First Ebay Purchase!

[jrodpad]

I've been curious about buying chids online for quite some time - but I've been put off by the cost of shipping relative to the cost of the chids themselves.

This evening I found an interesting oncidium that I thought would fit in well with my collection:

Miniature Oncidium Tolumnias Red Berry

It was a great price and the shipping was less than $8. I'm a bit worried that it might be that the deal is too good to be true.

Does anyone have any experience with buying from ebay? The seller was increadableorchids. Has anyone bought from him/her before? How much shipping damage should I expect? Any rehab tricks that I should think about to keep the oncidium healthy after spending a few days in a box?

Thanks!

[OrchidSue]

Incredibleorchids is awesome. I actually know the owners and you won't be disappointed.

Susan

[WhiteRabbit]

yes - incredible orchids is a good seller
he keeps shipping down - and also - tolumnias are small plants, so cost less to ship to begin with. I have a few tolus from this seller - they all arrived in very good condition!

[cb977]

Brian (Incredible Orchids) is a member of OB!

I have never been disappointed by any order I've placed with him...check his ads in our classifieds...there are sometimes special offers for OB members

I'm going to move this thread into our Vendor Feedback forum.

[jrodpad]

Thanks Susanne - and thanks for the move to vendor feedback.

I'll be sure to post to this thread again when the Tol. arrives. I would love to post a set of unboxing photos to showcase Brian's work.

- J

[tuvoc]

I've bought several plants for them on ebay, and have been pleased every time. BTW, I've got almost all my chids though ebay lately. There are many good vendors that list there, sometimes a special plant that you just don't see offered very often.

Kim

[jrodpad]

So, the Tolumnia arrived in the mail yesterday. And you guys were right - Incredible Orchids delivered. The Tolumnia arrived packed really well and the plant was in great shape. There was a very small and delecate flower spike with a handful of buds and the spike and buds arrived unscathed. I tried to take some pictures of the unboxing so that you can see the excellent job that they did in packing the orchid for shipping.

Thanks to the group for the good advice and thanks to Brian at Incredible Orchids for a job well done.

Question for the group - the Tolumnia arrived in a tiny terra cotta pot - but with no potting mix. I assume I should fill the little pot with mix, but what size? I have medium grade and small grade mix. Any suggestions???

Thanks.

- J

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by jrodpad

So, the Tolumnia arrived in the mail yesterday. And you guys were right - Incredible Orchids delivered. The Tolumnia arrived packed really well and the plant was in great shape. There was a very small and delecate flower spike with a handful of buds and the spike and buds arrived unscathed. I tried to take some pictures of the unboxing so that you can see the excellent job that they did in packing the orchid for shipping.

Thanks to the group for the good advice and thanks to Brian at Incredible Orchids for a job well done.

Question for the group - the Tolumnia arrived in a tiny terra cotta pot - but with no potting mix. I assume I should fill the little pot with mix, but what size? I have medium grade and small grade mix. Any suggestions???

Thanks.

- J

Tolus like to get drenched and then dry quickly - so generally are grown in clay pots with no, or very little media - the less absorbent the better. tho you could grow with charcoal or treefern fiber and water a bit less frequently. They need a lot of light to bloom. I haven't yet got mine to rebloom - I'm not sure if I have been watering too much or not enough light - tho I grow them in a south window and they have a dark purple hue to them *sigh*
Also they can rebloom off the old spikes, so don't cut the spike after it finishes blooming.
I know there are board members who successfully bloom these, so hopefully they will chime in

[jrodpad]

Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to keep the Tol in the brightest part of my window box - and thanks for the tip on the spike - I wouldn't have guessed.

- J

[cb977]

Well, that packing job certainly looks familiar

I'm glad you're happy with your purchase