Not happy with order from Germany

[bil]

I put in an order from these people, and wasn't best pleased. Two Cats arrived that were in pots with a single live root at the top of the pot. Each pot was filled with a solid plug of sphgnum moss and dead roots that were so compacted that I couldn't break it open with my fingers.

What was worse that when I emailed them, I got no response.

Cattleya, Brassolaelia, Brassocattleya, Laelia, Potinara - Orchideen und Orchideenzubehr der Schwerter Orchideenzucht

[Orchid Whisperer]

Sorry for your bad experience!

[bil]

Thanks. It isn't worth sending them back as I have to pay postage, and since it's to Germany from Spain, the cost is more than the price of one of the orchids. With luck and care, it will survive. It's in a mix of sphag and bark to keep it moist but open, so we shall see.

Mind you, I shall be shopping elsewhere in future.

[matucana]

Hi,

since I live quite close to them, I am there several times a year. It is unusual that you did not get an answer - I know them as very reliable.

Did you mail photos of the plants? Maybe that would be of help for an answer.

[bil]

No I didn't think to take photos. What puzzles the hell out of me is that the pot contents were seriously compacted, to the extent that they were a solid mass. OK, I'm a noob, but I can't see how that is good for an orchid.

[matucana]

Hi bil,

they often import plants from south east asia, and those are often in these small pots crammed with moss. And yes, those plants often come with very few roots, since they were raised under high humidity conditions, feeding mostly through the leaves.

Did you order seedlings or young plants? Mature plants from Schwerter's come in a special substrate with bark, moss and coal.

[bil]

I ordered plants. One Cat came with decent roots in bark, two came in moss plugs with everything below the surface dead, and the fourth, a dendrobium nobile was damn near as bad as the cats, and should have been repotted long ago.

[matucana]

Hmm

strange. I am sorry for you

[Orchid Whisperer]

I can't offer advice on the Dendrobium (Dendrobiums still seem to hate me )

As for the Cattleyas, if the leaves and pseudobulbs ar in good shape, the chance of recovery is good. In the summer, I have tossed rootless Cattleya back-bulbs into an empty terracotta pot, sprayed the rhizome and terracotta a couple times a day to keep some humidity around the plant, and within a couple months the plant is making new growths or roots.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

I can't offer advice on the Dendrobium (Dendrobiums still seem to hate me )

As for the Cattleyas, if the leaves and pseudobulbs ar in good shape, the chance of recovery is good. In the summer, I have tossed rootless Cattleya back-bulbs into an empty terracotta pot, sprayed the rhizome and terracotta a couple times a day to keep some humidity around the plant, and within a couple months the plant is making new growths or roots.

Well, I hope the Den I got takes more kindly to me. The cats are in a mix of spag and moss, with high drainage and plenty of air, so I shall live in hope.