Best buy for quantity for money???

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, from experience, where is the best place to buy on the internet for value for money, and primarily quantity for money when buys aquatic plants???
Cheers

 

[a1Matt]

Other hobbysists* 😉

*but sometimes it is the worst as well!

 

[Garuf]

I think it depends on your ultimate goal, back when we still had greenline we had a reliable good qaulity stream of plants at good prices now-a-days we don't have anything that could possibly fit that description, all those that bring in plants from asai and try and sell them on do not really seem to have the hobby at heart and will often sell you the wrong plants/poor quality plants because they either don't know or simply don't care. PFK for example has the 2 worst companies to deal with as their best plant suppliers! This is not because of this side of the hobby but the side that is ignorant of plants needs and are happy to pay a few £ each month or so to put new plants in that will die and be replaced this keeps them in business and they don't really care as long as the money keeps coming in, I have had dealings with 4 companies that trade in this manner and I've not had the most pleasant of outcomes with any.
Until a company enters the ring that's owned by and run for a hobbyist to provide cheap grown on plants of high quality then I don't really think bulk buys/import plants are viable.

I've been down every single road when it comes to planting sources, and I have to say the best way is to mix and match, establish links between other hobbyists and share everything, people will help more freely if they see where their plants have gone and what people have done with them, it also makes the forum and the hobby stronger this way you get some good plants for the right sort of price, the plants you can't get at start up are best bought from reputable potted growers tropica/anubias/aquafluer and ideally from a sponsor of the forum, this won't necassarily give you the cheapest price but what it will give you is the best possible quality, here size isn't that important but quality is, it will give you the best possible start so it's worth requesting plants that have spent the smallest possible time at the shop/store, to the extent where waiting to get fresh plants from the grower should be precident, even the most well meaning of shop/store can sell on a large plant but it won't be as good a quality as a small one that's still in it's emerese state and it also won't be as strong to get it through physiological changes. I say this simply because from experience even the most well meaning idea can produce problems, it's all well and good to buy a huge anubias from pets at home but you'll be nursing a plant rather than having one that is going to be more likely to flourish or a huge crypt or stems that's already adapted to someone elses water/co2 levels only to discover the plants deficient or melts because your levels aren't the same or vary wildly.

This brings me to my final point, sometimes it's cheapest to buy plants from places like pets at home, and yes I agree it's true that it can be extremely viable compared to the price you'd pay per pot (for example 3 x tropica pots for £9 vs 1 pot for £7 for the same plant) but here's the stumbler, unless the plant came in within say 2 days you've pretty much had it, the plants will be poorly looked after and of inferior quality. Bargains can be had but they have to be had on the day the plants came in otherwise more often than not you'll be fighting a losing battle, they're a worth while way of bulking up plant mass or adding plants later on but don't expect them to have the specie you want or rely on them as youre number one source of plants, or if you're buying a few days late for it to be as good a quality as you wish and this unreliability in specie availability/quantity and questionable quality after a short period means they're not really viable.
I suppose ultimately my point is that by trying to do things cheaply you're essentially setting yourself up for a fall unless you get quality plants to start with, and that clause generally means extra £'s needing to be spent and ultimately quality is what you should strive for over the lowest possible cost.

 

[ghostsword]

I have been buying plants from plantedtanks website, they are cheap and good quality, but it will not beat the quality of plants you see on the forum here.

From mosses, to Staurogyne, whole pots of Cryps, hairgrasses, blixa, and Java fern, almost all can be found on the UKAPS forum.

If you are just after quantity, then go to ebay and buy the mixed bunches they got listed. If you are after quality, buy on the forum, or on the UKAPS sponsors.

A pot of Hydrocotyle I bought at TGM grew up like this, in maybe 3 months:



One single pot of a good quality plant can go a long way. 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on your ultimate goal, back when we still had greenline we had a reliable good qaulity stream of plants at good prices now-a-days we don't have anything that could possibly fit that description, all those that bring in plants from asai and try and sell them on do not really seem to have the hobby at heart and will often sell you the wrong plants/poor quality plants because they either don't know or simply don't care. PFK for example has the 2 worst companies to deal with as their best plant suppliers! This is not because of this side of the hobby but the side that is ignorant of plants needs and are happy to pay a few £ each month or so to put new plants in that will die and be replaced this keeps them in business and they don't really care as long as the money keeps coming in, I have had dealings with 4 companies that trade in this manner and I've not had the most pleasant of outcomes with any.
Until a company enters the ring that's owned by and run for a hobbyist to provide cheap grown on plants of high quality then I don't really think bulk buys/import plants are viable.

I've been down every single road when it comes to planting sources, and I have to say the best way is to mix and match, establish links between other hobbyists and share everything, people will help more freely if they see where their plants have gone and what people have done with them, it also makes the forum and the hobby stronger this way you get some good plants for the right sort of price, the plants you can't get at start up are best bought from reputable potted growers tropica/anubias/aquafluer and ideally from a sponsor of the forum, this won't necassarily give you the cheapest price but what it will give you is the best possible quality, here size isn't that important but quality is, it will give you the best possible start so it's worth requesting plants that have spent the smallest possible time at the shop/store, to the extent where waiting to get fresh plants from the grower should be precident, even the most well meaning of shop/store can sell on a large plant but it won't be as good a quality as a small one that's still in it's emerese state and it also won't be as strong to get it through physiological changes. I say this simply because from experience even the most well meaning idea can produce problems, it's all well and good to buy a huge anubias from pets at home but you'll be nursing a plant rather than having one that is going to be more likely to flourish or a huge crypt or stems that's already adapted to someone elses water/co2 levels only to discover the plants deficient or melts because your levels aren't the same or vary wildly.

This brings me to my final point, sometimes it's cheapest to buy plants from places like pets at home, and yes I agree it's true that it can be extremely viable compared to the price you'd pay per pot (for example 3 x tropica pots for £9 vs 1 pot for £7 for the same plant) but here's the stumbler, unless the plant came in within say 2 days you've pretty much had it, the plants will be poorly looked after and of inferior quality. Bargains can be had but they have to be had on the day the plants came in otherwise more often than not you'll be fighting a losing battle, they're a worth while way of bulking up plant mass or adding plants later on but don't expect them to have the specie you want or rely on them as youre number one source of plants, or if you're buying a few days late for it to be as good a quality as you wish and this unreliability in specie availability/quantity and questionable quality after a short period means they're not really viable.
I suppose ultimately my point is that by trying to do things cheaply you're essentially setting yourself up for a fall unless you get quality plants to start with, and that clause generally means extra £'s needing to be spent and ultimately quality is what you should strive for over the lowest possible cost.

Good effort on they reply Grauf!!! But yeah appreciate your point. I'm a student so trying to save pennies everywhere I can. I'm kind of looking for quantity in the means of filling a rather large "lawn" in my tank as foreground plants seem to be slightly more expensive than others and sometimes don't take so well. But then again I appreciate the fact that they have to be good quality in the first place to take off. So I guess I'll look around for a while and see what I can find on the forum etc.
I'm trying Echinodorus tenellus, Eleocharis parvula, Lilaeopsis mauritiana, and then Glossostigma elatinoides for the third time..! I've just started a journal (Nicks Vission 180) and I'm struggling to find a suitable plant for 'area 6' in my tank. Currently thinking Lilaeopsis mauritiana but some advice would be cool if your interested.
Regards

 

[Garuf]

I'm a student myself, I understand exactly where you're coming from, now's the perfect time of year to grow out your carpet plants in a window cill or outside frame. Just look at ghostworlds post above, James M also just grew glosso in the garden.
Glosso failing is a sure fire sign that you don't have enough CO2 or flow, it will regrow from a single leave if it's got enough of both!

 

[ghostsword]

I'm a student myself, I understand exactly where you're coming from, now's the perfect time of year to grow out your carpet plants in a window cill or outside frame. Just look at ghostworlds post above, James M also just grew glosso in the garden.
Glosso failing is a sure fire sign that you don't have enough CO2 or flow, it will regrow from a single leave if it's got enough of both!

You are right mate.. On the current weather, which is perfect for tropical plants, they would even grow from cuttings outside on the garden.

For a quick carpet you cannot go wrong with Marsilea, but it needs ferts and CO2 to grow quick underwater. You can somehow cheat, get a plastic mesh, some filter floss and place the plants on a container with some water on the window sill on top of the floss and plastic mesh. Add some ferts and it will get all the CO2 from the air.

When it is tick and grown, put it on the tank and get another one going, replace as needed, if CO2 is an issue on the tank. 🙂