Just got back from the day trip to California and I have a bit more time to respond now.
Mike Howlett wrote:The 'Bohemian Garnet' plant they received from us is EASILY a plant capable of flowering and producing seeds, and therefore qualifies as a Medium/Large plant.
I don't agree with this. The "Medium/Large" sized Bohemian Garnet plant that I received from PetFlytrap.com is nothing more than a clump of small plants, not a Medium/Large plant. I would say that there is less than a 25% chance that any of those small plants will flower next spring. It's possible but highly doubtful that plants as small as the ones in that clump will flower.
Eric wrote:The plant they show is MANY years old, and in my opinion it doesn't look like a 'Bohemian Garnet' at all. More than likely, this may be one of their 'Crimson Sawtooth' varieties, which gets MUCH larger than the TRUE Bohemian Garnet.
There are several things that are incorrect in that statement:
1) It is definitely a Bohemian Garnet in the photo. I would swear my life on it.
2) It is not "MANY years old" but just came out of tissue culture sometime this spring.
2) "FTS Crimson Sawtooth" doesn't get much larger than a Bohemain Garnet. They are fairly similar-sized plants. FTS Crimson Sawtooth does get a bit larger and grows more upright, but my largest one isn't much larger than my largest Bohemain Garnet.
Considering that Gary (Mike's supplier) and I just got Bohemian Garnet in tissue culture at the same time about a year ago (I think), I doubt that Mike has grown out a Bohemain Garnet to full size. My guess is that he hasn't grown a Bohemian Garnet plant even a full year yet. Also, I don't recall any orders from Mike Howlett or PetFlytrap.com, so I don't think he grows an FTS Crimson Sawtooth, so I'm not sure why he thinks it gets "MUCH" lager than Bohemian Garnet or why he is discussing the size of two plants which he hasn't personally grown long enough to really know how large they can get.
Mike Howlett wrote:According to the actual original scientific description of Bohemian Garnet, it is noted that this plant only gets to be 4 to 6 centimeters in diameter; I can send you the link to the description if you like. The round pot that our plant is potted in is 3 inches (7.62 cm) in diameter, and the plant they claim is a 'Bohemian Garnet' is much bigger than that. So you tell ME what they're showing in the picture...and as a young adult no less!
The "actual original scientific description" of Bohemian Garnet that Mike refers to is the ICPS registration found here:
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/cpn/Sp ... 68_70.html
Point three reads:
Adult plants are about 4-6 cm in diameter, only about half the size of most Dionaea (including Dionaea ‘Sawtooth’).
In my experience, Bohemian Garnet can get quite a bit larger than that will good growing. I'm sure that Steve could attest to this as well and I'd bet that his largest Bohemian Garnet is even larger than mine (he grows plants to large sizes very quickly). Below are a couple of photos (taken just tonight) of my oldest Bohemain garnet that I bought 3 years ago from BestCarnivorousPlants.com. I repotted it early this week, so that's why some of the older largest traps are blackening:
BG_mature1.jpg (135.48 KiB) Viewed 9396 times
BG_mature2.jpg (153.83 KiB) Viewed 9396 times
Notice that the plant is about 10cm across. I would consider this plant a "mature" or nearly "premium" sized plant if it were to be placed in stock in the FlytrapStore. And the plants in the photo that Mike is referring to are between a "young" and a "young adult" size:
The pot that it's planted in is 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) across and the largest plant in the pot basically stretches side to side in the pot.
Mike Howlett wrote:I'm not sure why (except because we are one of the (if not the) largest and best carnivorous plant nurseries in the nation), but Matt and Steve have been trying to draw me into online verbal battles on their forums for quite some time now.
I know nothing about the size of the PetFlytrap.com carnivorous plant nursery, but I certainly didn't think that it was one of the largest in the nation. Honestly I thought it was one of the smaller ones. This was my first order with them, and from my experience, I would put them at the bottom of the list of all of the carnivorous plant vendors that I've ordered from (and I've ordered from quite a few), so I don't know what criteria he's using to say that PetFlytrap.com is one of the best CP nurseries in the nation. Judging by the number of posts on this forum expressing dissatisfaction with orders from PetFlytrap.com, I don't think I'm alone with my low evaluation of them.
And I don't know why Mike would feel that Steve and I have been trying to draw him into "online verbal battles" here on the forums for quite some time now. I recall only one other thread where Steve expressed his valid concern about the confusing (and possibly incorrect) naming of the "B52 F1" (B52 x B52 seedlings) that were being sold on PetFlytrap.com. It didn't seem like a personal attack in any way to me, but just a statement about the fact that the chosen nomenclature for that product listing would most likely be confusing to many customers.
Mike Howlett wrote:Using the tactic of ordering other suppliers' products and then trying to compare them to plants that don't even fit the description of the plant they ordered is a horrible way to run a business if you ask me. it's like comparing apples to oranges.
We're definitely comparing apples to apples here. Both of the plants in the photo are Bohemian Garnet flytraps from exactly the same source. Both Gary and I sourced our Bohemian Garnet cultures from user Xeno on these forums.
Mike Howlett wrote:It's a shame when a business has to get customers by trying (and I do mean trying) to discredit other businesses, rather than trying to speak positively about their OWN business...
My intent by writing this review wasn't to get customers for the FlytrapStore. My intent was to share with FlytrapCare forum members my poor experience and disappointment with PetFlytrap.com. It was the worst experience I've ever had when ordering carnivorous plants online.
Mike Howlett wrote:And it's definitely not right to put up a picture of a different kind of flytrap that naturally gets bigger, and CLAIM that our plants are not adult plants.
Again, that's not what happened. The Bohemian Garnet in the photo has now been sold as a "young" plant (not a "young adult") and it was definitely a Bohemian Garnet from the same exact original source that Mike Howlett obtained his plants from.