# Seriously flawed algorithm **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [April 18, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936 "2026-04-18T15:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![o\_kanenas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/o_kanenas/32/71634_2.png) [@o\_kanenas](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/o_kanenas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/1 "2026-04-18T15:12:57Z")
All kind of things grow uninvited in my flower pots. Yet, because I define them as captive/cultivated, you assign them a Casual grade, not Research grade. These are wild plants, damn it!!! Just because they happen to be self-seeded in my flowerpots, you disregard my observations. This is a serious flaw with your algorithm. ---
**Author:** ![lauranaturaleza](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/lauranaturaleza/32/52962_2.png) [@lauranaturaleza](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/lauranaturaleza)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/2 "2026-04-18T15:16:11Z")
I don’t mark them as captive or cultivatwed. Because they were neither captive neither cultivated. That they are growing in a flowerpot… means they arrived there either on air, mistake, contamination or anything else. But not captive. Dont mark them like that. ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/3 "2026-04-18T16:01:37Z")
? You can counter an existing Not Wild vote with your own - _Yes, it is Wild_. You can also leave a note or comment for identifiers - that you _did NOT deliberately plant this_ ---
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/4 "2026-04-18T16:05:36Z")
I would suggest you might be misunderstanding the meaning of “not wild” for iNaturalist purposes. It is my understanding that this categorization depends on human intent and action, not the site or environment, per se. The _site_ where a given plant germinates and grows does not define whether it is wild or not, even if that site is a man-made environment or vessel. Volunteer species germinating in the absence of human intention, such as seeds or contaminant species in a seed mix, are “wild”. A useful example would be some garden plant (flower, shrub, or tree) which produces viable offspring which then colonize nearby areas. The original plant is “not wild”, but the subsequent generations, if they appear to be viable populations, would be defined as “wild”. The exception would be if some unintended species germinates in a pot or garden and you _tend it_ to promote its growth or even replant it into its own container. Those, of course, with such human intervention, would be considered “not wild” even if their origin was unintended. ---
**Author:** ![deboas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/deboas/32/45_2.png) [@deboas](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/deboas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/5 "2026-04-18T16:32:49Z")
You may be interested in the forum discussion here: [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/make-captive-cultivated-not-automatically-no-id-needed/112](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/make-captive-cultivated-not-automatically-no-id-needed/112) ---
**Author:** ![vbjanos](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/vbjanos/32/28910_2.png) [@vbjanos](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/vbjanos)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 1:27pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/6 "2026-04-20T13:27:53Z")
All weeds are by definition wild. If you mark them cultivated, they become crop or a pot plant. The algorithm works just fine, you could change the title to something less dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![paul\_dennehy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/paul_dennehy/32/1319_2.png) [@paul\_dennehy](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/paul_dennehy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/7 "2026-04-20T13:48:18Z")
> [@o\_kanenas](#): > > These are wild plants > [@o\_kanenas](#): > > I define them as captive/cultivated Well, there’s your problem… There’s a toggle option to label each of your observations as Captive/Cultivated **OR** Wild. If you think they’re wild, then don’t toggle the option to Captive/Cultivated. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/seriously-flawed-algorithm/77936/8 "2026-06-19T13:48:41Z")
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