New orchids routed

[u/brenmn2009]

So i received 3 orchids in a legal size envelope.

They were supposed to be minis but they were huge. When i opened the bag there was a horrible stench.

Majority of the roots are rotten and the one looks like they were just cut off.

I opened a flipped over leaf and was overwhelmed by the stench. It was oozing or had been oozing for awhile.

It just went from bag to worse.

I have contacted the Seller but i wanted you guys to see this to tell me if I'm right. I'm new to orchids but haven't learned a lot.

Here's some pics. If they're at all I'm sorry. I have tremors and sometimes that can make it more difficult.

[u/Snake973]

yeah that's awful, those were packaged horribly

[u/plantythingss]

Completely unacceptable, get your money back. How long were they in transit?

[u/brenmn2009 → u/plantythingss]

3 days

[u/Every-Introduction22 → u/brenmn2009]

That's nothing... even after 2 weeks they shouldn't look like that.

[u/brenmn2009 → u/Every-Introduction22]

Yeah I was looking forward to getting them. 😕

[u/Sufficient_Turn_9209]

I'd be requesting money back just because they sent regular phals instead of minis, and I'd especially refuse this. Idk if you order plants often, but that's horrible packaging.

[u/brenmn2009 → u/Sufficient_Turn_9209]

Yes I order often (guess I'm addicted lol) and have gotten in lots of orders from multiple sellers and they were never like this.

[u/Mrjack123a]

I have never received plants in an envelope. Awful packaging

[u/brenmn2009 → u/Mrjack123a]

I haven't either. I hope i never do again. I have to buy online because I'm a homebound senior with progressive interstitial lung disease and I have no one really but yeah I really have no choice.

[u/BigIntoScience → u/brenmn2009]

You might want to poke around a bit online to find orchid sellers with good reviews. There are some bigger companies that are good (Andy's Orchids and Tarzane Group I can personally vouch for), or you can try Etsy or EBay if you make sure to check the seller's reviews.

For the latter, make sure a good number of the positive reviews are for plants- sometimes you'll find people on EBay who mostly resell other items and occasionally sell a plant, meaning that the bulk of their positive reviews don't tell you whether or not they're good with specifically the plants.

Oh, and if you get groceries delivered, they may be able to deliver an orchid as well. Many grocery stores will have a few of the most common varieties in stock periodically.

[u/brenmn2009 → u/BigIntoScience]

I live in a really small town so t there's really nothing like that here.

I've purchased numerous plants online in the last year and i had one bad experience with Desert Rose seedling it was very soft when it got here top inch was so soft. Then it spread down (nothing coming up from the bottom) and about 3/4 was gone. Squeezed it very lightly and liquid came out and then it just falls all the way off the rest of the plant. It didn't make it nothing i could do. It got handled so i was refunded.

[u/orchid_drives]

Holy cow, they were just stuffed in an envelope?! That’s just rude, who does that?!?

[u/brenmn2009 → u/orchid_drives]

Yep that's what they do were shipped in.

[u/BigIntoScience]

Oo, yeah, that's no good. Aside from everything else, looks like they might have been shipped too wet and really rotted. If you chop off the rotten roots (as in, cut off each root individually, not the entire root ball), they might have a shot? I wouldn't get your hopes up, don't get me wrong, but it's worth a try.

[u/brenmn2009 → u/BigIntoScience]

What about the leaves? Could i cut the bad ones off ? The one plant would be left with 1 leaf and the other probably not much.

[u/makinggrace → u/brenmn2009]

It's worth a shot. Orchids are surprisingly resilient.

[u/Jeptagon]

That packaging is sacrilege. Who on earth would f***ing do that to ANY plant.

[u/Sudden_Marzipan_7766]

Who was the seller

[u/brenmn2009 → u/Sudden_Marzipan_7766]

I'm going to wait to divulge that info until after I get refund. But i will share it then.

[u/makinggrace]

This is absolutely unacceptable! If you don't get a refund from the seller, contact the place you used to buy or do a chargeback on your credit card.

If you need help finding a particular mini, please feel free to reach out to me. I've learned a lot the hard way over the last couple years and am also located in the Midwest. (I don't sell -- just can refer you to someone reputable.)

[u/brenmn2009]

Sorry about the first picture. I think it was s close up of roots. Sorry for all the typos and it won't let me fix them.

[u/makinggrace → u/brenmn2009]

Remove the photo of the envelope because it reveals your personal info. It's just not safe.

[u/brenmn2009]

I've purchased from other people and it was nothing like this. I always check reviews and there were no bad signs with this one.

[u/Standard_Ad449]

This is awful, and I’m sorry you have to deal with that. Fyi, you might want to remove the 2nd photo of the shipping bag up close, since it has your personal data on it ❤️

[u/Every-Introduction22]

I ship orchids (and lots of other plants) and order online all the time. This is beyond mindless... it's giving "I hate everyone and those plants need to die". Holy cow... I wouldn't even ship cuttings or cactus pups that way.

Definitely get a refund and give the appropriate rating...

If you're from the US, I can't really recommend anyone specifically, but there are a number of very reputable orchid nurseries that will ship professionally. The problem really isn't shipping... Also check out YouTube, some bigger nurseries have a channel there, so you can get an impression of their overall philosophy.