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Where do you buy your plants from?

MrLarner

Member
Joined
16 Oct 2011
Messages
173
Location
London, UK
Just wondered where everyone buys their plants from?
im assuming most of us order online but where do you order from??? :thumbup:
 
Gary Nelson said:
I mail order mine from TGM - super fast service and always fantastic quality.
do you not find them expensive compared to others?
i was planning on buying some Staurogyne repens and some dwarf hairgrass and their both expensive on there.
 
I suppose a little more but they always seem to have anything you are after in stock and as I said brilliant service which alone in this day and age is worth every penny. I always use tropica plants too which always seem to command a little bit more money.
 
This is my point mate, im trying to work out why there is such a difference in price, ok fair enough places like the green machine will always have good stock and you know your plants are healthy while in their hands, but surely there cant be that much of a difference when buying online, and to pay double the price for a certain plant i cant work it out.
 
SO.... do you believe ordering from say tropica, over aqua essentials, you'll get more plant?
if so, i'd expect close to double considering the price is almost double.
thanks for the heads up on aqua essentials mate, i was planning on making an order with them but wasnt sure how good they was.
 
did you see my price difference on the few plants i want to get? think was 2nd or 3rd post.
almost double in price lol
 
I have bought plants from aquaessentials and tgm, both amazing quality.

The iaaue is not the plants being tropica, but how they are kept after getting to the shop.

Bought tropica plants from other suppliers and they got to me half dead.

If you go the conditions right then even if you get a stem you will be ok, but a well established pot goes a long way.

Tropica and aquafleur all the way for me. :)


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I don't know what is the secret of success, but the secret of failure is trying to please the world!
 
i recently brought some 1-2-grow plants, although they are only a week old, so have had no time to grow i was very impressed with size of the portion. the quality was also perfect I've never seen plants so tidy. It seems a shame that suppliers of these plants are dwindling they are a very good option. i personal think the high price is justified and will be using them again, providing tropica continue to produce them.
 
Pets@home for mine. Tropica 3 for £10. Just got to make sure you go in on delivery day. Can even get whatever you want in they told me
 
si-man said:
Pets@home for mine. Tropica 3 for £10. Just got to make sure you go in on delivery day. Can even get whatever you want in they told me

Perfect!! :) that is a good tip.


___________________________

I don't know what is the secret of success, but the secret of failure is trying to please the world!
 
you got a link to this pets@home where they sell plants, because i cant find it for the life of me :(
 
Hi there,
i must say i bought all my initial plants when starting my scape from tgm. I was very impressed with their customer service and the quality of the plants but have found that their tropica plants are more expensive than the same tropica plants from all of my lfs' including pets@home. TGM do offer a plant list from their 'budget' range which is much cheaper than their tropica range, and i was also very happy with the portion sizes and plant quality of this range. I have bought tropica plants from my lfs and there is no difference in quality of the new stock but i do feel places such as tgm can justify their higher mark up due to the way the plants are handled and cared for once in their care. Hydroponics and expertise regarding lighting, fertilising etc make for a much better product for the purchaser as the plants remain in good health and are algae free until sold whereas i tend to find that plants in my lfs tend to degrade quite quickly and suffer from algae issues which you wouldnt want to bring home to your tank.
I would always order a large number of plants from tgm as i would be guaranteed to get my complete plant list, however if im looking for a single specimin ill always check my lfs stocks first just in case.
Ady.
 
foxfish said:
Why they are half the price of online Tropica plants I dont know?
because
foxfish said:
you need to buy them in the first few days after they arrive

TGM is second to non for keeping Tropica and making sure they're in stock when you need them.... It's all reflected in the price.
IMO if you lean to 'Just in Time' shops just to shave a few pence/quid at the expense of quality (and immediate availability) you're doing yourself and the quality trader a disservice.....

Here's food for thought - Compare all the "Expensive" plant shops like AE and TGM and the kit they sell to actually keep plants - Full fat ferts, Nutritious substrates, co2 against the "Just in time" shops....You'll probably find the "expensive" shops would rather you keep your plants alive and the JIT have you keep replacing them?

Nigel

EDIT: Just In Time IMO refers to Online retailers that buy from Asia to order and deliver in a week etc - The large chains IMO buy Tropica and sell them at supermarket prices with no care - hence the buy them within 2 days
 
what bugs me is p@h when you say that's a lot of algae and the say yeah to much light. so you reduce it then and they say umph
 
Nigel are you suggesting that TMC keep Tropica plants alive & health by keeping them in a similar fashion to Tropica IE with the foliage out of the water in a perfectly controlled environment?

I would imagine that the 'Just in Time' shops throughout the country buy & sell huge quantities of Tropica plants compared to the few on line shops mentioned & must be a huge & very important source of income for the Tropica company?

Luckily I have a good relationship with my locale 'Just in Time' shop so like many other locale folk who have an interest in plants, we will know the date the plants will be arriving & it becomes a bit of a social on the day.

However like the majority of 'Just in Time' shops the plants are kept in a classic overflow system that ensures a short time period before the plants start to deteriorate.

I do my fair share by buying plenty of expensive hardware from TMC etc but if I can get healthy plants for half the price & support my locale shop then sorry - that is what I will continue doing.
 
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