Man allegedly spent 3 days revenge drilling through the property after landlord increased rent by $500. Then 200 bamboo started growing: ‘expensive’

A TikTok video posted by Gema Valdeznews (@gema.valdeznews) described a tenant who said he planted bamboo throughout a rental home after a rent increase. The video has drawn about 3 million views, 70,200 likes, and almost 700 comments.

The reporter in the clip said a man got revenge on his landlord after being forced out of his rental home by planting 200 bamboo seeds inside and around the property. She stated the landlord raised the monthly rent from $1,100 to $1,600 and blamed inflation.

The tenant claimed he could not afford the new price and said the landlord also mocked him for being poor. With no way to stay, he decided to move out, but not before leaving behind a problem, the reporter said.

Viewers disputed how fast bamboo could take over the house

The reporter said that before leaving, the man spent 3 days drilling 200 small holes around the house, including the floors, walls, yard, and other hidden areas. He then placed bamboo seeds inside the holes and watered them, according to the account in the video.

Soon after, he moved out and disappeared from the property, the reporter stated. The video showed people moving furniture out of a house and a hand placing small objects into the ground. Three weeks later, the man said he drove past the house to see what had happened. By then, many of the bamboo plants had already started growing fast, the reporter said.

Some had pushed through the floors and walls, while others covered parts of the outside of the home, she added. The house looked like it had been taken over by bamboo, according to the video narration. Such property disputes can escalate dramatically, like when a woman inherits her late father’s Las Vegas house but the tenant living there rent-free refuses to leave.

The clip showed a thick shoot growing through a red tiled floor, small shoots in a lawn, and later scenes of bamboo pushing through concrete, walls, and a bed frame. A man in the footage appeared to cut and pull plants from the floor. Disputes between tenants and landlords can escalate in unexpected ways, such as when a Texas man contacted a landlord about a TikTok rental only to allegedly learn they don’t advertise on the app.

People online are now debating the story, the reporter said. Some called it creative revenge, while others said it could lead to serious legal trouble and “expensive” damage. The video ended with the reporter asking what viewers thought.

Commenters on the video questioned whether the growth described in the clip was possible. One person wrote, “anyone knows about bamboo knows this is a lie.” Another commenter wrote, “that’s a lie bamboo takes 2 years to shoot.” A third said, “there’s no such thing as a bamboo seed.” Others called the clip fabricated. One wrote, “fake video.”

Some viewers reacted differently to the tenant’s claimed actions. One commenter wrote, “What a LEGEND.” Another said, “stop putting ideas in my head.”

According to Rhizome Barrier Supply, bamboo roots cannot grow through solid concrete, but they can punch through older surfaces and grow into existing cracks. Bamboos are capable of causing extensive property damage. The Guardian cites an incident in Cheshire, England, where the bill for damage reached £100,000.