# How long does it take for blasted spike to drop buds



## mjehughes (Jul 29, 2011)

I have been purchasing plants from ebay (a few too many for my pocketbook) and usually pay a premium for a plant in spike or bud - for the immediate gratification factor. Most of the plants arrive with spike/buds 
in good shape. Purchased plants from florida Buy in NOw, in spike. and paid premium for the plant (more than if not in spike in my opinion) . the seller said was too hot to ship, so to wait.. they waited a week and then shipped priority USPS. the weather was NOT that hot across the country. the plants arrived with the paper in the pot still damp and the plants leaves showing no stress.. HOWEVER the spikes are dehydrated buds off and rolling in the paper and dehydrated husks.... the one the ovary is yellow turning black spike shriveled - leaves fine.. the other the end of the ovary is black where bud was and ovary starting to yellow. In my house when a spike blasts the buds will stay on a long time unless touched, but you can tell the spike/buds are not going to open.. of course the seller has the typical ' don't guarantee spikes /buds in shipping".. I think these spikes had blasted prior to shipping ?
and if paying premium for "in spike" - if the spike blasts/breaks Prior to shipping then its not an "in spike" plant and let the buyer know.
If the weather was still to hot then seller should have waited.. 
there are no buds in the end, it is the the bud bract.





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course seller is saying "doesnt' guarantee spikes in shipping" and buds were "intact".. .. I think the spike was going/ gone before shipped and any orchid person would have been able to tell it wasn't going to bloom.
so to the 'experts".. can a spike go this far gone in 2 days, when the plant shows no signs of overheated.. = not in my experience so far -shipping, house or greenhouse.


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## koshki (Jul 29, 2011)

If you feel the plant was misrepresented, then I'd file a complaint with eBay. And this is another reason I always use a credit card instead of a bank withdrawal...if you still aren't satisfied with the outcome, you can have your credit card company reverse it.


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## mjehughes (Jul 29, 2011)

Its a 1 growth plant , no new growths of "paph bodegomii".. supposedly looks like paph praestans just smaller and more pink? is this one of those plants that takes 2-5yrs to see it bloom again?


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## jtrmd (Jul 29, 2011)

In this heat I wouldn't be surprised if they blast from the stress of shipping.To answer your question whenever I have something around the GH blast,it doesn't take too long to turn brown and fall off.I guess it takes maybe a 2 or 3 days from the time I notice until its toast.


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## gonewild (Jul 29, 2011)

Because you bought it knowing he does not guarantee the spike you should accept the loss. Even if it blasted in the week delay after you bought it it is your loss unfortunately, you could have asked him not to delay the shipping.

Shipping a spike is always a risk the buyer should accept unless the seller guarantees the safe arrival of the spike.

Unless you want to screw the buyer don't file a claim with the credit card company. When a buyer files such a claim it costs the merchant a $25 fee whether the claim is just or not. 

Did you ask the seller about it? Maybe if you are nice he will give you some credit on a future purchase.

Too answer your question..... packed in a box on a moderately hot day, 30 minutes in the sun of the USPS truck could easily get hot enough to blast the buds without hurting the plant and the paper would still arrive moist.


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## paphioboy (Jul 29, 2011)

Sorry to hear that. Well, at least you still get to keep the plant and rebloom it next time. I have had Maudiae blast on me (twice!), buds okay one day, became brown and shrivelled couple of days later in hot dry weather...


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## jtrmd (Jul 30, 2011)

gonewild said:


> Because you bought it knowing he does not guarantee the spike you should accept the loss. Even if it blasted in the week delay after you bought it it is your loss unfortunately, you could have asked him not to delay the shipping.
> 
> Shipping a spike is always a risk the buyer should accept unless the seller guarantees the safe arrival of the spike.
> 
> ...



I agree with all of this.If I but in bud or bloom I never expect it to make the trip.


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## ehanes7612 (Jul 30, 2011)

If the plant is well taken care of then it rarely drops its buds or blooms in shipment.....there's no other reason it cant last two days in shipments..unless the packing is not done properly and the plant shifts around a lot...the problem with budded plants from ebay sellers is that many of them are passing along a plant that was shipped to them in low bud ..they place it in an environment that is probably different than the conditions they were used to until they can sell it...this places an incredible amount of stress on the plant...now this is not to say all ebay sellers are like this..i only buy budded plants from one person on ebay and have never received a plant whose buds blast..i have stuck with this person


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Jul 31, 2011)

Ordinarily, I'd agree with you...but summer means hot trucks, and far more easily blasted buds. I don't even expect the buds to make it on my own paphs in summer.


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## ehanes7612 (Jul 31, 2011)

Eric Muehlbauer said:


> Ordinarily, I'd agree with you...but summer means hot trucks, and far more easily blasted buds. I don't even expect the buds to make it on my own paphs in summer.



sooooo, given that... why ship in hot weather?...if precautions are expected in wintertime due to cold...then the same should be expected in summer...its irresponsible and suspicious...granted, if the customer wants to take the risk then so be it...but i suspect this situation is not the case


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## cnycharles (Jul 31, 2011)

you can properly ship plants in warm weather and protect against the heat, but then you need to purchase cold packs and ship in a styrofoam-enclosed box. at work we have cuttings shipped to us in warm weather from warm countries but they are always in styrofoam boxes with a cold pack or two. just putting a plant in a box where it is normal room temp and then expecting it to stay room temp when it goes through warmer areas won't keep the inside of the box at moderate temps. if you are shipping in cold temps, if you seal up a box it may be more likely to stay 'warm' if it's not exposed to outdoor temps, than say the same box shipped during hot weather. during cold, things usually receive some heat, but in hot temps it may not be the case that the same areas receive the same amount of cooling. i'm saying this all from a northern united states perspective, so changing the location to down south may cause the above to not apply fwiw


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## mjehughes (Jul 31, 2011)

Thank you, since the seller had asked to wait a week to ship, why not wait another. Also looking at the ebay listing the spike had not progressed/grown or developed since the photo for the listing was taken.. I can almost watch the spikes elongate on my lady isabel and in a 2weeks from listing photo to arriving I think spike would have developed more . I've had plants shown in low spike for the listing arrive with buds opening. Seller had also put aluminum foil around the pots to protect the roots but just paper shopping bag over the spikes. since it is a slow growing plant, with no new growth, will be a long time to see it bloom. 
seller wanted me to return them but pay shipping both ways, so would be out $40 for nothing.. will make sure I only pay premium for 'in spike" from sellers that I've had good luck previously with shipping in spike or not pay a premium.. what does paph bodegomi look like.. anybody have bloom photo.. ..


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## goldenrose (Jul 31, 2011)

I can't believe I'm reading this thread, I think a couple of you have the onset of heat stroke & it's blurring your thinking! 
Have you noticed how times have changed and no one wants to except responsibility, especially when things don't go their way? 
The seller clearly stated his conditions as Lance pointed out. YOU decided to BIN, YOU decided to pay the listed price, did YOU contact the seller and request the plant be held another week as it was possibly too hot on *your* end? Communication is a 2 way street and if I was as concerned as you claim, I would have spoken up as easily as you are here. I can check TWC for my area, how accurate are they? Yesterday they posted a daytime high of 87 - it was 95, how close is that? I've looked at radar, I don't know how many times it shows it should be raining at my + , plus there's a 80% chance of rain, according to them but I'm not getting one drop and neither is anyone else in a 5 mile radius! But that's right, someone in FL should be the weatherman for my area too! 
I agree with Eric, not only hot trucks but how about NO AIR CIRCULATION in the box? 
When one is dealing with extremes in either direction - the SAFEST is don't ship! Too many of us have taken the chance & plants & buds come thru unscathed, is it foolish to think that this will be the case all the time? 
ehanes needs to PM you the ebay vendor he uses & everything should be fine. ....
and then should we delete that thread that contains good reliable ebay vendors that alot of us purchase from regularly?


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## mjehughes (Jul 31, 2011)

There are NO markings labels or writing on the box that it is plant, keep from heat/cold etc. 
My postal carrier says that if the boxes are taken into a postoffice and MARKED plant keep from heat and cold, they are kept inside, and priority goes air, so not in a truck very long. my postal carrier knows I get a lot of orchids so has left boxes at the postoffice to stay inside if concerned will be on the truck too long, and postmaster calls me.. small post office.. 
without any packing inside to protect the spikes and without any markings on the outside for postoffice to KNOW to keep out of heat, and I asked the shipper NOT to ship until OK.. was not too hot at this end.. I am on the beginning of the route and was delivered delivered to me at 10:30am . 
I think when you are buying from an supposedly "experienced" ebay vendor they should take proper precautions including packing & "MARKING THE BOX" as a plant, keep from heat & cold.. and they have control of shipping- packing and timeframe - temps, not me.. 
when I sold jewelery on ebay, I was responsible even if a truck ran over the box for the item until the buyer was satisfied.


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## goldenrose (Jul 31, 2011)

I'm gonna make a few comments & that's it on this thread because I think you're making a mountain out of a mole hill .... 
You've been gambling, so far you won, this time you lost. We've all been there, done that, you're not the lone ranger. It's a shame when it happens, but it happens, plants are living things, we all know what effects one may not effect the other. You still have a healthy, living plant that can bloom again - when? - well we know there's several factors but your culture & care is going to have alot of influence as to when the 'when' happens. 
It sounds like both parties need to accept some responsibility. If you really think that having the box marked would have made all the difference then bring that up with the seller in a nice, polite way if it's not too late. We don't know what you said previously to the seller but here at the end of your thread, unless I'm interpretting it wrong, you indicated you thought the seller screwed you. If you use that type of attitude chances are you'll get nowhere fast with anyone. As far as the P.O. goes, hmmmm ....... here's a business losing billions, chances are P.O.s across the nation will be closing in the next year due to how much they are losing. So let's think about this, there are 3 boxes going to the same zip code, one box says 'live plants protect from heat or cold', the other 3 boxes have no markings. Do you really think the P.O. is going to seperate that one box? If we as a shipper claim it's pershable & even purchase insurance, do you think the P.O. is going to stand behind it? Most of us know they have so much 'red tape' involved, the hassle is not worth it and again, they're losing billions and we admitted it's perishable! There are some of us that feel by marking the box, the P.O. workers have a contest to see who can drop kick that box the furthest! Again a great % of the time the boxes come thru without a scratch & are in brand new condition but OCCASIONALLY they don't! Sorry but this is one of those occasions.


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## cnycharles (Jul 31, 2011)

goldenrose said:


> There are some of us that feel by marking the box, the P.O. workers have a contest to see who can drop kick that box the furthest! Again a great % of the time the boxes come thru without a scratch & are in brand new condition but OCCASIONALLY they don't!



unfortunately there were two shipments of flasks from thailand that when they showed up, the one paph species that we wanted to arrive in the best shape, looked like they had been put into a blender. the one box definitely looked like it had been handled roughly at some point. of the two flasks of the certain species that we wanted to have imported legally, not a single plant survived from either flask. I didn't lose money personally other than having the box shipped to the inspection station and then back again but the boxes were clearly mishandled and for the level of mixing that were in the two flasks it had to have been on purpose. we all have heard about nice people at the local post offices who have been very helpful, and I have some of them at my local post office, but there are a lot of hands and change points for a box going from one place to another, so for something that is sent cheaply, there is no guarantee that something really bad can't happen along the way, no matter how good or bad the box was marked. I think it would usually help to have the box marked as to being perishable, but for someone who is very bored a label may just attract attention of the few nimrods that do work as unionized labor that probably can't be fired, so will do whatever they want if they can get away with it. i've had excellent luck with priority mail, but there was the one time when something needed to be somewhere I was going to be for a short period of time, and it didn't make it. if I really wanted the box to be there I should have paid the extra money and shipped it faster ... so, their fault and my fault


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