I closed a bank account today (looooong story), so I had some cash burning in my pocket. On the way home I stopped off at a greenhouse here in town that sells orchids. They don't grow them, but order them in from somewhere. I've bought quite a few of mine there over the last couple of years. Usually they are healthy, have proper tags, and are pretty reasonably priced.
Well... they not only decided to raise their prices (hey, I fully understand this, times are tough) but they plants are smaller than before and they are also re-potting all of them into larger pots so they can say it's now a 6" or even 8" instead of a 4".
To make matters worse, they don't do a proper re-pot, they just yank it out of the pot it's in, media and all, and toss it in a larger pot, then fill in with this extremely fine "stuff." At first look I thought it was soil because it really looks like it is, but I think it's some sort of soil-less potting-mix.
Still... I could just buy the orchid , come home and yank it out of there and back into a 4" pot, and call it good. But, today I noticed mealy bugs too! There were a couple beautiful paphs, but all mealies. I noticed spots on most of the phal and den flowers as well.
They've always had the healthiest stuff! I'm so sad, and disapointed... and a bit frustrated too.
I'm not sure if they just don't know the mix they are using will suffocate those poor roots, or if they just don't care. They sell regular orchid bark, but aren't using it. I hemmed and hawed on whether to say anything.... or how I'd even approach it if I did. Anyhow, just had to vent. Guess it's back to buying my instant gratification 'chids from Lowe's the the HD.
Local Greenhouse Rant
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