Received bad Enc altissima flask.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Wow...

I don't even know where to begin.

I bought a couple flasks of Encyclias for a friend in Europe.

The purchase was made from an Ebay seller in FL.

One flask is for Enc inaguensis. This one came to me in perfect condition.

But...

The other flask is for Enc altissima. This came in such horrible condition, the seller gave me two flasks. But the problem is, the free flask is also pretty crappy.

I deflasked one of them which I thought was the worst of the two. And lo and behold - this batch was absolute garbage!

I'd be surprised if they made it at all!

I'm hesitant to even send him the other flask.

Upon receipt, I immediately contacted the seller about the state of the two flasks.

So my question is:

1. Is there anything I should know as far as how to handle this situation with the seller?

2. What do I do with the bad batch of seedlings I deflasked?

3. While I did mention to my friend in Europe about the crappy Enc. altissima seedlings. I'm not sure I should send them to him at all, for fear that they might not even make it there. What do I do? I even sent an email with photos.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Never mind.

The seller issued a full refund for the Enc. altissima flasks.

I've decided to not send my European friend the Enc. altissima.

I'm sure he'll be disappointed about not being able to receive Enc. altissima seedlings. But I find it difficult to send him some half-baked goods either.

I hope he understands.

Philip

[Gin]

I am sure they will understand .I would rather get none then a be disappointed . Gin

[Tropicgirl]

Amen to that! Lucky you got a full refund, too! They must've known they sent out junk.

[gixrj18]

You might want to try deflasking them before you send them, in any case. It is really hard to ship flasks, and usually useless, because you have to deflask them almost immediately upon arrival. In most cases, the media gets all jumbled around during shipping, and covers upo the seedlings. Most seedlings in flasks have developed roots accustomed to one of two things.....either the seedling is used to having it's roots submerged in media, or it's used to being out of the media. The sudden mixup ends up smothering most of them in media, causing the seedlings to rot out. You are better off asking the sender to deflask them before sending them, and just wrap them in a moist paper towel. You will get a much higher survival rate. Good luck.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by gixrj18

You might want to try deflasking them before you send them, in any case. It is really hard to ship flasks, and usually useless, because you have to deflask them almost immediately upon arrival. In most cases, the media gets all jumbled around during shipping, and covers upo the seedlings. Most seedlings in flasks have developed roots accustomed to one of two things.....either the seedling is used to having it's roots submerged in media, or it's used to being out of the media. The sudden mixup ends up smothering most of them in media, causing the seedlings to rot out. You are better off asking the sender to deflask them before sending them, and just wrap them in a moist paper towel. You will get a much higher survival rate. Good luck.

Wow...

This is good info! I'll definitely take it into consideration if the flasks are coming from the US and if they're only for me.

If the flasks are from another country or if they were meant for someone else outside of the US, I don't think there's much of a choice.

Thank you!

[cb977]

Great info, Jasen

When I ordered my first flask last year, it arrived all mixed up and me not knowing any better didn't do what you've suggested. They rotted in a few days.
The vendor replaced the flask for me and with the long distance travel, it also arrived with the media all mixed up...somebody referred to it as agar soup

I immediately deflasked them, rinsed them well with pure water and layed them on a fluffy bed of good quality sphag withjust a tiny bit over the roots to hold them in place. they are all doing very well now...but I wish I had known this when the first flask arrived

anyway, thanks for the information...it's what makes OB the best!