two plants in a pot...bonus, bummer or deceptive?

[DirtyCoconuts]

I am not going to name any vendors in this thread simply because i believe this happens often and for a variety of reasons and i don't have any clue into the motivations or circumstances on the vendor side so i am ONLY speaking about the feelings on the customer side.

I am also not referring to any situation where you get a bonus plant, (like a vanda or neo or other mono plant that is a two-fer)

so you order a 3-4" pot size plant and you get it...looks healthy and like a nice little colony...you take it out to repot it and it is two plants...for the sake of this conversation, two healthy plants that do not appear to be divided, more like two 2" were up-potted together.

as i said, this could be a lot of things so i am not guessing, this might be mursery practice to ensure at least one plant makes it? could be a shady move to make a mature plant appear when it is only two younger plants? could be a natural division , doubtful) and more that i could not imagine …


I try to be positive about it and say, bonus, i get two plants...but as i reflect it is not really two for the price of one...its more like i'll trade you that quarter for TWO nickels....

so i wanted to reach out to see how you guys felt? am i being a snob and should be pleased to have two healthy plants or is it right to be a bit bummed that i have two plants that are a year or three from where i expected/wanted them to be?


I will said that this has happened from many places and places of tremendous repute and i do not think it is a nefarious plot but i am also a bit of newb to the world of BUYING orchids.

[Clawhammer]

Great topic.

If the plants are smaller than what was described I am disappointed regardless of how many plants are in the pot. These guys are not fast growing plants, we are often talking the difference in a year or two of growth. Even worse if they aren't flowering size yet.

If I get two plants of the expected maturity, bonus!

Would love to understand why this happens.

[KingKong]

yes I hate free stuff too.
When they do a buy one get one free at the supermarkets I usually stage a 1 hour protest with a sign saying don't be a scrounger, insist to pay the full price.

When I get 2 orchids in a pot I then have to remove the spare plant, sell it for a profit and can then buy another plant - it is tough sometimes but that is life.

I like moaning though so I will completely agree these vendors are so lazy that it is easier for them to order a new load of plants than to seperate a few double planted plants.

[Roberta]

The vendor isn't lazy. They're not likely giving away an extra plant on purpose. But think about the process... When seedlings are deflasked, they are often placed in plug trays, one plant per plug. But those baby plants are often somewhat entangled, and it's not clear that that they are separate plants. One has to be very gentle at that stage. So you may get two separate plants in that plug, that look like one. The next stage is when they get big enough to sell, the plugs are placed into the next-size pot. If there were two plants in there, likely they'll stay entangled. So bingo, you get an extra plant. I have even seen the genetic variation in seedlings of a seed cross, discovering that I have two plants when the flowers on two growths come out quite different.

Example, here's a Sobralia... One pot, one blooming season. Clearly there's more than one plant in there though I will not be likely to ever get them apart, not going to try. (It is a pink one crossed with a bright yellow one... normal is to get mostly white, with a blush of pink.)

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by KingKong

yes I hate free stuff too.
When they do a buy one get one free at the supermarkets I usually stage a 1 hour protest with a sign saying don't be a scrounger, insist to pay the full price.

When I get 2 orchids in a pot I then have to remove the spare plant, sell it for a profit and can then buy another plant - it is tough sometimes but that is life.

I like moaning though so I will completely agree these vendors are so lazy that it is easier for them to order a new load of plants than to seperate a few double planted plants.

Your style of communication is not very effective. Your opinion is better stated without all the snark and bitterness. The only thing I take away from this is not all orchid people are cool.

[hypostatic]

I think if the seller charged you for 1 pot/plant and you got a 2nd in the pot, it's a bonus. This would be fine with me as long as at least one of the plants is what you're expecting. Like, if it's supposed to be a blooming-sized plant, and neither of them are blooming sized, that's a problem.

[DirtyCoconuts]

thanks for the helpful responses everyone ( except Kingkong)

I think that the issue is that i bought and paid for a plant of a 4" pot size and what i received was 2 plants of a 2" pot size that co-occupied the same pot.

This is not getting free stuff, it is getting something other than what i ordered.

I do try to be positive about it and see it as a an extra plant but i was curious about the other people felt.

hypostatic hit it on the head...there are some times it is two of what you wanted but sometime it is two 50% plants in a 100% pot

i also completely understand how it happens up to a point...i know they get repotted at different intervals and there are huge differences between the cool thing Roberta has going on and when a plant falls into to plants as soon as it is taken from the pot.

[hypostatic]

Yeah, I count that as sneaky math. I think it's not fair, personally.

[ghuylar]

DC,

This has happened to me very few times, and usually when I am buying seedlings, but if you look on the bright side you can already look forward to multiple directions of growth within the pot! It might not be what you originally wanted, and go ahead and talk to the seller about this issue. But once it gets to blooming size you can look forward to double the blooms

Personally, as long as they are both healthy and close to what was described, then I am happy and somewhat pleased. But if it appears to be directly deceitful, that's when I have an issue.

Good luck with your communications with the seller and I hope you are able to come to a resolution!

[DirtyCoconuts]

i am debating even reaching out.

inn my order there was also a vanda seedling (2") and i got two in there.

this leads me to believe that it is simply a situation where this is their practice and it is a matter of timing and luck to a degree.

I got two plants that had been recently up potted ( my guess is within 5 months) so they were actually 4 plants that would all have been too big for any single 2" pot but really were not the same plant as a single colony in a 4" pot....i do not think there is any possible way that in a commercial growing environment the caretakers would be able to take that time to differentiate which was which and so sometimes i get two plants who are less than the whole and sometimes you get two plants that are literally double what you ordered ( i have seen this on other people's order's from this seller)


all of this leads me to the conclusion that it is not a deception or cheap out move and simply another thing that is little bit of luck.

I am going to reach out to some other people to see if it is helpful to share the name of the vendor so people know better how to order from them or what to expect.....i am not sure yet as i cannot un-ring any such bell and I do not want to in any way spread negativity