Mail Order Plants ?

[Rod Boughton]

Hi everyone, i want to buy some new plants for my tank, and was wondering if anyone had bought any by mail order, i have seen a website advertising plant collections at very reasonable prices, any advice regarding this method of buying plants would be appreciated.

Rod

 

[Andy_G]

Hi,

i've bought all my plants mail order from Aqua Essentials I've been really impressed with the plants and service from them. I'd just make sure if your getting plants delivered to have them sent 1st class or special delivery so they're not stuck in the mail for too long at this time of year.

Andy

p.s. there's also a link to other sites in the PARC sticky at the top of the planted section.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/298938-a-guide-on-where-to-buy-plants/

 

[Katty]

I bought plants mail order from Sweet Aquatics(USA) and was really pleased. As with any live plants though you run the risk of introducing snails, I had to pick some off of the plants. If your postal service does flat-rate boxes (one price per box, instead of price per weight) and the company uses them (USPS has these boxes, I don't know if you are in the US though), it's more economical to order as many plants as you'll need than just one or two, since it's better to pay $10 shipping on 20 plants rather than $10 shipping for just one plant.

Check online for reviews of the particular store, and keep an eye out for negative reviews. There are a lot of good companies out there but there are also bad ones that can scam you.

 

[fishy55599]

ive had some come today, and mine were from ebay

 

[mark4785]

Contrary to what has been said above, I'd discourage the purchase of plants via the internet as i've received many plants that were decaying or which died because the water container they were in bust open etc. Its much better to go in person and purchase plants from a LFS in my experience as you can see for yourself what quality they are in and if you purchase any you can get them home quicker and safer.

Places where I've received bad quality plants are eBay and Thegreenmachine.

 

[lljdma06]

Contrary to what has been said above, I'd discourage the purchase of plants via the internet as i've received many plants that were decaying or which died because the water container they were in bust open etc. Its much better to go in person and purchase plants from a LFS in my experience as you can see for yourself what quality they are in and if you purchase any you can get them home quicker and safer.

Places where I've received bad quality plants are eBay and Thegreenmachine.

It is unfortunate that you have had this experience with online Vendors, mark4785. There is a list of online vendors in PARC (as Andy_G pointed out) that the OP can look up. I have purchased plants from both online and through the good ol' LFS and both sources have yielded both good and bad results. Eventually if there is something you want, and you can't get it where you are, you'll have to just jump in and take the chance on an online vendor. Otherwise, you'll be very limited as to what you can keep, unless your LFS is superbly stocked, which most of them are not. Other sources to purchase plants are through classifies (cough... here... cough) or through swap with various clubs and organizations. Some of my best plants have come from other hobbiests.

 

[JoshuaA]

If by value bunches of plants you mean, IME it has been hit or miss. I've had bunches come in which I've looked at them and just given them all to my friends parrots and plecs to eat.

If however you are wanting a more specific flavour of plants and are looking at some reputable tropica plant or similar then I think you will have great success. I ordered from "thegreenmachine" not so long ago maybe sometime in November and all 3 plants I had ordered were dispatched within an hour and arrived the very next day and that was only on a standard delivery! All 3 plants were in stunning condition and I would expectt that for their price but their price was better than my LFS which it's tropica stock can range from great health to oh my god what is that?