You might want to consider a simpler more SQL solution

#!perl
use strict;
use DBI;
use Data::Dumper;

my $dbh = create_db();

my $sql = 'SELECT P.common_name,S.plant_size,S.unit,G.abbr
           FROM plants as P
           LEFT JOIN sizes as S
             ON S.plantid = P.id
           LEFT JOIN growers as G
             ON  S.plantid    = G.plantid
             AND S.plant_size = G.plant_size';
my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
$sth->execute();
my %hash=();
while (my @f = $sth->fetchrow_array){
  $hash{$f[0]}{$f[1].$f[2]}{$f[3]} = 1
}
print Dumper(\%hash);

[download]
sub create_db {
  unlink 'mydb.sqlite' if -e 'mydb.sqlite';
  my $dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:SQLite:dbname=mydb.sqlite","","");
  $dbh->do('CREATE TABLE plants (genus,common_name,type,chicagoland_gr
+ows,id )');
  $dbh->do('CREATE TABLE sizes (show_plant,plant_size,plantid,unit,use
+rid)');
  $dbh->do('CREATE TABLE growers (plantid,plant_size,abbr)');

  my $sql = 'INSERT INTO plants VALUES (?,?,?,?,?)';
  my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
  $sth->execute("Roses","Roses",1,0,1000);
  $sth->execute("Violets","Violets",1,0,1001);

  $sql = 'INSERT INTO sizes VALUES (?,?,?,?,?)';
  $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
  my @sizes = (
    [1,2,1000,'"',4],[1,4,1000,'"',4],
    [1,3,1001,'"',4] );
  $sth->execute(@$_) for @sizes;
 
  $sql = 'INSERT INTO growers VALUES (?,?,?)';
  $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
  my @growers = (
    [1000,2,'MA'],[1000,2,'CD'],[1000,2,'TH'],
    [1000,4,'CD'],[1000,4,'TH'],[1001,3,'MA'],
    [1001,3,'TH'] );    
  $sth->execute(@$_) for @growers;
  
  return $dbh;
}

[download]
poj

In reply to Re^3: Another "Can't use string as an ARRAY ref" by poj
in thread Another "Can't use string as an ARRAY ref" by bradcathey

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