That's dreadful, I feel really sorry for you Manuel. We all know how much our plants mean to us as individuals so everyone on here feels the same towards these idiots. Hopefully they will grow up (eventually) and begin to learn they just cannot continue acting like this. What age were they?

Manuel, can you list what was destroyed? Can anyone help Manuel replace his treasures? Hopefully someone US domiciled can help out??............just a thought that sprang to mind.

Gill

AIIIIOAAAAAAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY!! OH NO! I'm wailing all the way here in the Philippines! Can you hear me over there?!? OH MY POOR BABIES! Poor plants! Oh my goodness how can those people be so SAVAGE! That's so sad! I'm so sad for you and I feel so very sorry for those vandals. Have they no respect?! Did anyone even apologize or show remorse? Have they no manners or parents who taught them to behave less shamefully?!! AY SUS MARYOSEP, as we say here.. Sigh...

What on earth kind of party did they have?! Even when drunk I don't think to ever kick around a bunch of plants! Those people might have been high off their rockers! So very disrespectful! HAAAAAA... (I'm gonna do deep breathing after this)..

Dear Manuel, things will be okay. Life is still good and tomorrow will be a better day. -hugs you tight-

I am so sorry. This is terrible, and being young and drunk is absolutely no excuse.

I agree that you shouldn't just surrender so easily as well Throwing in the towel over a poor in character incident isn't my style. I don't mind losing yet letting the other side win with out a word being exchanged is very unbecoming ( of many ) This may also hold one back from the future goals that they may have in the future. In short they win today they win again later.

What I think is the right thing to do is talk to them ( firmly and fairly) Educate them for a life lesson ask them how they would feel if someone destroyed the goals and ambitions that they will one day have ( It's not always plants but there are goals and ambition in all )

Seriously though you need to get back in there and do productive things that bring you joy with out worry of unwanted nonsense from others.

Two ideas before you speak to them. Integrity and pride. With words work them barley legal snotty nose brats that come from who knows where .

It's hard for me to let go of something w/o addressing it and making my mind known, so I would speak to them and insist on compensation.

Consider the story you would have in the future when showing friends your survivors, if that will help to carry on with them. Of course the shock and heart break are there and must be honored.

ez

nomen

very well said.

Manuel, pls. read and re-read what nomen said, you are very disappointed and angry now - as you can see we all are with you -, but it will pass and I really would take nomen's advice. Those young ones need to learn basics of respect, who knows - maybe they never had a good 'role model'...You could be one. And maybe one of them will start collecting plants too...

I don't want anyone to feel unacknowledged. I appreciate everyone's comments.

I love the Joey (kangaroo) comments.

I don't want to replace any of the plants because I now know that they are not safe up there.

I can see the plants in the dumpster by my bedroom window and it's killing me, but I have to continue throwing more out. I would go insane worrying about them.

I need to keep throwing out all the ones that I can't keep inside. This will also change my way of life, as in the evenings I used to love lying down on the roof surrounded by my plants. I've had the habit of bringing my hanging pothos and dischedia up there in the evenings, and bringing them back inside at 10am before going to work so they would get some morning light. I'm now going to stop that practice.

I'm in a dark mood, and not thinking clearly about this, but tomorrow I'll get to spend the day with my nieces and that will lighten up my mood.

Take the plant out of the dumpster and see if your nieces would like to take care of it! And don't do anything rash until you get some time. I agree with the others that the "kids" shouldn't be allowed to get away with this. A note in a public place (mailbox? bulletin board?) stating that some property was destroyed in a shared space and while the contents were irreplaceable, this sort of behavior will not and should not be tolerated by any tenant.

Manuel, is there a way to pm you?

harry

Hablu, my private message option is active and available

Sorry, where is that? Don't know how?

My husband just reminded me of my tulips. Succulents much are different, of course, but the rage I felt is the same.

When we lived in northern Illinois, I grew tulips. I had about 500 bulbs that I had divided and nurtured from my original bulbs. Many different colors in 2 large beds. I also had about 100 daffodils in another bed.

After a long bitter winter, I was happy to see so many colors ready to burst forth. Charlie had just returned from a business trip and I told him how great everything would look in the morning. So we took our morning coffee outside and . . . they were ALL gone! Not so much as a petal was left on the ground. They had been cut about 2 inches down, too short for a vase.

I was livid and everyone in the county knew it. I threw a major hissy fit on the lawn in front of God and everybody!

A few days later the 15-year old boy across the street told Charlie that his friend had a fight with his girlfriend and the took the flowers to her to apologize. Charlie told him he hope she was impressed with the 500 tulips! And he told him he owed me an apology because they had stolen from me and that we were disappointed in him and his friend.

The boys did finally show up and sheepishly said they were sorry. I told them I was still furious because they had ruined my spring. BUT I also told them that if they had asked, I would have help prepare a bouquet for them. And I let them know that it was a good thing I didn't see them when I discovered the damage. I think I scared them, but it was really just a stern talking-to.

The next year they made a point of telling me how pretty my flowers were. I made a point of thanking them and telling them to keep their mitts off. LOL Eventually, all was well in the shire!

Crenda, your loss was way bigger than mine. I totally understand the frustration and anger. I've had tulips before and I know they propagate themselves and multiply, but I have a question. Since the flowers were cut prematurely, did they still create multiple new bulbs that would come up next spring?!

No, I think your loss was greater. Even tho I did lose the flowers, I did not lose the plants. So yes, they still created bulbs. Only the flowers were taken and the leaves still fed the bulbs.

I'm baffled that your choice was not speak to them about them. As you are they too are men. Words they speak are lies ( IIRC sorry is a word). Men are men for there abilities to put words into action. Original NOT it's from Shakespeare.with you at the end of the battle they ( hopefuly) learn what they had done. Better to act out on sorry words today are better actions later...... even for a snotty nosed barley legal man (or two). When they are feeling less guilty for there actions you can share a beer with em & let them know they are fortunate if here they'd only get a spot of tea.

: -) : -) happy to read that things went as well as they did Crenda : -)

I think it bears mentioning, that in Manny's defense, this is NY -__-

You can't always go around confronting youths about their indiscretions. If confronted, it needs to be handled tactfully (if at all) or it can backfire and you'll get more than you bargained for.

I'm not sure if this is why he's hesitant to deal with them, but it's a raw subject for him, clearly.

Might be better that he not deal with them just now =)

Manny, sorry to talk as though you're not here =)

If you feel it's time to throw in the towel for a while, then do what you need to do.

I want to thank you for my Red Horn tree. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to add it to my collection.

I'm not going anywhere (God willing) same with the rest of GW plant community, so if and when you feel to care for plants again, we'll all likely still be here whoopin' it up

=)

Manuel, I may be one of the few on this forum who would likely respond as you have. I understand completely your wanting to get largely out of plants now, and like you, I would probably retain the handful I could indoors and simply say good-bye to the rest. I know the majority of people feel "Oh, they are living things, you MUST save them." I get that. But in a similar situation, I wouldn't do it either. You have put your heart, soul, time and elbow grease into your succulents, and trying to "recover" tiny pieces of them from the shocking and painful mess that was made would not appeal to me either. That said, I have friends who grow a limited number of small, low-light succulents (sans and gasteria) in a big-city condo with a small grow-light, and they have made it fulfilling and fun by purchasing unusual, coveted plants. Maybe you will go that route someday. Anyway, I do empathize with you and would respond similarly. I am sure the outpouring of thoughts and condolences here on GardenWeb tells you how much you have touched people here with your posts, your photos and your dedicated concern for plant care. My best wishes to you….

Characters today that remain unchecked are the same characters tomorrow.....

Manuel, your message feature is not enabled. No one can message you, in case you care to know. If you want to enable it, go to your profile, edit, advanced settings, and down at the bottom you can allow people to message you. I'm not looking to message you, just sayin'! Hope you are having a better day.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. These sorts of idiots stay idiots and will do something idiotic again. Playing music too loud? Oh yeah that's a call to the police. Smell some weed in the hallway? Oh yeah I know who it is and there's always strange people going in and out of the apartment at all hours of the night officer. At the very least, I'd let the super know what's up.

Manuel, Hi! Good morning from Asia!! It's 7am now and the sun is nice and strong. We had a strong monsoon last night and I had to cover my balcony babies with a giant plastic drop cloth for protection.. Didn't look cool at all.

Anyway I know it's 7pm in New York now. If I were there I would pick you up and take you out to dinner! Actually, you would have to lead the way because the last time I went to NYC was decades ago and Times Square wasn't even a thing then! Ha! So yes, show me where the pretzels are (are they really good?) and show me where there's good pizza! After that lets have some drinks or two and laugh at many things. I'm a good storyteller and if I could see you I am positive you will have belly laughs all night! Ah so nice to imagine good times..

Thinking of you and hoping you are feeling much better. I'm your friend from across the globe, and across the screen.. And I wish you peace and joy!!

Manuel, You are a better man than me. When my house was vandalized, I wanted to kill and destroy the whole neighborhood. I got into fights with many people and it turned ugly. Was almost arrested and put in jail. What good did it do. Time heals and some day they may come and say some think like why don't you have any plants up there? Because of you!

Since we're commiserating over devestating plant situations I would just like to add my before & after photos. My desert tortoise is to blame. And after he knocked down the table, he ate about 50% of everything. I was utterly heartbroken. But I've slowly recovered and I hope you can too.

Best wishes,

jen

BAD tortoise! BAD! Oh that would be infuriating and heartbreaking all at once.

If we are sharing stories of mass plant destruction, years ago my outdoor greenhouse got lifted, rotated, and dumped on my patio during an unexpected windstorm. What a mess! My neighbours must have thought I was nuts, I was rather loud and to boot was too pregnant to bend over easily to pick up anything...But I still miss some plants I lost then, have not been able to replace them.

LOL nil NY City Police responding to the smell of marijuana in a hall way isn't going to happen loud music in the night follows right up there too. They have a-lot more and bigger fish to fry. They don't call that area of NY Hells' Kitchen because the devil likes to cook. Although it is better than it was a few years ago, there are plenty of cold cases to attend to.

Who'd of ever thought that a desert torturous would actually eat desert plants has me wondering what ever will nature come up with next to throw in our direction ?

Nomen,

what else would a desert tortoise eat in the wild???

oh nomen, you'd be amazed at what NYPD will bust people for, especially if they think they might be able to get a trafficking charge out of it. Maybe toss in a, "sometimes late at night it smells like burning plastic and ammonia," because that's what a meth den smells like.

Oh my goodness that tortoise story is precious. The kind of story you cry about for months then laugh at for decades later. Reminds me of this photo I saw on the internet.

"Who ate my lipstick!?" "Not me," says the dog..

Nil,

I'm a NYer & I think you've been watching too many movies. It just doesn't happen that way, reefer smells in the hall & too loud music, ha. Really, I'm w/ Nomen on this one.

As to Meth dens (know nothing on that) I suspect that'd get a rather different response from the Cops.

Manuel, sorry to learn of the whole fiasco. Am guessing outright drunkenness.

I also wish you wouldn't throw them out & I too was visualizing a little wooden frame w/ chicken wire sides & top. Annoying to have to take such measures, but ... maybe protective.

Lena

oh I have had some friends in NY get very creative at messing with douchebag neighbors until they moved. It's all about painting a picture for the cops. It starts with a noise complaint or two. Then you complain about them selling pot. Call in a fight or two while they are gone so if the police show up you can say they both just stormed out. Get other people in the building in on it so it's not just one crazy complainer. If they don't catch the hint you pull out the big guns and SWAT them.

lol!!!

oh man...life is too short =D

PS...cute doggie up-thread peeking out of corner of pic, recently ate my 40$ clinique lip gloss -____-

Yep the meth trick might ( or maybe at best) work on a slow day at the shop. If and only if it does bring them it would work in ways that they wont forget. Yet they still wont make it to the shop unless some evidence is found that would also need to yield positive results. If persistent with to many calls to SWAT could easily result in one or more callers arrested . You'd be far more amazed at what NY police will arrest people for.

Brenton: I cant say for certain but I think it would As I've not seen a tortoise in the desert eating anything else that isn't in the desert at the same time as the tortoise is in at the same time. I guess I should have hung around and waited longer, maybe JUST maybe something would have grown.

Fact is something that wants to eat something must consider that the same something that wants to eat something can't eat something that isn't there... Right ?

Although the tortoise ( more than one) my friends keep and care for have been known to eat certain veggies and they even help keep the grass a little shorter All they do is put em out in the yard in a sizable wood box with 4 sided slightly tall walls on an area of the lawn, move the box here and there, to and from & now and then..... Wahh lahh just like magic no mowers needed. Less pollution too.

Had I of been in the desert with a horse with no name I would have waited a little longer but I seem to be forgetting something...

oh yeah , you have to be careful not to get arrested and if they have a good deal on rent or god forbid rent control, they aren't going anywhere. In which case more creativity and pettiness is warranted, like squirting crazy glue in their locks.

A good building where everyone minds their own business and don't act like total idiots is a thing of beauty, but it can very quickly go sideways. It just takes one douchebag and then they have a foothold. Then they recommend their friends and next thing you know it's an entire douchebag occupation with parties until 6am on weekdays with the halls filled with piss and puke. You have to nip that in the bud early. No quarter.

Hi, I was so depressed that I had to stay away from this thread and even neglected my plants. I already said that I didn't want to talk to them feeling the way I felt. Also, one of the two neighbors in that apt is a twenty something girl who must weigh 100 pounds.

Yeaterday, I saw the male neighbor and I approached him. He was very apologetic. He said that everyone got very drunk, someone tripped over the pots, knocked them over, and ended up breaking them. He said he didn't know how to face me.

I told him that I was pissed, but my main concern is going forward. I asked him to slip a note under my door next time he's having a party, so I can move my plants inside. I'm also being proactive and reaching out to the other neighbors just in case.

I have to read again all the messages on this thread. I apologize for being a JERK and not responding sooner.

I have another Gollum, so I don't need the one that broke, but I decided to save it anyway. I'm going to start a new thread about it. I decided to save it and replant it using a different substrate mix than the Gritty mix I had them in.

Manuel, please don't feel that way, you are NOT a jerk. Glad you finally talked to the kid.

Read your story, and I feel your pain. I wouldn't know how to move on if I lose all my babies :(

Looking forward to reading your new thread. Thanks for sharing!

Great Manuel! A new start!!

Time heals the plants and you.

Harry

Manuel

I am very glad to hear that you talked to one of them.

And great for you to start over, not punishing yourself for destruction others did. See you on the other thread.

Manuel,

No apology to us is needed, you were NOT a jerk. We all understood & felt some of your upset w/ you.

Glad you found out what happened & got to speak to him, sounds like better prospect in future.

Lena

Good for you, Manuel. I'm glad to hear you talked it through with your neighbor, and very glad to hear that you are not giving up on plants.

Welcome back, Manuel.

I have to add how impressed I am with desert tortoises as well as this forum. For, where else can you vent when something like this happens and not get blank looks from most people who have no idea how much trouble it takes to get a cactus to bloom or an adromischus to sprout a new leaf?

I mean, how many times have you randomly mentioned to someone, excitedly, that your E. globosa just bloomed for the first time and then see their faces go into screensaver mode so now you have to move the mouse to wake them up or maybe just to bop them with it.

Well done, I say.

Pagan

P.S. Nomen, that is very very arid desert wit you have. I saw it, just FYI. Keep looking at all the life, yo.

Hey buddy =)

Welcome back!

hey! look what I can do!!!

n_n

Welcome back, Manuel. We all felt your pain. Your's a better man than I am.

Pagan my intentions where for Manuel and not to forget himself, his ambitions goals and plans. Thanks I'll look on my way out while garbing some desert chips for an at home sifting

BTW it's not the new leaf on the Adro that will one day be seen that concerns me it's how long the older one hangs on during it's slumbering pace to finally one day drop that does.

IMO It's a good thing the pot tipping culprit suspect expressed his fears of concern to you with his hesitations while wanting to tell you. His words to you indicate that he too may also have grown up a little more as well. Yo Yooo ....

Manuel, I tip my hat to you for your restraint. And of course, looking forward is always the best way to go. I doubt I could have done so. Here's hoping for a better relationship with your neighbors in the future!

wth? 1st two pics looks like they were trying to eat it. Then, they thought (the bottom pics) that it was a san pedro cactus and they wanted to take a nice trip, but got distracted by something else and left it.

My neighbors were discussing "spraying a little something around" one day. The boy said he would do the room upstairs and ushered the lady to do mine.

About $300 in succulents, konchilulas and various trees are now dying. Most are already dead. It's definitely a chemical attack

I'm not sure what they are using so I'm unsure how to treat them.

Calling the police does nothing for trashy people like that.

How can I save the trees. They are so beautiful. Ugly people do ugly things. There's no need to pick on the plants like that.

Jo,

Sadly there's almost nothing to do at this late time. Only with-in maybe the first hour if you sprayed heavily with water you might save the big stuff but will lose a lot in looks the first year or so.

I sprayed some of my plants with Deet for protection for myself and it over sprayed some of my plants. Washed off the best I could a day later but with-in a month, they all died. Take pictures and call the police to record the event and ask your insurance agent about refund or at lest could maybe write if off income tax if you file the long form. A little is better than nothing. Police report is needed to do anything first. Ask a local nursery for a estimate of damage for cost replacement. Trees are more valuable than you think.