Never again, ORCHID INN!

[papheteer]

I've have alot of not so nice experiences with orchid inn. Runts, plants with no roots, plants way smaller than advertised, twisty wire for roots, etc.. But I decided to give it one more try and order again. Decided to order 5 plants.

So this morning i went to the show to pick up the plants. As usual they were smaller than what was said on the website. But one plant in particular, a supposed BS delenatii dunkel, looked limp. So when I got home i unpotted it. Voila! Bad roots! Just one short dried up one. And it looked like it was just repotted too. I haven't checked the rest.

So I drove back and showed him the plant. He said that the short root was enough to establish the plant and that I have to wait 4 mos for the plant to recover. And he even said "that's why I tell my buyers not to repot right away?". Lol! So i mentioned to him all the plants with bad roots he sold me in the past. He said that its normal coz most of the plants were recently repotted. Doesn't make sense.

So the ending, he didnt wanna take the plant bareroot. He asked me to repot it coz he didnt have any media with him. And the plant needs to go back to his sales table!! That shocked me....

He does great breeding but what good is that when the plants are not healthy??

I vow to never buy plants from orchid inn again.
I don't know if it just happens to me or its happened to other people as well.

Here's a photo of the plant:

 

[Ozpaph]

sorry to hear that.

 

[papheteer]

A lesson will keep repeating itself until its learned.

 

[limuhead]

Bummer, the 3 flasks I just got from him a few weeks ago were the best I've gotten in a very long time...

 

[papheteer]

Not all his plants are bad. The ones on his table are immaculate! I guess when someone preorder he picks the worst plants. Or maybe he just does it to me. The very first time i order i didnt have any complains. But it's downhill from then on.

 

[emydura]

It is immoral to sell a plant like that. I have bought a few like that over the years. It can be many years before the plant recovers if it does at all.

 

[ehanes7612]

you are not alone...with Sam..it's fifty fifty ...the flasks he sells are nice (unless they come to you damaged in route, which is more of his lab's fault, so i dont buy any flasks that are shipped from his lab, they're idiots. I have bought from him through the mail and from pickup at society meeting...a good half the plants don't have strong roots but they recover nicely..i have yet to lose any . I have bought his package deals of brachys (twice ) and random adult plants

 

[jtrmd]

i learned the same lesson,but never lost a plant.I never got a plant from woodstream that had roots,or wasnt carrying some type of insect

 

[Erythrone]

I bought Pahs with bad roots from many other growers. Paramount, Cloud's...

3 years ago I bought a Jade Dragon for OI and there were no roots at all. The plant was starving. I told it to Sam and brought me a new plant a few months after when he came in Canada.

I also get from him a Phrag Jason Fischer for free because of bad roots.

 

[eggshells]

That is stupid telling a customer not to repot right away. If it was freshly repotted means that he knows that it does not have any good roots in the first place. And saying that it needs to recover or will recover is bullshit.

 

[Hera]

i learned the same lesson,but never lost a plant.I never got a plant from woodstream that had roots,or wasnt carrying some type of insect

A friend and I just had a problem with plants from him being over potted and lacking viable roots. In his defense he's had some personal issues that have been distracting from the business. As a criticism however, a business is only as good as its reputation. Word always gets around and this is a small community.

 

[SlipperKing]

I have to chime in as well. Poor roots hear as well as under size plants. In my last order I got two randsii, both with the notorious green wire roots! He emailed me the same excuse " don't repot, poor roots, need to recover" Why not say so up front and see if I still wanted them? Or offer to knock off the price because of it?

 

[papheteer]

And here's the thing. The plants on his sales table were perfect. In bloom
Multis for 75 buck? I also got an in bud Ho Chi Minh from the table. Funny i ordered one but canceled it. I bet had i not cancel i would have received something thats 5 years from blooming. I guess it's his way of disposing runts. Give them to those who preorder and those who buy online. The bigger healthier ones go to the sales table to attract new customers.

 

[papheteer]

I guess to experienced growers, receiving these kinda plants don't really matter if they come from good breeding. But for someone like me who grows indoors under less-than-ideal conditions, buying plants as healthy as possible is of utmost importance.

 

[eggshells]

And here's the thing. The plants on his sales table were perfect. In bloom
Multis for 75 buck? I also got an in bud Ho Chi Minh from the table. Funny i ordered one but canceled it. I bet had i not cancel i would have received something thats 5 years from blooming. I guess it's his way of disposing runts. Give them to those who preorder and those who buy online. The bigger healthier ones go to the sales table to attract new customers.

My thoughts exactly. Let this be a lesson to all of us. This is an unacceptable business practice.

 

[Stone]

Either you guys are spoiled or the sellers here are very bad growers! Most probably the latter. (or they just don't give a ****). 95% of the plants I buy are like that (at least the roots) I take it for granted now that I must give them intensive care before I even get them!

 

[jtrmd]

I guess to experienced growers, receiving these kinda plants don't really matter if they come from good breeding. But for someone like me who grows indoors under less-than-ideal conditions, buying plants as healthy as possible is of utmost importance.

It makes a big difference

 

[jtrmd]

A friend and I just had a problem with plants from him being over potted and lacking viable roots. In his defense he's had some personal issues that have been distracting from the business. As a criticism however, a business is only as good as its reputation. Word always gets around and this is a small community.

I have been hearing it from a lot of people for years.I think I was actually warned before going there for the first time 10 years ago.My last plant (paph vietnamense) wasnt bad with roots(i made sure to give the plant a tug,and check to make sure it wasnt anchored ro the pot at the table before I bought it),but did have a visitor I missed tucked in between the bottom leaves.Everyone is guilty from time to time of finding a plant or two with sh@#y roots at repotting time.The only thing is I'm not selling my plants,and the ones I trade I usually double check before I even offer them.

 

[NYEric]

Sorry to read that. Sam usually does have great plants at shows, i guess that's the time to buy.

 

[ALToronto]

I went to the same show. There were two Paph vendors - Orchid Inn, with perfect but very pricey plants, and a local guy with lots of sketchy seedlings. I bought from the latter - a nice Phrag for $30 and a few young paphs for $5 - 10. Repotted them tonight, and most of the Paph roots came out with the soggy bark and CHC mixes. One Ho Chi Min had no roots at all, although the leaves were pretty good.

I've bought too many plants with rotten roots, and their condition seems to be unrelated to their price. Vendors know how to make the top look good for sale, but what happens below grade is anybody's guess. So I've resigned to having to provide intensive care for the first 3-4 months, and for $5-10 per plant, at least it's not so painful to do so.

The Phrag, in good condition, is now in semi-hydro. The paphs are in Prime Agra and lava rock, but not in semi-hydro. All have been drenched in a high concentration of KelpMax. Fingers crossed.