Hardy Tropicals UK

I was in a very large garden centre in north Lincs today and found the exotic section. It was home to quite a few lovely looking tree fern trunks. It is well covered and protected. Upon doing the finger test (always feels wrong) I found every one seemed to be completely bone dry with all knuckles dry rotting away!! No knuckles deep down. I can only presume they just haven't been watered. What an absolute waste! We all put so much effort in protecting ours and there was literally £1000's (retail value) dead because the staff clearly don't know what they are doing.

There was even one pre paid for that was clearly dead, price was £180 for a four footer!!!! I just hope whoever comes for it knows what they are looking for.

Tom, the problem seems to be with all these places that they don't really employ enough people with palnt knowledge so its a job rather than a career for many of them. I agree, it's galling to see, especially when there is so much "non-plant" tat for sale elsewhere. I prefer to try and visit specialist nurseries where possible to avoid sights like you've described.

Gareth.

Gareth.. That will change, soon they will all need degrees in horticulture the way the jobs markets going

Tom, this is exactly why I had a vision of Hardy Tropicals many years ago. Some way of communicating with the public. I did not envisage a forum, but started out with the website with Aidan as the technical brains and myself writing pages.... they desperately need updating now Then Aidan developed the shop which I sold excess plants..... The forum followed as a way for people who wanted to communicate about plants they had bought. We have moved on a long way in the last 4 years But most of the site has stayed public, to inform

This is a difficult one, as if in 6 months time someone was to take the Dicksonia antarctica trunk back most GC would not swap or refund as outside their returns limit. There again most rank novice would not pay £180 for a log, so someone has a little knowledge, but maybe not enough. This is the beauty of the forum, as it is no single person's view, more of a pooling of information

Back to the original statement..... if the trunks are dry the knuckles would be dried out..... if the knuckles appear to be rotting it suggests the death occurred then the trunk became warmer and wet. Sounds like trunks left out in the December freeze then warmed up and dried out later

There is going to be a lot of duff stuff out there now, so you need to evaluate your purchases wisely

I would like to say that as a garden centre(Hilliers Chichester)i feel we have great plant knowledge between us. I certainly would not sell anyone a dead tree fern! I also do not have any qualifications at all ( the only one who doesnt have!). I have picked up all my info from HTUK as well as other forums, websites, books and meeting people. I also have a great passion for plants which is what alot of these garden centre workers are lacking. The only way to really know the plants is to speak to other people with their experince of growing them.Well done HTUK .

Dave Brown wrote:

There is going to be a lot of duff stuff out there now, so you need to evaluate your purchases wisely

good point. its not only plants already in stock to watch out for either,in some cases,the plants could have been frozen at the nursery before being shipped over.ive had three instances of this to date buying healthy looking plants from fresh stock that later showed they had been exposed to some low temps somewhere

I can fully empathise - a lot of people have no knowledge of the vastly different needs of different plants. I weep at the waste in the DIY sheds and other places. The trouble is - the average customer wants something "easy" to take home and plonk into a hastily made hole with no effort to make healthy on their part. I have ear-wigged on pep talk to staff and heard the usual spiel - - - moist with a spray to "look' cared for but no drips so they don't make a mess at the check out. Plants must look healthy at the time sold but they might not be happy in once taken out of the environment they have been raised to look best in.

Glad you are doing such great stuff on this web site and all you caring garden centre/nursery owners who care about what is for sale and what happens after the plants have left your care. Well done hardy tropicals and caring nurseries

I must admit the 2nd Dicksonia antarctica that my partner brought me, i can not feel one knuckle inside? but it doesn't look damaged or anything and the furr looks really healthy colour, but I'm not living in fear for because it has no knuckles showing, as there is still plenty of time to produce these, it is getting well watered everyday outside now where i currently have it stored on my balcony. instead of inside where it was. Red got me thinking about something with it being indoors so has been out since. even my 2 year old boy is helping me to water them.

Don't worry just yet San. Some Dicksonia antarctica's crowns seem to be VERY deep down and others right at the surface. My two newest are very deep in the crown. I'm hoping they have better survival rates because of this.

i have to say this . i visited a well known plant center just outside southampton last year and saw a row of brahea armata ,s absolutly bone dry and dead . these plants must have been worth thousands of pounds .they where still up for sale at over one hundred pounds each .i hate to think what a live plant would cost . after looking at a large number of other palms in the same place they all looked in the same condition . how a nursery could treat palm trees like that is beyond me ,most of us palm lovers would love to have a large butia capitata or brahea armata but in a lot of cases our pockets arn,t deep enough .
billdango.

once again though bill, it all boils down to the passion and if you love the plants or not, and in a lot of the cases like you have just described, sadly there is no love or passion from the people that are meant to be caring for them. and sadly results in death to the plants and a waste of money and time.