Anyone bought plants here??

[mspatt]

So there is this really cute little equestris at Orchids.com. Its sepals and petals are pure white and it has a pale blue lip. I am seriously considering this and a large flowered phal(my husband doesn't like "little flowers") that is a great harlequin mixed up thing..Their prices seem pretty good, but I'm a little nervous because I've never heard of these people before and want to know if anyone here has ordered from them?

TIA for any help you can give!!

[Call_Me_Bob]

i was talking to someone who ordered from there. they said that they spent $187 on 6 orchids, and that they were all much smaller than expected. but they also said that two of them were in bud ( they ordered them that way) so my guess is that they were smaller than the person expected but large enough to be in bud. the person was also new. but just a heads up.

[Royal]

Norman's (orchids.com) is great. Sometimes the prices can be on the high side, but he has some quality stuff. Lots of imports. Thumbs up.

I've received a plant from them that was small, but it was sold as a "seedling size" plant. The "in bud/spike" plant I got was HUGE with two fat spikes. In my opinion, you pay for what you get.

[Call_Me_Bob]

like i said, maybe the person who i talked to wasnt sure what they were doing

[Izzie]

They are coming to Denver's Orchid Society Fall Show and Sale the 8th and 9th of October, I can let you know how their plants look if you want.

[mspatt]

Thanks ,Help, Royal and Izzie!! I just discovered that they are affiliated with Norman's Orchids and that I have a plant from them in my collection. (It is a couple of years old, so Izzie, I would like to hear what you think of their new offerings.) I really appreciate the heads-up about the plant size, though. If I end up ordering from them, I will make sure that I am getting mature plants that are in spike or that will bloom within a reasonable amount of time.

[Izzie]

I'll be sure to post to this thread after the show then. If they've been invited, odds are they're pretty decent, I'd think.

[sweetjblue]

mspatt, Here's a pic of just some of the plants that I have from Orchids.com. All are mature and blooming size.



The plant in the clay pot front and center is my Dtps Peter Blue Sky I posted a short while ago. Compare this to the larger plant (in spike, but hiding) to its left of Phal. Lea Marie Salazar.

I think the difference that may be seen with the size of the plants is the fact that some are regular Phals (larger)
and the smaller are mostly Dtps. Also, as you probably know, plants that have equestris in their background tend to be smaller as well.

You just have to be careful with watering most of Orchids.com plants as they are tightly packed in moss, it will take weeks for them to dry out. I generally check the condition of the moss and if its fresh just take a portion of it out so it dries faster.

Hope this gave you a better idea of what to expect.

Judi

[mspatt]

Thanks for the input, sweetjblue! Yes, I know the equestris will be small, but 1) they are just soooooo adorable and 2) they are almost constantly in bloom and 3) they throw keikis like mad...What's not to love? I guess I'm really just concerned with getting a happy, healthy plant for my money

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by help

like i said, maybe the person who i talked to wasnt sure what they were doing

I spoke to the person as well. All I can gather is, the person was not incredibly experienced, but has grown some orchids previously, and had good suspicions that some of the plants were not doing well upon arrival.

The person also has a friend who grows orchids and was told the questionable plants would take around 3 yrs to recover. But judging from my own personal opinion, it would take somewhere around 2 yrs.

From what I've been told of the customer service at Norman's, it sounds very consistent with the issues that the nursery had with a few of their customers when I was working there. However, at this point this statement would be considered "hearsay". So be the judge of that on your own.


Aside from that, here's what I do know as a fact.

Phals are their #1 crop plant. Next comes Paphs. Then Catts, Dens, Oncs, and other misc. species, in that order.

Their top priority are marketable hybrids, then species, in that order.

Yes, many of their orchids are grown in tightly packed moss, but it doesn't necessarily mean you should be growing them that way too.

It's hard to say whether the Phal you receive is good or not by judging from the roots that you can see that are against the sides of the clear plastic pot. A better judge would be to pull the plant out and see. From my experience with them not only as an ex-employee, but as a customer, it's a crap shoot.



However...

There are some plants they do and are willing to sell that are in less than optimal potting media.


Do also know that there are times when you can get the same sized plant for much, much less of equal or better quality elsewhere.


It's up to you.