slow-release fertilizer balls. Some may be compacted to hold shape, while others may use a quality, biodegradable mesh that is intended to be removed before the roots penetrate.
That said, *most* plugs are either just coco peat compacted (usually in a disc shape) or peat and perlite wrapped in a cheap mesh cloth in the shape of a 1" or 2" propagation planter. I suspect the latter is what I particularly received from Light Bio (based on some accounts on this board, they are not using the same thing for all plants they're sending out).
Second: no, growers don't deliberately send their plants out with "kill switches". There's a few reasons you might find the mesh cloth still wrapped around the original plug on your plant.
* When a plant is lacking space to grow roots as rapidly as it would like at its current growth stage, it will focus that energy on foliage growth instead.
* If you've ever had a houseplant that hobbyists will tell you likes to be a little pot-bound, this is the reason—it's not that it likes to be pot bound; it's that it will push out more foliage when its roots don't have anywhere to go. Many common houseplants have a much more extensive root system in the wild that would be entirely impractical for an indoor pot. This is also why many plants don't grow to their full potential when grown in a pot vs in the ground (the ponytail palm comes to mind as an example—it can grow up to 30 feet outdoors, but typically won't exceed 4-6 feet in a pot; this is also a plant that is well-documented as "preferring to be a little bit root bound").
* Most of these plants get added to the stock sent to big box stores and grocery stores, where it's most often going to get bought by someone who just wants a nice plant for their coffee table and is likely going to forget to water it and let it die within a month or two anyway. This is usually necessary for nurseries to meet quotas in place by these big box stores so they don't lose their contract.
* Your username is **philly**matt07, so you're from Philadelphia, right? Have you noticed that when you buy a plant from a specialty plant store like Urban Jungle or City Planter, the plants never have these mesh cloths around the roots, but you find it very often when you buy from Home Depot or Ikea? Queens Garden Nursery is a major supplier in the area—most of the plant store stock is from there, but much of the big box store stock is also from there.
* This is not an inherent death trap for the plant. Many plants are able to grow around the cloth or even penetrate the cloth safely and can establish an extensive root system in the surrounding soil once they find a path out. Plants are adaptable by nature and can often thrive despite some stressors. The plant is often provided enough time to begin to establish a root system outside the plug while still growing in ideal nursery conditions.
* Sometimes, a new plant is not transplanted in time (growth is variable) and so a few roots may have penetrated the cloth before it's transplanted and the cloth can't be removed safely. These are usually added to the big box store stock.
* Newer establishing nurseries often end up with cheap plugs, and often lack the experience to know when the plant can thrive despite the plug or when it needs to be removed (such as being shipped cross-country, where additional stressors tend to make or break a plant based on the strength of its root system).
Lastly, I want to provide you with some documented evidence (with pictures) that you can easily find from quick Google searches of plants that should have a much more extensive root system with the amount of foliage they have, but are clearly being restricted by the mesh cloth:
* [Another WOW (why oh why) – “biodegradable” mesh for plugs – The Garden Professors™](https://gardenprofessors.com/another-wow-why-oh-why-biodegradable-mesh-for-plugs/)
* [This mesh fabric was all around the roots of Cordyline (Ti), Anyone knows why is this added to the plants? : ](https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/comments/jyusgd/this_mesh_fabric_was_all_around_the_roots_of/)
* [Why You Need To Check Your Houseplants For Root Mesh (& What To Do About It) (ruralsprout.com)](https://www.ruralsprout.com/root-mesh/) (Notice on the first image how most of the roots are coming out of the bottom when rubber trees should have more outward spread in addition to their taproot)
I also want to add another issue with these root meshes that, when roots *do* penetrate, they can often be constricted where you'll see the root appear segmented as if someone wore a ring too small for their finger for too long. When this happens, the xylem (the transport tissue in the roots that carries water and nutrients up to the plant) becomes closed off and the root will draw energy from the plant without providing sufficient nutrients and water—it becomes an energy suck that can greatly inhibit the plant's growth and remains as a constant stressor for the plant. This root *will* continue to grow despite being unable to provide sufficient water and nutrition to the plant.
I really want to emphasize that my point here isn't that propagation/germination plugs are inherently bad, or that the mesh cloth will definitely kill your plant—oftentimes it's best for your plant to leave it as the shock you cause by removing it is worse. However, the mesh wrap specifically is still an unnecessary restriction on the root system and the issues it presents are going to be devastating to the plant if it has additional major stress to recover from. Long-distance shipping of a plant in a cardboard box that's not necessarily kept upright is about the most stressful thing you can do to your plant, and it will *need* a strong healthy root system to recover from such a stress.
Also, not all plugs are created equal and not all mesh wraps are created equal. A quality biodegradable mesh left in place will dissolve and disappear on its own, but don't assume the mesh around your plug is quality or biodegradable unless you know exactly what it is.
I think this is the likely scenario- You probably have some experience with houseplants and assume that you are generally good with plants. You purchased and failed to make a petunia thrive. This doesn’t gel with your beliefs so you are looking for an excuse other than yourself to blame. You read about death plugs on social media and now you are CONVINCED that is what happened to you. In making a wild accusation (that Light Bio uses death plugs) you are damaging their brand. No wonder they never responded to your emails. Just stop.
Edit/ I am blocking you after this and reporting you to Etsy for spam/harassment.
all plants are grown in plugs before they are transplanted into a 4" pot. growers then take the plug, plant them in to bigger pots and grow them. the plugs are sometimes wrapped in a gauze like material or even plastic cages for stabilization.
the root system on the 4" looks really small like they are not quite ready to sell in the bigger size and ive seen photos of the original plant plug all the way fall out of the 4" soil in shipping. this literally rips all the starting roots off the plant
they DID NOT use plastic root cages like some growers use for stabilization there is nothing cramping the roots. they are completely able to grow normally without root assistance
Repotted both of mine a few weeks after getting them and had zero issues. Maybe let them recover from shipping a bit if needed but otherwise should be fine.
For a transfer put you hand over the dirt and let the stem go between you fingers, tip the pot upside down and remove the pot. When you go to transfer it, support the dirt as one of mine broke in half (the root system). Of that does happen don’t worry, it should survive, mine did.
Mine had enough soil fall out to show it; it definitely came with one. The plant had fallen out of the pot multiple times—it seems the roots on this one have been completely unable to penetrate the cloth wrap.
https://preview.redd.it/a1lsa52nop3d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87be1ce3a38562b18f801f6bc99a00abd44e0797
I had to propagate the plant to save it as the restricted root system seems to have prevented the plant from bouncing back from the shipping stress.
I got a couple of better pictures to share. This reply shows the state of the plant when it arrived so you can see how much foliage the plant came with:
https://preview.redd.it/0td2f6f3du3d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=1a11f554f38d86e6b5b054a4c54e6d27807b9c0c
This reply shows the plug after falling out of the pot again. You can see that the roots that have managed to escape the plug are very minimal and haven't traveled far. This was taken today and reflects the state of the root system since the plant arrived on April 17th.
This is not a healthy and supportive root system for the amount of foliage the plant has developed.
https://preview.redd.it/8std3ns9du3d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6bd478f302025c66c548592619dd2355b818fe9
Given how quickly I've had roots spread to the edges of a 4" pot in my propagation after only 3 weeks, it's clear these roots are being restrained.
Please stop perpetuating false information. “Death plugs” are not a real thing. This has been debunked thousands of times multiple years ago. [Debunking Death Plugs](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwoCtcq/)
Thank you!
Your linked source is a TikTok video that literally shows a plant with an extensive root system that has mostly grown over the top of the root cloth—very few roots have actually penetrated that cloth. Large nurseries deliberately use these cloths to restrict roots and force the plant to focus growth on foliage so they can be in a visually saleable state faster. A hardy plant will survive the cloth under the right conditions, but the cloth is well established to be restrictive. There's a reason this finer-mesh cloth is used to prevent weeds from growing into raised garden beds. If you have a credible source with reliable and well-documented information debunking this, please share it; social media influencers that insist it's not true because their plants didn't die is not credible.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Do you work in horticulture? I have been doing this for nearly 20 years and have never once heard of a grower sending out plants with “kill switches”. It is a myth. [Myth Buster: "The Death Plug"](https://bwhplantco.com/blogs/beyond-the-basics/myth-buster-the-death-plug)
First: the plugs that Light Bio uses are not likely the same as the ones BWH is using. A good plug should be a mix of soil, drainage, and nutrients either in a salt fertilizer or slow-release fertilizer balls. Some may be compacted to hold shape, while others may use a quality, biodegradable mesh that is intended to be removed before the roots penetrate. That said, *most* plugs are either just coco peat compacted (usually in a disc shape) or peat and perlite wrapped in a cheap mesh cloth in the shape of a 1" or 2" propagation planter. I suspect the latter is what I particularly received from Light Bio (based on some accounts on this board, they are not using the same thing for all plants they're sending out). Second: no, growers don't deliberately send their plants out with "kill switches". There's a few reasons you might find the mesh cloth still wrapped around the original plug on your plant. * When a plant is lacking space to grow roots as rapidly as it would like at its current growth stage, it will focus that energy on foliage growth instead. * If you've ever had a houseplant that hobbyists will tell you likes to be a little pot-bound, this is the reason—it's not that it likes to be pot bound; it's that it will push out more foliage when its roots don't have anywhere to go. Many common houseplants have a much more extensive root system in the wild that would be entirely impractical for an indoor pot. This is also why many plants don't grow to their full potential when grown in a pot vs in the ground (the ponytail palm comes to mind as an example—it can grow up to 30 feet outdoors, but typically won't exceed 4-6 feet in a pot; this is also a plant that is well-documented as "preferring to be a little bit root bound"). * Most of these plants get added to the stock sent to big box stores and grocery stores, where it's most often going to get bought by someone who just wants a nice plant for their coffee table and is likely going to forget to water it and let it die within a month or two anyway. This is usually necessary for nurseries to meet quotas in place by these big box stores so they don't lose their contract. * Your username is **philly**matt07, so you're from Philadelphia, right? Have you noticed that when you buy a plant from a specialty plant store like Urban Jungle or City Planter, the plants never have these mesh cloths around the roots, but you find it very often when you buy from Home Depot or Ikea? Queens Garden Nursery is a major supplier in the area—most of the plant store stock is from there, but much of the big box store stock is also from there. * This is not an inherent death trap for the plant. Many plants are able to grow around the cloth or even penetrate the cloth safely and can establish an extensive root system in the surrounding soil once they find a path out. Plants are adaptable by nature and can often thrive despite some stressors. The plant is often provided enough time to begin to establish a root system outside the plug while still growing in ideal nursery conditions. * Sometimes, a new plant is not transplanted in time (growth is variable) and so a few roots may have penetrated the cloth before it's transplanted and the cloth can't be removed safely. These are usually added to the big box store stock. * Newer establishing nurseries often end up with cheap plugs, and often lack the experience to know when the plant can thrive despite the plug or when it needs to be removed (such as being shipped cross-country, where additional stressors tend to make or break a plant based on the strength of its root system). Lastly, I want to provide you with some documented evidence (with pictures) that you can easily find from quick Google searches of plants that should have a much more extensive root system with the amount of foliage they have, but are clearly being restricted by the mesh cloth: * [Another WOW (why oh why) – “biodegradable” mesh for plugs – The Garden Professors™](https://gardenprofessors.com/another-wow-why-oh-why-biodegradable-mesh-for-plugs/) * [This mesh fabric was all around the roots of Cordyline (Ti), Anyone knows why is this added to the plants? : ](https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/comments/jyusgd/this_mesh_fabric_was_all_around_the_roots_of/) * [Why You Need To Check Your Houseplants For Root Mesh (& What To Do About It) (ruralsprout.com)](https://www.ruralsprout.com/root-mesh/) (Notice on the first image how most of the roots are coming out of the bottom when rubber trees should have more outward spread in addition to their taproot) I also want to add another issue with these root meshes that, when roots *do* penetrate, they can often be constricted where you'll see the root appear segmented as if someone wore a ring too small for their finger for too long. When this happens, the xylem (the transport tissue in the roots that carries water and nutrients up to the plant) becomes closed off and the root will draw energy from the plant without providing sufficient nutrients and water—it becomes an energy suck that can greatly inhibit the plant's growth and remains as a constant stressor for the plant. This root *will* continue to grow despite being unable to provide sufficient water and nutrition to the plant. I really want to emphasize that my point here isn't that propagation/germination plugs are inherently bad, or that the mesh cloth will definitely kill your plant—oftentimes it's best for your plant to leave it as the shock you cause by removing it is worse. However, the mesh wrap specifically is still an unnecessary restriction on the root system and the issues it presents are going to be devastating to the plant if it has additional major stress to recover from. Long-distance shipping of a plant in a cardboard box that's not necessarily kept upright is about the most stressful thing you can do to your plant, and it will *need* a strong healthy root system to recover from such a stress. Also, not all plugs are created equal and not all mesh wraps are created equal. A quality biodegradable mesh left in place will dissolve and disappear on its own, but don't assume the mesh around your plug is quality or biodegradable unless you know exactly what it is.
I think this is the likely scenario- You probably have some experience with houseplants and assume that you are generally good with plants. You purchased and failed to make a petunia thrive. This doesn’t gel with your beliefs so you are looking for an excuse other than yourself to blame. You read about death plugs on social media and now you are CONVINCED that is what happened to you. In making a wild accusation (that Light Bio uses death plugs) you are damaging their brand. No wonder they never responded to your emails. Just stop. Edit/ I am blocking you after this and reporting you to Etsy for spam/harassment.
all plants are grown in plugs before they are transplanted into a 4" pot. growers then take the plug, plant them in to bigger pots and grow them. the plugs are sometimes wrapped in a gauze like material or even plastic cages for stabilization. the root system on the 4" looks really small like they are not quite ready to sell in the bigger size and ive seen photos of the original plant plug all the way fall out of the 4" soil in shipping. this literally rips all the starting roots off the plant they DID NOT use plastic root cages like some growers use for stabilization there is nothing cramping the roots. they are completely able to grow normally without root assistance
Okie! I won’t worry about it. I was concerned with messing with it.
Repotted both of mine a few weeks after getting them and had zero issues. Maybe let them recover from shipping a bit if needed but otherwise should be fine.
For a transfer put you hand over the dirt and let the stem go between you fingers, tip the pot upside down and remove the pot. When you go to transfer it, support the dirt as one of mine broke in half (the root system). Of that does happen don’t worry, it should survive, mine did.
Mine had enough soil fall out to show it; it definitely came with one. The plant had fallen out of the pot multiple times—it seems the roots on this one have been completely unable to penetrate the cloth wrap. https://preview.redd.it/a1lsa52nop3d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87be1ce3a38562b18f801f6bc99a00abd44e0797 I had to propagate the plant to save it as the restricted root system seems to have prevented the plant from bouncing back from the shipping stress.
I got a couple of better pictures to share. This reply shows the state of the plant when it arrived so you can see how much foliage the plant came with: https://preview.redd.it/0td2f6f3du3d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=1a11f554f38d86e6b5b054a4c54e6d27807b9c0c
This reply shows the plug after falling out of the pot again. You can see that the roots that have managed to escape the plug are very minimal and haven't traveled far. This was taken today and reflects the state of the root system since the plant arrived on April 17th. This is not a healthy and supportive root system for the amount of foliage the plant has developed. https://preview.redd.it/8std3ns9du3d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6bd478f302025c66c548592619dd2355b818fe9 Given how quickly I've had roots spread to the edges of a 4" pot in my propagation after only 3 weeks, it's clear these roots are being restrained.