FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Judging from pictures of his grow room it’s actually his basement or garage. Think he scams people to pay for his “medical bills” and lives off that
Yeah neps don’t like soggy conditions with algae growing like slush on them. His tiny net pots are ridiculous

Glad you mentioned that, people are already taking that non TC approach. I’ve talked to a couple people who demonize TC and claim it causes unhealthy growth like lots of basals (which is mainly a genetic factor). I like SG neps cause the genetic variation but it’s only really useful for hybrids where you can expect much variation. A lot of people go crazy over proven female clones as if they are better than male clones somehow. Many growers don’t get neps to flowering size so why does it matter the gender?

That's BE's famous female Trusmadiensis Clone 2, and a fantastic specimen. I'd be surprised if it didn't go for more. If I had the money I'd bid on it! Probably the best nep natural hybrid out there IMO.

Plus, despite being a hybrid, most growers report Trusmadiensis being a terribly slow grower, like both parents. I can vouch for this judging the growth rate of my AW Trusmadiensis . It would take years for a typical sized Trusmadiensis to reach those proportions.

Hey hey what about kinabaluensis!?

Apollyon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 4:45 amThat guy lol. If it's the same one who's like "please message me why you want to be friends I get many requests a day"

jose wrote:Sounds like Eric Malsbury. I’ve had the misfortune of dealing with him. He bid up one of my auctions and won but never paid. Didn’t even respond when I messaged a payment reminder to him. Had to send a second chance offer to the next guy.

Apollyon wrote:I've never met the guy but from screenshots alone on facebook he sounded kinda scummy. Also the way he belittled his "customers" was an interesting approach to business. I wonder how he stays in business. Maybe he sells a 5k hamata and sits on it for a couple months.

I'm glad we are all aware of this guy so we can steer new growers and hobbyists away from this guy. His plants are nice, but not multiple thousands of dollars nice.

You'd want to believe someone ready to shovel thousands will at least know what they are buying. I'm just fascinated by the fact that people *will* buy his stuff.

lmao at the basement nepenthes. I still couldn't get over the tray system. I found his website somehow and checked his inventory and it is just as ridiculous as ebay. But you know, if he sells even *one* to some desperate guy who *NEEDS* that Eddie and can't think to import or find a smarter route, then the guy's rent is paid and the buyer deserves what they get.

I also remember this guy guaranteed live delivery of a plant he sold for over thousand dollars and it died in transit. He was trying to find legal advice to avoid reimbursing the buyer.

I personally couldn't buy from the guy. Reputation notwithstanding, the way he speaks to others is garbage and his prices are just obscene.

Apollyon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 5:41 pm You'd want to believe someone ready to shovel thousands will at least know what they are buying. I'm just fascinated by the fact that people *will* buy his stuff.

lmao at the basement nepenthes. I still couldn't get over the tray system. I found his website somehow and checked his inventory and it is just as ridiculous as ebay. But you know, if he sells even *one* to some desperate guy who *NEEDS* that Eddie and can't think to import or find a smarter route, then the guy's rent is paid and the buyer deserves what they get.

I also remember this guy guaranteed live delivery of a plant he sold for over thousand dollars and it died in transit. He was trying to find legal advice to avoid reimbursing the buyer.

I personally couldn't buy from the guy. Reputation notwithstanding, the way he speaks to others is garbage and his prices are just obscene.

You’d be surprised to know how eager some uneducated buyers are to buy $1000s of CPs. I know somebody who bought an XS Heliamphora Flamingo (not from me) for around $1400. Flamingo is a very rare variegated heli that people go crazy for. Anyways, it was shipped overnight and came just fine. After he grew it for a while it died .

jose wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 5:10 am Glad you mentioned that, people are already taking that non TC approach. I’ve talked to a couple people who demonize TC and claim it causes unhealthy growth like lots of basals (which is mainly a genetic factor). I like SG neps cause the genetic variation but it’s only really useful for hybrids where you can expect much variation. A lot of people go crazy over proven female clones as if they are better than male clones somehow. Many growers don’t get neps to flowering size so why does it matter the gender?

I definitely agree with this. Why do people act like a male clone of rajah (a 1 inch seedling) is half the price of a female clone? I'm buying the confirmed male, since it is a rajah and that's what I'm really after, the plant, not the seeds. Plus, with a male plant, you get loads of pollen which you can send to other growers and they'll give you half of the seeds you pollinate. Seems kinda pointless to me, because with a female plant, the exact same result happens, and you give away half your seeds to the pollen donor.

Also, TC superiority-inferiority arguments I hear a lot. Mostly from 'holier than thou' CP growers, who mainly grow Nepenthes and Heliamphora. I have many SG plants but that's because sometimes the cheapest way is by seed. But by no means are SG plants better than TC plants, I find TC nice.

As for Pearl River, I like their mapuluensis breeding project, because now the price is down to like 80 bucks for a fairly-sized one. They started at 500. Culture of the species began last year. And map is one of my huge wants as a grower.

Apollyon wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 5:41 pmI also remember this guy guaranteed live delivery of a plant he sold for over thousand dollars and it died in transit. He was trying to find legal advice to avoid reimbursing the buyer.

I saw a screenshot of that conversation. He was looking for free legal advice, and an attorney essentially told him; short version: refund the money, it will be cheaper. Long version, if you want legal help from a competent attorney that would be able to get you out of a contract you initiated, you're going to pay a lot more than the refund.
He then put her in blast for how unprofessional and unpleasant she was, then started calling her ugly and the like.
Bless his heart!
(Southern for "What a horrible person".)

Unfortunately the guy has a large cult following and he purposefully bad mouths sellers behind their back. So to announce how he was an A hole to you means that he’ll tell all his friends how “horrible” you are and they won’t buy from you

Honestly FB is the worst. I’ve never made any major sales there. A lot of listings stay up for long periods of time too. Then people scrutinize the hell out of you as if they’re God’s gift to Nepenthes. I had some punk Instagram kid with a large following ask about some eddies and then he went and said I was selling imported TC eddies as seed grown when they were in fact SG like I said. Like seriously why contact someone if you’re not gonna buy the plant just gonna spin some weird story. Like I don’t know if he didn’t realize that Wistuba is the only source of TC eddies in the world and theyre limited to one per customer or what Such a joke

They get some weird sick thrill out of playing those games. It's like children that never grew up. Best to do you and not care what they say. Every seller is going to have a "fan club." For instance, I can't stand curious plant (Yes I said it). I have my reasons but I won't bad mouth them here. Everyone is going to encounter that one person who won't be pleased with the transaction even if you're clear about it. Some just like to *****. I'll be honest though, a lot of Nepenthes and Heli growers have that kind of obnoxious personality, like the plant speaks to those types. Obviously not all of them but HC up there is right, the "superior" types are usually messing with pitcher plants. Unfortunately that means you'll be dealing with those types when you're trying to sell. It's awesome you have those plants available. Especially seed grown, that's pretty hard to come by. I'm a little jealous lol.

The reason for the upcharge on the females would be exclusively for breeders who want to create pure species seed. Since it's usually easier to encounter male plants than females, a confirmed female would save you the years of waiting and allow you a faster route to getting some expensive seed grown plants. Or I suppose you could offer someone a chance to make a phenomenal cross. I'd only do that kinda thing with someone who I trust or at least seems honest but I'm doubting they're getting a 50/50 split otherwise. Not trying to be cynical I just don't see them being honest. Especially if they know the plants will go for over 200 bucks a piece.

Completely agree with you! Neps and Helis definitely seem to attract geeks and people that want their price no matter what. They don’t care if it sells or not, if it doesn’t just means they enjoy it and hoard them to themselves. I have a profit percentage I try to exceed on every sale and usually do but that’s not me trying to rip people off but making it worth my time to sell the plants in the first plant. I’ve upgraded people to the next size up plant for the same cost, always keep an eye out for plants that a customer wanted, etc. I think we need some more generous and thoughtful sellers in the community rather than people trying to get as much as possible while giving up as little as possible.

And yeah on Eddie I don’t have to do much, just stick one on auction and let other growers decide the price

As the CP industry has boomed in the last several years the demand has exceeded the supply. There are tons of growers that take no part of internet groups or even EB sales. Just look at villosa: every year all the nurseries stock up with literally tons of villosa and they always sell out. It’s like a never ending market for villosa which is just weird. Don’t know if people kill them or what. This supply/demand issue has raised the CP prices significantly. For example I believe when BE first released robcantleyi years ago they were seed grown plants for $100 which was crazy expensive at the time. TC robcantleyi sell for more than that now! We don’t have infinite budgets so people get desperate, it’s almost a guarantee that a 50/50 seed split isn’t gonna be that and the person who owns the female if found out can argue their way out of it “I grew the plant and did the pollinating, blah blah blah.” It’s just too easy to skewer things to your advantage without the other grower knowing which is why we have so many scammers - plus it’s cheaper to build a collection up if you’re scamming. It’s really unfortunate. I’ve received some plants from others only to question their real identity: i.e. “is this spat x cape actually the hybrid? Looks almost identical to spatulata.” I think we can see this in mislabeled seed in the seed banks too - is this an honest mistake or something else going on?

Interesting to hear about the villosa for sure. I hope to begin selling more plants in the future as I acquire more and they grow. Highlands probably won't be my thing but lowlands would be cake if I wanted to go that route. I could them leave outside 10 months out of the year. I think you're right and the sellers who tap into that will have the business. Eventually reputation will precede them. Customer service is everything. They will remember that guy who upsized the plant and the one who gave them a 3 inch veitchii. I know I do. I reach out for certain suppliers before I try elsewhere. I have a person on ebay I buy virtually all my pinguicula from. Nepenthes is harder to do that with. I've honestly been unimpressed with virtually every Nep purchase I've ever made outside of a Rafflesiana from petflytrap. Best nep vendor was a guy on ebay who made it right when I got two cuttings with broken growth points in different shipments (imagine that luck). These guys are dumping plants as soon as they can go "This will survive shipping." But the bottom line is the more busted these plants become (I've noticed the quality drops on nursery purchases, I try to avoid now.), the easier it'll be for someone who isn't as greedy to slide in and take their place. Reputation will only last so long and get so far. CP gave me a third bad plant and I'm done with them. I'll reach out for trades now.

Absolutely, and that's if they send the seeds at all. I mean I've heard of issues with trading plants too. It's like why pervert one of the best features of the hobby. It's why I won't deal with people that act a certain way. This forum is pretty good though; I've met and traded with some great people. It's a lot more chill than facebook with the elitists etc and ironically, the people are much better at growing.

It's honestly hard to say. I'm sure some mislabel their plants sure but I think some of them are buying these plants with no idea and continue to believe they have something they don't. With Drosera and their similarities across the species(spatulata complex, binata, indica, petiolaris, etc), I bet that happens all the time. With the seedbank I believe the ones sending the seed in truly believe the seed is what they claim just based on the nature of the bank. Could be mixed up at harvest or secondhand seed from somewhere else they're passing on to the bank, or just don't know what they have. who knows.