FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I know I've seen another review for them somewhere here, but I'm going to add my own.

I ordered two plants, a Sarracenia 'Dana's Delight' and a Darlingtonia. Overall, I would give my experience a 2.5/5, for the following reasons:

Shipping: Shipping was slower than I'd anticipated. I ordered on the 18th, the same day as I placed the order for my FTS Fuzzy Tooth plant. I received an email that night stating it was marked as shipped, and an email the next day with tracking information. USPS did not receive the package until Monday however. My FTS package arrived on Monday. These plants were coming out of Washington state, so it really isn't that much more distance. Anyhow, upon arrival, the plants were not in as good of condition as I'd expected. Several pitchers on the Darlingtonia had turned brown, one completely dried up, so I suspect it had begun prior to shipping, or he packed them the day he marked them as shipped. The Sarracenia was pretty beat up too, two pitchers starting to turn brown, one broken off, one new (not fully developed) pitcher bent at the top from having the box folded around it, and the one normal pitcher was browning from nutrient burns. So until it starts growing new pitchers, it's in pretty beat-up shape.

Plants: Aside from above, the plants were listed as being 4-year-old and 3-5 year-old plants, respectively. I would like someone to weigh in on this, as the Darlingtonia is about 3" tall, and I don't know how tall it should be at that age, as I know it's a slow-grower. I was told it should flower next year. The Sarracenia is about 6"-8" tall, with the biggest pitcher's outside diameter slightly less than a dime. It is supposed to also be likely to flower next year. How true is this? I'm happy to have the plants, so don't get me wrong, but from a seller/purchaser standpoint, if I were selling the plants, I wouldn't have shipped these, or at least trimmed the pitchers on the Darlingtonia.

Service: They were quick to respond when I asked about flowering for the plants, and about combined shipping (which they did do, down to $7 instead of $12!). They were also quick to respond when I asked about the above mentioned issues, only to be told that, "That is normal for shipping. your plants will recover quite well!" Now, having seen how my flytraps have been when they have come from FTS, I know this isn't true. Even with the slight shipping damage that came this time around, it was clearly due to the USPS. This...well, there were no pieces of the broken pitcher, and the plants were wrapped in damp paper towels, put in plastic bags, so they weren't without water. I also am uneasy that I paid $10 for the Sarr, and $30 for the Darlingtonia, and today I see that he is now listing them for $20 and $50 respectively. While granted, they have every right to raise prices, it seems like a rather large rise.

Overall: I purchased the Darlingtonia because I couldn't find one anywhere else. The Sarracenia was added just because it was pretty, and I expected a much larger plant (I'll include their pictures from the listings, so you can see what was advertised versus what I received.) than what I got. Overall, I'm happy with what I received, because I know that they WILL grow and recover, but I'm really unhappy to pay $47 and end up with damaged plants that obviously weren't in that great of condition when they left the store, and appear to be considerably different from what was advertised. They have a disclaimer that the picture shown is representative, but SIMILAR to what will be shipped. Next time, I'll ask for an ACTUAL image of the item before purchasing. -.-; Lesson learned.

Darlingtonia are exceptionally slow growing and stay small for a very long time. The plant you received looks to be about the right size for a 4 year old plant, perhaps a little small, but I've seen 7 year old plants that were smaller. It really depends on the growing conditions. Age has very little to do with size. For $30, I would say it is a fair price, but it definitely is less impressive than the stock photo, so I can understand why you'd be disappointed (especially for the price). We sell similar sized plants for $20, and we actually have some too, but haven't put them in stock yet this year mostly because we tend to forget about nearly everything except flytraps now. Darlingtonia do lose old pitchers, so the pitchers that were dried up were almost certainly that way before shipping. Not sure why they weren't trimmed off before the plants were sent to you.

$10 for the Sarracenia is also a fair price, I think, and it does seem appropriately sized, but again smaller than the stock photo. You might be able to find it for sale elsewhere for a couple dollars less, but $10 is definitely not a bad price. As for flowering next year, the plant looks a bit small to me for flowering, but I suppose it is possible. Fertilizing it a lot might help it grow more quickly (Sarracenia can take quite a lot of fertilizer).

The new higher prices do seem like quite a jump though, and possibly out of line with prices at most other places. But, as you say, they can ask whatever price they want. It doesn't mean that people have to pay it.

Thanks for the response! It makes me feel a little better about the Darlingtonia. I will look into fertilizing the Sarracenia, hopefully it will start growing as well as my others soon. I'm happy to have the plants, and not grumbling too terribly much about the price (though if I'd known you guys had some, I would've definitely gotten it there and picked up the Sarr through someone selling a division or something!) so next time I will probably just email you guys first and see if you have any, because I would LOVE to have a nice little Darlingtonia collection. ^^ I want to see how this one fares first though.

I was more angry about the stock photos being so drastically different from the plant. I understand there would of course be differences, but the way they were shot (angle, size of pot, etc) made them look MUCH bigger (to me) than they were, and I kept wondering how in the world they were going to fit in such a little box! Knowing this, I raise my review to 3/5, though I definitely won't buy there again, unless something comes up (cheaply) that I really, really want and can't find elsewhere. Honestly though, I'd rather spend my money with you guys, or the others here on the forums. Heaven knows, there are plenty of passionate people around here to get plants from!

Thanks again for giving me the correct information.

mnwatson1 wrote:Thanks for the response! It makes me feel a little better about the Darlingtonia.

You're welcome and I'm glad it made you feel better. I think you did pretty well overall with your purchase.

mnwatson1 wrote:I was more angry about the stock photos being so drastically different from the plant.

Yes, that's certainly understandable.

mnwatson1 wrote:I understand there would of course be differences, but the way they were shot (angle, size of pot, etc) made them look MUCH bigger (to me) than they were

Right. The stock photos can certainly be deceiving.

mnwatson1 wrote:Thanks again for giving me the correct information.

You're welcome! And if you are serious about wanting another Darlingtonia (once you figure out whether or not you can keep them alive), keep us in mind. We have a small tray of them out in the greenhouse that are essentially being ignored.

Will certainly do!! If they aren't showing as in stock, I'll definitely email!!

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Just wanted to add my two cents here...recently had a very similar experience to OP's and as a result I would NOT purchase from this supplier again. With the exception of the Darlingtonia, which actually looks quite decent, none of the other plants regularly advertised as such appear to be anywhere near 3-5 years old - unless, of course, they've been grown in a dark room!