What pests do you expect vendors to disclose?

[harpspiel]

What pests would you expect an ethical vendor to disclose? In the past year of getting back into orchids, I think I’ve only had a single vendor (the Tarzane Group) where I didn’t identify a single pest on any of their plants. The most common pests I find are bush snails, mealybugs and scale, but I’ve also found some kind of mites and slugs. These were a mix of random eBay sellers and large, well-known businesses. One set of plants from a local, reputable greenhouse was so infested with mealybugs that I ended up throwing out a plant.

I usually wouldn’t expect a vendor to disclose snails or slugs, they’re so ubiquitous, but pretty much anything else I would expect a warning. What do you all think?

[Orchidtinkerer]

One time I could accurately determine where a pest had come from.
I waned teh vendor. He thanked me and said he would treat his stock.
I don't think it should have gone any different as I certainly won't admit to knowing at all times what pests I might have lurking in my garden.

[jcec1]

I think that a reputable seller would not knowingly sell any orchid with pests.

If they have an issue or spot pests on a plant, I would expect them to take action before selling the plant.

[camille1585]

Actually, I wouldn't expect a warning, and for me that would be a massive red flag. They have no business selling pest infested plants, disclosure or not. If you have a known pest problem in a section of your greenhouse, then those plants shouldn't be sold until the problem is solved.

If you are shopping at reputable nurseries, you shouldn't be getting pest infested plants. It can happen to the best of growers, so I'm fine with a one off issue, but will take my money elsewhere if it's happening repeatedly.

[Leafmite]

If a company is knowingly sending out infested plants, they should be avoided completely. Sometimes, though, it might be a mistake. Customers can bring pests in on their clothes, they might arrive with a new shipment of plants or they might just appear as they do with our own plants. One might not notice a new outbreak of a pest.

I have had pretty good luck with Hausermann's sending out healthy plants. (Just received an order from them). SVO has been good so far. Al's Orchid Greenhouse was always good. These places would probably all be very unhappy and horrified to discover they had sent orchids that had issues.

I quit buying from an orchid vendor last year because one of the mounts came with a bush snail (and, though I picked off the snail and ran the plant under the faucet, I got an infestation. The snails even completely ate many of my miniatures, some of which are currently irreplaceable). I should have soaked the mounts in coffee before adding them to the collection but I just did not know to do that at the time. Looking at a picture on Amazon from that vendor, I noticed scale on the plant displayed. Nope. I was done.

Years ago, ordered from a favorite plant company and the plant sent was infested with Whitefly, aphids and spidermites...treated the plant but some must have lived on to infect the rest of the plants (this was when I used olive oil on my entire plant collection...which took many, many hours to wash off the plants). In that case, I let the company know and they were horrified and apologized and offered reimbursement and said that they would be checking their stock. I refused the reimbursement since it was clearly an honest mistake and I have always gotten great pest-free plants from them since (and before that incident).

When I give away plants, even if I believe them to be clean, I always warn people that they should treat them before adding them to a collection. I never know what might be lurking. These plants are free, though. If one is paying for plants, the vendor should not put the customer's entire collection at risk.

[Orchid Whisperer]

A seller should disclose any pest problems.

I agree, they shouldn't send plants with pests at all. It might be reasonable for the vendor to say "I know you ordered Cattleya 'Xyz' but we are treating those for mealybug, we can refund you, or notify you when a clean plant is available'.

There is the added problem that if a pest occurs in one part of the country, but not in another, shipping an infested plant can hasten the spread of pests.

[orion141]

I too would not expect them to do selling any plants knowing they were infested. That being said I still quarantine my new plants (if possible) for some time as issues can arise even for the best growers.

[harpspiel]

So for everyone who has responded, does your idea of pests include bush snails? I’ve found snails in almost every order from every vendor, most recently Andy’s.

One of the steps in my processing of orchids is to completely remove potting material and submerge them in RO water for 8+ hours, that usually reveals any adult snails on the plant. I also inspect for eggs as closely as possible and so far I seem to have avoided introducing them into my Paludarium.

[orion141]

I would consider them a pest. Have you let those vendors know about them and if so what was their response?

[harpspiel]

I wasn’t sure how normal this was, so I generally haven’t let vendors know. I’ll definitely start pushing back in future though.