Bought a $40 'rare' orchid off Etsy and it came with root rot and mealybugs

I got excited when I found a variegated phalaenopsis listing from a seller with decent photos. It arrived in a soggy moss plug that smelled like a bog. I peeled back the medium and half the roots were brown mush, plus white fuzz on the leaves. Tried to save it with hydrogen peroxide and new bark, but the mealybugs spread to my other plants before I caught them. Lost the orchid and had to treat three others for months after. The seller ghosted me when I asked for a refund. Anyone else had bad luck buying plants online from small shops?

2 comments

2 Comments

brian_murray17d ago

Etsy orchids are a total gamble, honestly. I got one that looked fine but had hidden scale under the leaves, took me weeks to get rid of it. The seller just said "sometimes plants are stressed" and stopped replying. Soggy moss plugs are almost always a bad sign, they keep the roots wet way too long.

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evan_morgan8116d ago

Did I order the same orchid from the same seller or what?