- Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:34 am
#118794
Ever since Mike Howlett joined and posted here on the FlytrapCare forums, I've been curious about Petflytrap.com. Having never ordered from PetFlytrap.com, I decided to place an order with them on August 7th. The order arrived on August 16th. Shipping was a bit slow, but not ridiculously so.
I ordered a G14 rosetted for $18 and a "large" Bohemian Garnet for $30. Shipping was $10.98, so the order total was just under $60. Those prices seemed a bit high to me, but I was hopeful that the quality of the plants received would make up for the high prices. I have to say that I was severely disappointed.
Below are some shots of the plants.
Plants still in the packaging right after being taken out of the box:
A comparison shot of the "large" Bohemian Garnet from Petflytrap.com with a FlytrapStore.com "FTS Crimson Sawtooth" young adult plant that I was packing up when the order arrived:
G14 rosetted with a quarter for scale (note that the stake is simply labeled "G14" and not "G14 rosetted"):
"G14 and "G14 rosetted" are two different clones. The listing on the website clearly read "G14 rosetted" while the plant stake that came with the order simply read "G14." Very confusing.
"Large" $30 Bohemian Garnet with a quarter for scale:
A side by side photo of the PetFlytrap.com "Large" Bohemian Garnet with a FlytrapStore.com Bohemian Garnet that was being held to be sold as a young adult because it was deemed to be too small:
I guess I'm most disappointed with the "Large" Bohemian Garnet that set me back $30, but the $18 "G14" or "G14 Rosetted" (whichever it really is) was almost as disappointing. I was anticipating something really nice. For the prices of each plant, I feel I should have received something really nice. But the plants I received looked like they were no more than a couple of months out of tissue culture and not properly hardened off. Having a lot of experience tissue culturing and potting out Bohemian Garnets, I know that they clump a lot and tend to not get very large in tissue culture. It takes time and effort to grow them out to be large plants. The Bohemian Garnet certainly wasn't a "large" plant in my opinion as evidenced by the side-by-side comparison of the FlytrapStore "young" Bohemian Garnet, which is much larger and sells for $10 less. I believe Mike Howlett buys his tissue culture flytraps from Gary Gipson (goldslinger here on the FlytrapCare forums) and it appears that Mike is minimally hardening them off prior to sale, not growing them out to make them large, robust plants. But the price he's asking for them certainly would make one think that a lot of time and care growing them before sale would be going into the plants. The "G14" certainly looks like many of the plants that I have growing under fluorescent lights just out of tissue culture. It usually takes them several months to properly harden off and become robust enough to sell.
In summary, I have to say that I'm very disappointed with the size and quality of the plants I received from PetFlytrap.com given the high prices I paid for them.
I ordered a G14 rosetted for $18 and a "large" Bohemian Garnet for $30. Shipping was $10.98, so the order total was just under $60. Those prices seemed a bit high to me, but I was hopeful that the quality of the plants received would make up for the high prices. I have to say that I was severely disappointed.
Below are some shots of the plants.
Plants still in the packaging right after being taken out of the box:
A comparison shot of the "large" Bohemian Garnet from Petflytrap.com with a FlytrapStore.com "FTS Crimson Sawtooth" young adult plant that I was packing up when the order arrived:
G14 rosetted with a quarter for scale (note that the stake is simply labeled "G14" and not "G14 rosetted"):
"G14 and "G14 rosetted" are two different clones. The listing on the website clearly read "G14 rosetted" while the plant stake that came with the order simply read "G14." Very confusing.
"Large" $30 Bohemian Garnet with a quarter for scale:
A side by side photo of the PetFlytrap.com "Large" Bohemian Garnet with a FlytrapStore.com Bohemian Garnet that was being held to be sold as a young adult because it was deemed to be too small:
I guess I'm most disappointed with the "Large" Bohemian Garnet that set me back $30, but the $18 "G14" or "G14 Rosetted" (whichever it really is) was almost as disappointing. I was anticipating something really nice. For the prices of each plant, I feel I should have received something really nice. But the plants I received looked like they were no more than a couple of months out of tissue culture and not properly hardened off. Having a lot of experience tissue culturing and potting out Bohemian Garnets, I know that they clump a lot and tend to not get very large in tissue culture. It takes time and effort to grow them out to be large plants. The Bohemian Garnet certainly wasn't a "large" plant in my opinion as evidenced by the side-by-side comparison of the FlytrapStore "young" Bohemian Garnet, which is much larger and sells for $10 less. I believe Mike Howlett buys his tissue culture flytraps from Gary Gipson (goldslinger here on the FlytrapCare forums) and it appears that Mike is minimally hardening them off prior to sale, not growing them out to make them large, robust plants. But the price he's asking for them certainly would make one think that a lot of time and care growing them before sale would be going into the plants. The "G14" certainly looks like many of the plants that I have growing under fluorescent lights just out of tissue culture. It usually takes them several months to properly harden off and become robust enough to sell.
In summary, I have to say that I'm very disappointed with the size and quality of the plants I received from PetFlytrap.com given the high prices I paid for them.
WOW!
. But for the newer people who just don't look more vft's websites......i feel sorry for them.
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