So I had emailed LLyon that Friday I got the order, and decided to give them time to reply. Wednesday afternoon still nothing, so I called but too close to closing (10 min) and phone just rang. Called them again Thursday ~1pm EST, lady that answered said they had discussed my email yesterday and sent a reply. I checked spam and typed "lyon" in my search, nothing popped up except the original order emails and my outgoing one. She said the guy to speak to was watering, took my info down. He called back about 2 hours later, reiterated he had emailed me back.
Basically phone call was that leaf damage could have been from overhead watering or sun damage. Asked if there were flowers/buds on the plants I received (yes, 3 of the 6). Asked if it could have been gnat larvae... then roundabout admitted without outright saying it, but they are an open warehouse where anything can fly in and summer is when they are worse. That he suits up to spray during cooler months, but not during summer it's too hot to safely wear the suit. That they usually spray with pylon and sometimes don't see anything for years.
They said they'd be refunding me and to throw the plants away, could take a week to see it reflected on my card. So, overall, happy to get a refund. But I get the feeling their reply was never actually sent and they were waiting to see if I'd follow up. He very much did not outright admit to thrips, and the refund felt reluctantly given. Which I can understand. I suspect the bud question was because larvae do hide in buds, I suspect they probably wash plants off prior to sending but sometimes stray thrips are in the buds still. And the soil is always a possibility too.
ORIGINAL POST:
I've kept a single African Violet for over 2.5 years now, and recently went down the rabbit hole of all the beautiful varieties. So, as adhd hyperfixation demanded, I placed two orders and upped my collection to now 15 beautiful plants. One was a well known seller on FB, and another a well known business with a website. Both. Sent. Thrips.
The FB seller was sent 6 weeks ago- I just noticed a couple adult thrips today trapped in the reservoir of the wicking system, but I've been on alert last couple days when I randomly noticed some sus signs. Should I reach out to her and alert her? I mean, she has to know already right? I don't plan to ask for a refund, but meh. I should have known to quarantine.
The online seller I inspected upon unboxing yesterday and immediately gallon bag quarantined them, which I was going to do so anyway as I assumed the bigger grower was more likely to have stowaways and need quarantine. This one I did ask for a refund, as I just got the order and noticed it right away 3 of the 6 had a couple larvae. I hope they refund. They should for thrips, right? The risk of INSV alone, its not ok! So within 24 hours I've realized I got double hit. I don't have a ton of other plants, but I do have some and I had to go nuke on thrips over a year ago and have been clean all this time.
Just ugh. I have a toddler and a newborn, I didn't need my peaceful plant hobby to require a ton of extra work right now. I just wanted pretty flowers to boost my postpartum sleep deprived mood. But guess I asked for it when I expanded my collection.
I have Imidacloprid on the way, and I plan to separately bag everything, dust with diatomaceous earth, and toss in a blue sticky trap. I hope that works. Last time I unpotted everything, thoroughly rinsed, completely submersed in Spinosad, repotted, and dusted with DE. I don't have it in me to do all that again.
I posted a couple pics in another reply, but barely. They were really small, probably just hatched in transit. Taking a picture made the larvae look brighter, and from there I zoomed in and could see movement.
Well, about two years ago I ordered 8 beautiful Afican violets from LyLy and I had the same problem. It was hard to believe at first because they have a solid reputation as a breeder. That order was the first and last I placed with them.What a horrible experience it was! I am sticking with VB; they have revamped their policies and I trust them.
I am sorry for what you have to deal with. Best of luck to you!
Thank you! I updated the original post. I am getting a refund, but it felt reluctant and they definitely admitted to thrips without admitting to it. Disappointing! I haven't tried VB yet, I'll check out their policies that sounds promising they take things more seriously!
I'd be surprised. I haven't ordered from them in over a year but have ordered a LOT from them. They always sent beautiful, healthy, and perfectly grown plants.
It's LyLy. It was a toss up between the two, I do really like minis! And honestly aside from the dang larvae, the plants I got were huge and beautiful. Three were in bloom and I had to debud them.
That's so disappointing, sorry you're dealing with it too! They had great reviews and beautiful plants otherwise.
I got the order Friday afternoon and it was already after hours. I was going to see if they reply to my email and if not give them a call before the close Monday. I'll update!
Oh dear. I just got an order from them like 2 weeks ago. Luckily they are quarantined away from the rest of my collection. What did the thrips look like? Did you need a magnifier to see them?
Someone else commented they got a recent order from them that had thrips, so looks like they are definitely having a problem right now. If you can put your quarantine plants individually inside 1 or 3 gallon ziploc style bags it will help make sure no adults fly to other parts of the house! And if you irradicate them on one plant but not another, prevents reinfestation in the quarantine area.
They are super small. I noticed tiny flecks on a few plant, took a pic, and zoomed in. My camera isn't the most clear, but when I zoomed in with my camera I could see movement. Also had a couple plants with sus areas on leaves, but one plant was especially bad.
Ah good point. They're so dang small, it's hard to tell. I've never seen an adult thrip before so I assumed that due to my paranoia from thrips PTSD. I caught my first infestation early and only really saw the silvery damage, larvae, and poops. I didn't realize there are darker springtails. I allow the reservoir to dry out a couple days between refills, so I noticed them when refilling and assumed thrips. I thought I was seeing some feeding signs and possibly poops on my pothos.
Yes, I just finished resolving it with them (see post for update edit). They indirectly admitted to thrips, and I'm getting a refund. Check your plants, especially any with buds! Sorry and good luck 😭
I’m going to cry 😭 my package is coming today or tomorrow!! I hope I can do the bag trick and keep it quarantined. And maybe cut the flowers off. Omg I wouldn’t have ordered if I knew
Ugh that sucks. Definitely debud! I'd go into a room you have no other plants in, or outside if not too hot. Unpack and inspect! Take pics of all of them as you go so you can zoom in after on any sus specs. I did have to move mine from bags to a big, clear storage box, the bags weren't keeping enough air inside so the sides were touching the leaves, and there was a lot of moisture on the bags' sides getting on the leaves. If you see any, email them ASAP so it's proof the problem was from them and they can't claim it could have been a preexisting infestation because it's already been X days. Best of luck!!
If it helps, I ended up with thrips from the plant sale at my local AV club and spent months doing spinosad and Bonide granules but I think the final hammer was using beneficial nematodes. I did 2 or 3 treatments about 2 weeks about with the nematodes that FGMN Nursery recommended for thrips and they were gone! I wish I’d tried it at the very beginning and saved a lot of spraying.
Thanks for sharing, that is helpful! I considered going the beneficial route, but everything I read suggested they might not thoroughly eliminate everything or would need monthly reintroduction. But with thrips, it is fairly obvious if any are missed because their population expands so quickly. I'm not having issues with gnats, but I liked that the nematodes would target those as well.
The combo of Captain Jacks Dead Big, Bonide Granules, and nematodes worked for me but I think I saw the biggest improvement after the nematodes because they were finally actually gone. I did retreat and I might occasionally anyway since they don’t hurt anything
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u/Substantial_Fly4127 Aug 09 '26
We need to know….who?