I too ordered from Royal orchid club and received a dehydrated baby i suspect it was bare root for a few weeks and in box ready to ship once someone bought it. It is now a bigger seedling. Your comment about orchid farm I would not regard growing out of their pots as a bad thing that is a good thing.

I like Andy's orchids, I have not ordered from them yet, but I like the set up it tells you if it is an easy grower or not. Also a local place to me is Bloomfield Orchids, he is an amazing grower and has many neat paph. phrags. and others.

If you are on Ebay, never order from Royal Orchid Club. (see other posts) Plants arrive dehydrated and eventually die.
Carter & Holmes is a high quality outfit. Got to their website and look through their catalog. Many plants listed are 2" seedlings. But you have to do your homework and understand that a cattleya won't bloom till it's in about a 4" to 5" pot. That will take several years. Hausermann sells good plants. I am a regular customer so because of the severe cold right now, they FedExed the plants with heat packs. Norman's Orchid are good quality. Odoms Orchids and Owens Orchids are also very high quality. Find them listed in the Orchid Mall. Google it.

I regularly order from Carter and Holmes, Orchids by Hausermanns, Oak Hill Garden, Santa Barbara Orchid Estates, Kawamoto Orchids(can be buggie, but easily remedied) and Carmela Orchids (which you have to keep after - nice stock, good folks, just not up on orders).

I have never been disappointed with any of these folks - and will continue to order from them. But I will never buy from ebay. I have been there and done that. Waste of money and time. AAaaaaccckkkk!!!!!! (latest scammers are taking $ and disappearing) Better to go with established growers.

I've ordered from all of the above mentioned by bullsie, and agree they are all good.

I have also used Odom's orchids, and theirs are always extra big and in spike if they are in season.

You don't need to pay the extra postage for overnight-- it is very expensive. Plants shipped the cheapest way always arrive in good condition in 2-3 days, and the growers mentioned above wait for favorable weather for shipping.

I have bought most often from Norman's at orchids.com, simply because they have the widest selection, and never had any problems with them. I would suggest giving them another try.

Like Bullsie, I prefer vendors with a reputation to lose to buying from ebay.

I, too, have been bitten by Royal Orchid and would never buy from them again.

I have however, found a great ebay seller. Check out the ebay store orchidtn (or go to google and search on orchidtn). Plants have always exceeded my expectations. They are huge and very healthy, price is good, packaging and speed of delivery is excellent. This guy has great ratings and I have never been disappointed. In fact, I buy orchids that I am going to give as gifts from this store they are so good.

Susan

Hello,

Oak Hill Gardens, hands down, is my favorite grower. Have you checked out Natt's Orchids? I purchased a Vanda Thananchai x Ascda. Tibtim Velvet last September in bloom. It's spiking now.

Exotic Orchids of Maui has deals on shipping periodically.

I've also ordered from eBay, but not in quite a while.

Penelope

Here is a link that might be useful: Natt's Orchids

Claire, fortunately I haven't had to order because I live close to Oak Hill and Hausermann's. Both are first class operations.

t-bred,

It's good to read what you wrote about Oak Hill and Hausermann's. They are both fine operations.

There are a lot of bashers of Hausermann's out there. I just don't see it. I have sporadically mail-ordered from Hausermann's for decades. I visited the greenhouses about 20 years ago. One thing that I continue to see today is consistently excellent quality orchid plants.

I have Oak Hill plants in my collection. I purchase Oak Hill supplies at an exorbitant cost of shipping. No complaints here. Quality is not sacrificed.

I envy you. I wish that I could visit those two establishments at any time.

--Stitz--

Virtually my favorite online seller has been Tropical Orchid Farm!
I was treated very well and the shipping was flawless.
The shipping wasn't free like that other place there, but I got a ton of species and none of them were very common.
They even called me twice to clarify things and upgrade sizes free of charge.
I even got several freebies of species orchids.

I have bought from C&H and was very pleased with my order.
In fact, I'll be posting bloom photos of my original division of Catt. skinneri 'Casa Luna', that I bought from them, very soon! :~)

Am I the only one that has avoided ROC like the plague?
I read major negatives about them many years ago and always remembered.
If something sounds too good to be true,...!

As far as Oregon sellers, I've only bought from Brigg's Hill at shows.
They were great to talk to in person and I got some very good deals.
He was a little frustrated that I already had much of what he was offering! ;~)

I can't say enough good things about Clackamas Orchids!
He sells as 'canbyorchids' on eBay.
I've added things from his website several times to my bid.
He's a great guy to talk to in person, as well!
I really need to go up that way for a visit!
It used to be easier bidding on his stuff several years ago.
I think that his reputation has been spread around so much that far more people are bidding now!:~(
I don't give out my favorite sellers names anymore!;~)

If you're into Neos, New World Orchids is very dangerous!
He's puttin' together a revised total, as I write! ;~)
I had to add just a few more!
I'm masochistic, apparently!

Scott

EOOM is my site- I order wholesale and they still send great plants. Many in bud or spike. Always healthy and great customer service.

claire1_2007

Because of just such experiences as you describe I haven't ordered any plants online. I've seen some nice orchids on websites but fear being ripped off or overcharged for seedlings.

I saw this on another forum and thought people should know:

FrankenDeb
OSF Member

The orchids you bought came from Exotic Orchids of Maui and
Kalapana Tropicals, they didn't even repot them or even bother to change the tags! Why go Ebay when you can purchase them direct? It's WAY cheaper!!!
You have to really know your Ebay seller (perhaps recommended by someone you trust)... Feedback is not enough!
99% of Ebayers get their stuff from: Kalapana Tropicals, Oakhill Gardens, SBOE, Maui Orchids, TOF, Carter and Holmes, Hausermann etc, then charge you 5x the original amount. Ebay is a rip-off!

I will not say more than I have witnessed the previous post firsthand. It IS a fact.

I haven't used many online sources. This past fall I was enticed by this Forum's "call to action" re: Exotic Orchids of Maui having free shipping.
I was very pleased with the results. Many of the plants were ready to be upgraded in pot size, one had bloom stalks and they all arrived in beautiful shape.
The one negative comment I have regarding them is that their website has some general care recommendations, but the shipments do not come with any such information. Quite a few of the things I ordered were not addressed by their website care information. One item was removed from the website altogether a few days after I received it!

Andy's Orchids is around the corner from me, and I have been there once. The plants are good quality and they do offer good information on care of individual plants with the order.

Was wondering when Andys would be mentioned. Best in the business, bar none. I prefer them and oak hill gardens. Come spring I'll probably be experimenting with new genera so will probaby try Hoosier and Carolina orchids.

Andy's Orchids, Tropical Orchid Farm and Exotic Orchids of Maui are pretty much the only online places I buy from.

I buy a lot of orchids "in person" down in South Florida at sales and festivals as well.

I mentioned Andy's in the first response I guess that one gets looked over.

But I did say I hadn't ordered anything from him yet just heard good things. So hears to hearing more good things.

Hoosiers
Oakhill
SBOE
CalOrchids
WhiteOak
Andy's
EOoM
Tropiflora

There are loads of places that I've never ordered from but I sometimes surf their websites. They include:
Woodstream
Parkside
TOF
Mountain Orchids
Slo Gardens
J&L
Petite Plaisance
Piping Rock
Troy Meyers
Botanica
etc. etc. etc.

Oakhill Gardens
Exotic Orchids of Maui
Kalapana Tropicals
SBOE

Carmela's is by far the best outfit I've ordered plants from. The plants come well-packed, of good size, and have done the best long-term in my collection. Eoom is next--wish their selection was bigger--followed by v.coerulea on ebay, then Carter and Holmes, whose stuff is small and young for the pot size.

Alia

There a seller called Ferns and Petals that specialise in selling as well as delivering flowers online. You can check this one out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ferns and Petals

Does anyone know which site sells retail internationally? I'm in Jamaica and have been looking, but have so far only found ones that wholesale. Loved Exotic Maui's selection but they don't ship to my country.

Try sellers on Etsy!

Concur with the opinion on Hausermann's. Another to try is EGF orchids in Deland, FL. Owned by Hausermann's brother. Excellent facility. I've been thete.