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Plant prices & mail order companies
Robert H. wrote (about Red Flame Swords):
<< The $28 is ridiculously over priced. I sell them for $7 to $12 depending on
size. >>
Ah, you forgot to mention, they were on sale for $18. They've got lace plants
for $17.99, crinum calamistratum for $24.99, aponogeton crispus for $6.99 or
$7.99, and large swords for like $15.99 (amazonicus or bleheri), and crinum
thianum for $7.99. You get the idea.
I was out at That Fish Place (quite a distance away) a few weekends ago and
picked up a lace plant for $6.99. They had crinum calamistratum for $6.99 or
$7.99. Unfortunately, I didn't pick the c. calamistratum up, thinking I was
getting one through m/o for a similar price (I wasn't totally pleased with
the appearance either). It was inundated with hair algae and a flimsy root
system. If I'd only known. I recently got one from a different m/o company
for $12.99 (the other m/o company didn't send it) and it had virtually NO
leaves (okay, 1 which was white) and NO roots. I'd have done better to pick
up the other and done a light bleaching. So, I stick it in the tank anyway,
and just pray. Certainly, that plant didn't leave <company not mentioned>
fully intact and rooted, did it?
Someone suggested it was a better idea to get the plant locally than resort
to mail order, though you pay a bit more. As you can see, one could easily go
bankrupt planting a few tanks, in this area. So rather than spend thousands
of dollars to plant my rather humble tanks, and patronize this overpriced
lfs, I tend to depend on mail order companies. In an earlier post someone
defended the state that plants arrive in from these places. They claim that
plants will go through some deterioration in shipping, and we should expect
this. I would have to say this is not true. After having traded/received
plants from other subscribers, I have to say that plants probably look close
to what they did when removed from the tank, if packaged properly, and sent
immediately.
I think there must be some point of *maximum stress*. And the healthier the
plant initially, the more it can handle. This seems like common sense.
Basically, you wind up with what they sent.
Frustrated in Allentown,
Sylvia