I agree with the advice you've gotten. If HD will give you a refund or credit, please do that and tell them about the insect problem. Then watch your other plants very closely for at least 2 mos. I'm another one who had a smaller one of these but it's been so long that I don't remember what happened. I've had mealies twice. Once they came on coleus from a mailorder source. Fortunately, they did not spread beyond the coleus. Recently I found them on one branch of one of those "fingered" jade plants (Lowe's). Luckily I caught them early, cleaned them off and isolated it and treated it a couple more times. I just did a re-check and it seems fine. I believe they had take chunks from several plants to jam in the pot and only one was infested. I do use systemic insecticides at times but some plants won't tolerate them. May I suggest that you learn what some common pests look like, such as scale and mealies? It won't always keep you safe but it will help. Diana in PA

maybe i can help clear up some confusion here ive worked in the nusresry industry for 10 years now and i am a buyer for one of these types of chain stores, orchard supply hardware. truthfully, home depot, lowes, walmart, taget, all of these we all buy from similar if not the same sources as each other. now independent nurseries and garden centers, buy from the same growers as we buy from with one major difference, some do actually grom their own material to sell at a slightly higher profit. most chain garden centers are focused on one thing and that is turning the product so sitting on it and waiting for it to grow doesnt make good business sense especially when their space is entirely taken up for merchandise. alot of independent nurseries get their plants already grown and ready to go to the consumer, just like i buy them, the quality is the same because they come from the same grower, the same crop. the biggest difference in what the plant quality looks like is when the consumer goes to shop for the product. alot of times you go into a chain store and the plants are wilting the soil in the pot is dry and theres no clerk to be found or none that are knowledgeable. the key is to shop around, find that one place that caters to your needs and has the product selection and the quality you like, remember the plants when they come off the delivery truck are virtually the same its the finished product that counts look for a place that hass a friendly and knowledgeable sales staff and that keeps a clean and neat place to shop, one clue is to look at the way the employees are working, are they putting plants away or hanging out with other employees when much of the plants in the nursery are obviously dying from a lack of water? these are the places you should stter clear of. the places that do the right thing in these circumstances and that focus on making an enjoyable shopping experience for the consumer are the ones you should goto. price is definately a concern. most chain stores now do price matching so ask. so to answer the question. yeah go ahead and give home depot a shot if the satisfy your needs. go for it.

I worked for Bruce and the goods at HD were the same we sold to distributors. Like anything an installer should go thru the wood and pull out bad boards. I think its a good buy if its what you like

We used he for our lg quartz countertops, and had a fabulous experience. The fabricators are hired out. We spent some time talking to the install guys, so we got the scoop. They are not so much "local". We live in southern nh. Our fabricator was from Canada. It was about a 6 hour drive for them to get to us. They are located just across the border from Vermont, and our templeter was from Vermont. They do all stone countertops for hd in New England and parts of ny. They do them in batches. The guys drive down with all their installs and spend a night or two in a hotel. They actually ended up calling us at 4 the night before our scheduled install. They had finished the last job early and wanted to know if we were ready. Yes please! They did a fabulous job, had all the right equipment, the seam is fantastic. The template was so good everything went in nice and tight without a hitch. The original amount we were quoted (and paid up front) was right on, no changes. I did, however, use a credit card (not debit) for that transaction so that in case something did happen I would have some leverage. Now, we originally planned on a solid surface countertop from lowes. That whole experience was painful. They were almost sneaky in the way they were not upfront about up charges. By the time we had gotten the adjusted price after templeting the cost was close to double! And the guy who came out to template did not give me a good vibe about knowing his stuff. We also looked at independent fabricators. But there prices ran about 40% more for the exact same product (same msnufacurer, same color) quartz. I attempted to negotiate a price closer to the big box, but they wouldn't budge at all. At 40% more I couldn't justify it. Anyway, that's my story.