All it took was 72 hours for this gardener's once-thriving pepper plant to turn into a horror show.
While most capsaicin lovers take to the r/HotPeppers subreddit to show off their harvests, this Redditor shared a picture of a plant covered in what looked like hundreds — if not thousands — of aphids.
"Throwback to the worst aphid infestation I've ever had. Unsupervised for 3 maybe 4 days," wrote the original poster.
Perhaps an army of ladybugs or a natural homemade repellent could've salvaged the plant, but the poster gave up after fighting the bugs for a couple of months. "It was the middle of winter. Threw it outside right away," they said.
The user also expressed emotions that every gardener has experienced. "For how relaxing it is, it's also super frustrating," they said in a response to another user.
While the hobby can sometimes be a fruitless experience, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
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For one, it can greatly improve mental and physical health. Gardening has been shown to reduce heart rate, muscle tension, and levels of stress and anxiety, per the Mayo Clinic.
And though the original poster may not have realized it, they were building social connections — a benefit that helps reduce the risk of depression — through the gardening community.
Gardening is also instrumental in protecting the environment, as growing your own fruits and veggies can limit the number of trips you make to the supermarket and the number of plastic bags used, all while supporting pollinator populations.
Nonetheless, the original post's comment section was littered with replies of pure disgust.
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"That is the stuff night mares are made from," a commenter wrote.
"That pic gave me some serious heebie-jeebies, whim-whams, screaming meemies, willies, jitters and a side of creepy jimjams," said another user.
"Makes me want to burn my monitor," added one Redditor.
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