Would you buy...

[lcarmer]

You've probably seen my previous forum named "Would You Pay for..." Which was about paying for a service that'll nurse your orchid back to health. I got GREAT feedback on it and now I have another question for my fellow orchid lovers.

Would you buy an orchid that was sick, then brought back to health?

Think of it as adopting a rescued puppy. The orchid you buy is not limp, wrinkly, or on the verge of death. You are buying a healthy orchid with a story of struggle. Would you buy it? Yes or no. And as always: Be honest. Be brutal. Thank you very much!

[rbarata]

Obviously I'd do it. That would serve to test my knowledge and learn some more...plus the feeling of reward.

[Jenascrich]

If it was an orchid I really want and I can not find it anywhere or it is ridiculously expensive somewhere else, then I would buy the previously sick one.

But I am a mush..... so if you had let's say a Facebook page that sold these previously ill orchids and one showed up on my feed with a story of struggle, and it was cheap, I would buy it, but the price would have to be really reasonable.


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[stonedragonfarms]

No, I'd not buy it. What's the point in: a. potentially putting the rest of the collection at risk, b. wasting the money on something that's probably on its way out anyways & most importantly, c. why perpetuate/sanction the idea that it's ok to sell subpar plants in the first place. If a friend can't get something to grow and they pass it on to me to try cultivating in a different way (i.e. in the greenhouse vs on the windowsill) that's something else; as the description stands above, it makes me think of the old adage, "He'd do anything to make a buck."
Just my 2¢,
Adam


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[Ray]

If a plant was healthy, how would you know that it wasn't at some point previously?

[lcarmer]

Good point! No, you wouldn't really be able to tell the orchid was previously sick. You would be buying a healthy orchid that used to be sick/malnourished.

---------- Post added at 03:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:34 PM ----------

Thanks Adam for your 2¢! It's great feedback.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Two of my oldest Cattleya alliance plants were once (long ago) on the brink of death. You would never know that by looking now.

I would be unlikely to buy a plant in recovery, but clearly suffering in the recent past. Reasons stated previously by other posters.

[pipsxlch]

*shifty eyes* I do that all the time- get struggling bag babies for cheap and bring them back, sometimes yard sale/by the trash/wild windfall. IF it's something I'd want anyhow (or could rehome easily when better), IF they are willing to cut a good enough deal on it, and IF I think what's wrong with it is something I can 'fix' without endangering what I have.

As Ray said, when it comes to buying something someone else fixed- how am I to know if it's good now? If I knew, I wouldn't necessarily avoid it, but I wouldn't pay a premium for it and it better not show signs of virus- I might ask for a clean check.

And for your other question, no I wouldn't. Can't see doing it with any of my plants unless (huge IF)MAYBE it was irreplaceable and/or had great sentimental value. And frankly, I'd rather fix it myself; if I don't know what happened and how to deal with it how do I prevent it happening again?

[silken]

If its healthy now, to me its the same as buying any healthy plant. We don't know the history of any of them unless someone tells us.

Now, if it struggled and had streaked blooms as if the previous struggle was due to virus, it still has virus and I wouldn't touch it.

But many of the plants I get from shows came from overseas bare root and are struggling or close to it when I buy them just from being bare root, and possibly treated with an antibacterial which can also be hard on the plant itself. So many of my plants go thru a phase of struggling until I can get some decent roots on them. Then they are usually very healthy and do well. I have no problem with that, it has made a complete recovery!

[AnonYMouse]

Full disclosure? Probably not.

And that's not fair since I don't know if that was the case from a big name vendor.