Probably my last order with Ecuagenera

[katsucats]

Great experts of OrchidBoard, take a look at the two attached photos and see if you can identify which is virused. Is it

1. Oncidium sotoanum
2. Encyclia osmantha (with the spotty leaves)
3. Dendrobium nobile
4. Both the sotoanum and osmantha
5. Both the sotoanum and the nobile

Like many others here when shown the pictures I would have put my money on the Encyclia osmantha being virused. In fact, I put that plant in a corner separate from all the other ones I picked at the Huntington Garden show. When I tested, I tested the other ones together thinking they looked clean. But... it turned out I was wrong.

It was the Oncidium sotoanum and the Dendrobium nobile that tested positive for CymMV, not the spotty, sickly looking Encyclia osmantha. I bet money that most people who receive plants that looked like the former two would be rather happy about it. They look healthy, lots of green unspotted leaves, good clump, and new growths. Virus would be the last thing on anyone's minds. But nevertheless... Testing is expensive and most people don't, so I'm feeling that for anyone who has over 6-7 orchids, it's statistically likely that they have a virus, regardless of how reputable the vendors they buy from are, regardless of how healthy looking the plants are, and regardless of how good their culture is. If you have 30 plants and don't test, I'd risk getting hit by lightning over betting that you don't have virus in your collection.

As for Ecuagenera, maybe 2 outta 3 ain't bad in some contexts, but it's way more than it should be. Although most of the plants I've ordered from them in the past are not virused, and it's still very possible to get huge and inexpensive plants, it's clear that some of their batches and suppliers are of questionable quality, and their refund policy isn't as aboveboard as the best vendors. So at the end of the day it's like playing roulette, either you get a deal or you get dealt, and I'm feeling like I would rather get a smaller plant from another vendor unless it's something I can't find anywhere else.

[katsucats]

On the other hand, the 4 Mormodes and Catasetum I got from Orquideas Amazonica, 2 tested negative and the other 2 don't have leaves yet, but it's a good start.

[RJSquirrel]

sad to hear about anyone getting a box of half rotten orchid salad.

I have some ranch dressing left over from my Motes order.

If you are going to eat them make it memorable .

ordered a bundle of stuff due on nov 3rd from them.

keep you informed on what I got..I'm always hopeful not to get a box of junk. or virus

[sweta]

Originally Posted by katsucats

Great experts of OrchidBoard, take a look at the two attached photos and see if you can identify which is virused. Is it

1. Oncidium sotoanum
2. Encyclia osmantha (with the spotty leaves)
3. Dendrobium nobile
4. Both the sotoanum and osmantha
5. Both the sotoanum and the nobile

Like many others here when shown the pictures I would have put my money on the Encyclia osmantha being virused. In fact, I put that plant in a corner separate from all the other ones I picked at the Huntington Garden show. When I tested, I tested the other ones together thinking they looked clean. But... it turned out I was wrong.

It was the Oncidium sotoanum and the Dendrobium nobile that tested positive for CymMV, not the spotty, sickly looking Encyclia osmantha. I bet money that most people who receive plants that looked like the former two would be rather happy about it. They look healthy, lots of green unspotted leaves, good clump, and new growths. Virus would be the last thing on anyone's minds. But nevertheless... Testing is expensive and most people don't, so I'm feeling that for anyone who has over 6-7 orchids, it's statistically likely that they have a virus, regardless of how reputable the vendors they buy from are, regardless of how healthy looking the plants are, and regardless of how good their culture is. If you have 30 plants and don't test, I'd risk getting hit by lightning over betting that you don't have virus in your collection.

As for Ecuagenera, maybe 2 outta 3 ain't bad in some contexts, but it's way more than it should be. Although most of the plants I've ordered from them in the past are not virused, and it's still very possible to get huge and inexpensive plants, it's clear that some of their batches and suppliers are of questionable quality, and their refund policy isn't as aboveboard as the best vendors. So at the end of the day it's like playing roulette, either you get a deal or you get dealt, and I'm feeling like I would rather get a smaller plant from another vendor unless it's something I can't find anywhere else.

Thank you for this post and warning. I was really tempted to order some from this vendor looking at the affordable prices. But 2 out of 3 being virused is too bad.

[katsucats]

Originally Posted by sweta

Thank you for this post and warning. I was really tempted to order some from this vendor looking at the affordable prices. But 2 out of 3 being virused is too bad.

To be fair to Ecuagenera, my overall track record with them is more like 4 virused out of 31, and maybe 4-5 more sick looking plants that died pretty quick. The point of my post besides venting my frustration is to point out

1. Someone else could have gotten an order of 10 orchids that look healthy, but here I was sent 2 virused orchids out of 3. It's unpredictable.
2. Most virused orchids I've tested looks healthy. So when I see people talking about quarantining or testing only when there's symptoms, I think they've missed 70% of the virused orchids that enter their collection.
3. Ecuagenera, sadly, has no reliable return policy. If you pester them and get lucky someone might respond.

However, I have gotten a number of large-ish plants from them that are healthy that probably would have cost an arm and a leg from domestic vendors.

On another note, I'm getting pretty tired of virus testing every orchid I get. It just greatly inflates the cost of this hobby, every random purchase becomes an ordeal and makes me pretty disappointed at the industry at whole. I looked over my past purchases and realized I have pretty good luck with vendors out of California and Hawaii -- not all of them to be sure. I think I'm going to just cut down on this hobby and only buy plants from a handful of vendors I trust, like SVO, Andy's, Cal-Orchids, HR Nurseries, Tropical Orchid Farm, and Big Leaf. And then maybe most of what I buy will be compots or flasks since they should have a low rate of viruses.

Otherwise I'm here on the Vendor Feedback forum complaining about all the vendors everyone else loves, that send virused plants out to people because they know no one tests.

Outside, I have an herb garden growing in raised beds where every plant touches other plants and no one says that they shouldn't. Herbs are susceptible to viruses too, so why doesn't anyone at Home Depot advise people that plants shouldn't touch each other? That's because every industry besides some ornamentals don't have a huge virus problem that they've been shoving under the rug for decades.

Alright, I'm off the soapbox. Thanks for listening.

[Leafmite]

Herbs, vegetables, and other bedding plants are actually being grown to be resistant to viruses (either purposely or through natural selection) They will get the virus, sure, but it will not hurt them too much and they will still perform as they should. Many of the plants I grow, including figs and passionflower, are thought to all be virused but they perform so no one cares. Personally, I avoid variegated leaves when selecting the plants that I wish to add to my collection...just an irrational phobia.

The problem with orchids is that we do not value the ones that are resistant, perform well and never exhibit the signs of virus or other disease because these orchids can spread virus to those less resistant orchids we also wish to collect. This might need to change. Plant viruses and other diseases are everywhere in our environment due to people traveling and due to plants being shipped all over the world. Even if a vendor is really careful and tests all the orchids (or other types of plants) periodically, someone can accidentally spread virus to the curated plants if they come in contact with infected plant products (i.e. tobacco) or plants. The future will lay in developing resistant plants. This was once discussed in the orchid trade, too, but I am not sure if it is still being considered.

[Clawhammer]

Just placed my last order with them. They have changed, in my opinion. I just received 6 bareroot plants and 4 of them have already sprouted roots from the new growths some time ago, which were destroyed in transit. They used to be good at shipping bareroot at the right time. These 4 plants look ok now, but have a rough road ahead. I am done nursing their plants back to health for a year or two before they are something I am not embarrassed by.

[RJSquirrel]

threw out the last of my order. it was pretty rotten when I got it and I just not going to deal with the plants anymore. lesson learned. sometimes you do have to pay for your education ...

[tmoney]

so, i shouldn’t weigh in here cause, well, im a noob with little experience and an even bigger ego. also, i haven’t ordered plants from ecuagenera us. however, recently me and the partner took a trip over to ecuagenera europes greenhouses and store just to have a look and buy some plants.

let’s say i had big expectations and in reality when i looked closely at many plants i would never take them into my grow space. im a plant perfectionist, and there were a lot of plants (im reluctant to give a percentage) that had visible signs of damage- what appeared to be some pest, some mechanical, and some things i had never seen and didn’t even want to speculate on the cause.

we admittedly didn’t spend a whole lot of time exploring the plants, but there were some things that i wanted going in and when i looked at the lot on the benches it immediately was clear that these were not the plants i was looking for. so, anyways, there it is. they did have a lot that looked good as well, and many amazing plants. their seedlings and older plants with the old rollke tags were, on the whole, in better shape. oh, and their phrags all looked fantastic, but we didn’t want any of those and they are known to be pretty resistant anyway....

[Clawhammer]

In the spirit of full disclosure, and with a bit embarrassment, I have to admit I lied. I placed another large order with them. The addiction is real haha.

For the same price as Ecuagenera you can buy a domestic seedling and grow it out, vs a roughed up mature plant that needs TLC and to be reoriented to the northern hemisphere. I find, in most cases, the shorter path to blooms is rehabbing the abused mature plant.

The fact that I occasionally get a plant that is huge and healthy makes it hard for me to resist rolling the dice.