OrchidsAmore Review (Pelican Coast Farms)
This is going to be a long review, since a lot has happened in the span of time since I ordered the orchid and it arrived, and I’m actually going to write about four orchids that I received from the company instead of just the one that I ordered.
Firstly, I feel like I would not have ordered from OrchidsAmore based on their reputation, but I wanted to try it because I’ve been wanting to find a Myrmecatavola “Frances Fox” for a while and finally found it on their page. I decided to take a chance and see how the order would go.
I first ordered the plant on June 3rd, only to see that PayPal didn’t work. The next day, I received an email from Jerry Meola directing me to Square, where I could finish the order, so I did. (Note: I think it says on the website or somewhere in the ordering process that he holds orders until Mondays to ship so they don’t sit in a post office all weekend. This is sadly not true.)
A package came in the mail on the 8th. I peeled open the box with a mix of dread and curiosity to find… three orchids stuffed in the little shipping box? Unwrapping them showed them to be three catasetums: a Cyclodes “Jumbo Rosy,” a Clowesetum Jumbo Glory “Jumbo Golden Elf,” and a Monniera “Millennium Magic.” The cyclodes looked like it was barely hanging on to life (broken, limp leaves, and no viable roots), the clowesetum looked decent foliage-wise but had mold growing on its roots, which were half-rotted, and the Millennium Magic seemed to be the healthiest of the three, with no problems except a broken leaf. I emailed back that I had received the wrong order, waited through a week of silence, and finally received a reply with my options: pay half price for all the orchids (they were originally over $100 for all three) or send them back to Florida in the same shipping box to the correct buyer, reusing the agricultural papers to get through the mail. This all sounded very shady. I pondered getting a refund at this point, but when I asked if cancelling my order was possible Jerry said he had already shipped out my Frances Fox orchid, along with a free bottle of slow release fertilizer for my inconvenience.
On the 19th, the orchid I ordered finally came, along with the promised bottle of fertilizer. It fared much better than the catasetums did, had no broken leaves, but the roots didn’t seem to be in the best shape. Upon closer inspection I can probably say most of them are dead. But, there is a new growth and a relatively recent growth, both of which are still pushing out new roots, so I think recovery is definitely possible. At any rate it's not worth opening up any more complaints by email. Although the bark looked okay, I gave it some fresh cattleya mix and a new, airier pot immediately. Considering that everyone thinks this type of orchid is virused, I sanitized my repotting tools carefully, and I have a designated watering spot for it away from the rest of my small collection.
What lessons came from this? Those three catasetums that were mistakenly sent needed a larger shipping box and more packaging. It seems like he uses the same size shipping box for every single order, no matter the amount of plants inside. I would also recommend against ordering catasetums and other delicate-leaved orchids. Overall, considering how dessicated the roots are on my Frances Fox, and based on seeing the same complaint from many other buyers, I can safely say that orchids under his care are treated no better than how he treats his customers.
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