Buying Houseplants

Posted by Susan Walsh Feb 28, 2008

Hi everyone!

Last week I wrote about an order I placed with an online nursery. Well I received my order and my reaction is mixed. First of all,whoever wrapped the plants did not do a good job. Tape was placed across the surface of the pots to keep the soil from spilling, which is good, but several of the plants had the tape wrapped around leaves and stems. Not so good. The Watermelon Peperomia, Swedish Ivy, Cupid Peperomia and Oxalis are fine and look great, but the Scented Geranium and Velvet Philo had green moss/mold covering the soil surface. This is NOT a good thing. If you see plants like this in the nursery, avoid them. It means they've been kept too moist. The geranium also arrived wilted and covered in yellow leaves. I watered it and removed the yellow leaves and it seems to have perked up, although it looks a bit bare. The philo also had yellowing leaves and signs of insect damage. The jury is still out on it.

The moral of the story? It is defintely better to buy plants locally where you can look at them and the nursery before buying. However, buying via mail order or online is not a bad option as long as you do your homework. Do a google search on the company you're interested in buying from and look for any review or complaints. Garden Watchdog is another great resource for researching companies. Also read all the fine print on the website and make sure they have a good return policy. For more tips on buying houseplants check out my article on the subject. Happy shopping!