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I am looking for a place to buy orchids online. I live in MA and ordered from Hawaii but the phal was tiny and had root rot as well as the Cat that I ordered. They are both recovering but have some set back. Any input and experiences with online growers is appreciated! Thank You!

Hello. Many yrs ago I found The Orchid Mall - Everything in Orchids to help me start this journey. Have since gone to my old reliables and according to what you're looking for,many of these growers send very good plants,pkgd. well and always helpful with feedback.

If you browse through the vendor feedback section of the forum, you should be able to find many reputable nurseries that will ship to you. There are many nice ones
http://www.orchidboard.com/community/vendor-feedback/

Other than that, it really depends on what kind of orchid you are looking for. Since you mentioned Phals and Catts I would suggest looking at Orchids By Hausermann. I have ordered blooming size Cattleyas from them in the past and while they were a bit pricey (all were in 5” or 6” pots), they were huge. I also recently ordered some Phals that were in spike from them to give away at my orchid society show. Those were also healthy, not expensive, packed well, and shipping was reasonable

cats don't have roots. Must have been one grumpy cat if its tail was rotten and stuck in the post from hawaii.

I tried ordering some orchids on Ebay this year and some of them arrived with rot on them, some of them only one pseudobulb. One of them was just a stick but I have managed to make it grow leaves...


One seller was fantastic. unique_collections2016

Then there is another seller who I paid most for postage - he decided to use regular mail with no tracking and a month later the plants still haven't arrived so I will be making a complaint to Ebay but the delivery window is 2 months!! so I need to wait till I can raise a complaint. Not the best experience there

Where are you located? There may be vendors and/or a show near you.

If you are looking specifically for online vendors, the feedback section (as mentioned above) is a great resource.

Take a look at J&L Orchids in Easton CT. Their summer sale started today.

J&L I just received an order from J&L. The blooming size orchids were very healthy and look great but some of them might be a year or two from blooming (which is perfectly fine for the price that I paid for those particular orchids).

Hausermann's has nice orchids and are priced very decently. If they list them as blooming size, they will be blooming size. They have a sale section. I have called them in the past and asked them questions and they are very nice. They also sell orchids that are a few years from blooming so you just need to look before ordering.

Andy's Orchids is good for more 'exotic' orchids. You can always email him and ask questions.

Al's Orchid Greenhouse--Al treats all the orchids as if he plans to keep them or is shipping them to himself. The plants are super-healthy, they arrive in great condition and packed well, and you can email him and ask him questions.

Logees is not an orchid vendor specifically but I have bought a few from them. They are always blooming size and very nice.

Join an orchid society if that is possible. The members can tell you about small, local vendors that might not be easy to find online but are in range for a visit (usually by appointment only). Orchid societies often have vendors visit and host orchid shows with vendors.

Let's not forget Fred Clarke at Sunset Valley Orchids for Cattleyas. Fantastic plants every time.

I've also had really great experiences with:

New World Orchids

Gold Country Orchids

Santa Barbara Orchid Estate (shipping is pricey thought)

Exotic Orchids of Maui

I don't buy a lot of Phals so I can't give much feedback for them. I've gotten a few good ones in Carmela Orchid's specials though. They have good Catts too.

Hello there. If you are in Massachusetts, consider going to an orchid show. You will have to wait a few months, but you can see the plant in person, ask the vendor (and orchid society members) how to care for it, etc. (no shipping, just your driving time and an excuse to get out of the house)
Look at the websites for
Amherst Orchid Society Amherst Orchid Society (I'm a member)
Massachusetts Orchid Society Massachusetts Orchid Society
Cape & Islands Orchid Society Cape and Islands Orchid Society
New Hampshire New Hampshire Orchid Society - Home
Connecticut Orchid Soc www.ctorchids.org
Nutmeg Orchid Soc www.nutmegorchids.org

If you still can't resist mail order - J&L is very good, drive down! can't go wrong with Santa Barbara Orchids ( pricey shipment but I have never had a problem with any of their plants - reliability is good) and the other online vendors mentioned are good too, I just have not ordered that much from them...

If you are in Massachusetts - drop into a meeting!
: -) Cheers,
Maryanne

Maryanne thank you so much! I've just started with orchids and I saw that phal on the web and have to have one! I will definitely plan to go to a show it sounds like heaven! Looking forward to expanding my collection. Thanks again.
Stacy

I have only been keeping orchids for about four years, and most of mine came from an in-person purchase at local orchid shows, but I have bought Phals online from Big Leaf Orchids, in Texas (Peter Lin is a forum member and posts here occasionally, and also sells on eBay), and from Orchids by Hausermann, in Illinois. In both cases, I received good-looking, healthy, well-packaged plants that I was very happy with.

plants finally arrived after over a month in the post in better condition than I was expecting. Still very much alive which is great

FWIW, I've received some very nice, albeit young, catts from shermantp on Ebay. They were priced very reasonably, packaged carefully, and shipped promptly.