Never, NEVER order from Aloha Orchid Nursery. The Better Business Bureau says "this company has an unsatisfactory record. . . . Company failed to respond to the BBB to resolve or address the complaint issues. . . . Unpursuable - The company cannot be located or is out of business." Yet they're still selling stuff. My sister sent me "4 Blooming Dendrobium Orchid Plants" for my birthday. When I received them, they weren't blooming, and in fact two appeared to be dying. I called and spoke to Mahehalani. First she told me that there was absolutely no guarantee for orchid plants, even if they're already dying when they're mailed and further damaged by lousy packing. I told her the plants clearly weren't "blooming," and she claimed "budding" was the same thing. Realizing I was going nowhere fast, I pointed her to the "Tropical Flower Guarantee" on their website (http://www.alohaorchid.com/flower_guarantee.aspx) stating "We offer 100% unconditional guarantee on all of our tropical flowers." She claimed that this doesn't apply to orchids -- which are clearly tropical flowers -- and in fact ONLY applies to anthuriums, WHICH THEY NO LONGER SELL. Apparently, then, the guarantee doesn't apply to ANYTHING they sell. I emailed the sales department and they confirmed what Mahehalani said: that I was stuck with ugly, dying plants. See photos at my website and decide for yourself if I've been defrauded. But please, please don't give these people your business. Here is a link that might be useful: My website

I am germinating one of these seeds right now. I did nick the seedcoat, soaked in warm water, changing the water 3-4X a day. Then when it cracked open, I put it in a moist paper towel inside a plastic ziploc bag in a place where it is warm. The plant stuck a root out but looked like it was going to mold, so I washed it off really good and dipped the root end into rooting hormone. Planted it halfway in & after several days, lifted the seed & it had branching roots on the bottom so I must have been doing something right.

I have a very large well rooted specimen of this rare tropical liana to trade. My vine is between 10-20 ft in length with multiple leads. It is in a 6" container of soil and must be sent in the container. Because of this, it can NOT be sent to the following states: CA, TX, LA, AZ, HI, or Puerto Rico. It is large and will be fairly expensive to mail anywhere out of FL. I am looking for a fair trade for it. A vine this size would sell in South FL for between $50-85. You would never be able to mail order a vine this size. I am interested in Hoyas. I am also interested in its red counterpart: Mucuna bennetii. I am also interested in vining aroids like variegated Monstera, philodendrons, and unusual anthuriums. Hoyas I am REALLY interested in are: Imperialis Big Mac JJ cv Optimistic cv Ruthie macgillivrayi Pandus Creek " " Perfecta This is a photo.

I'm located in Orlando which is marginal at best for such a tropical vine. I have a small greenhouse, however, and I thought I could grow one inside it and allow it to climb the walls and take over to some extent. Do you think it could tolerate low humidity for part of the year as long as the temperature was okay(the heater can make it really dry sometimes)? Thank you for the source.