Tips for buying plants and trees online
Are you thinking about purchasing plants or trees from an online or mail order company? I have compiled a few questions to ask before purchasing. Here are some tips to compare products, prices and guarantees.
Are you buying from the Grower or a Marketing company?
Some online plant retailers are also the growers of the plants they sell, while others are marketers for one or several actual production nurseries. Online marketing companies can either have the plant material shipped to them for later distribution, as they receive orders for the product, or the actual grower may ship the plants for them, directly to the customer. If the plant material is shipped from the grower and not the marketer, be sure you know who is responsible, should the plant die. Sooner Plant Farm is an operating production nursery and the shipper of the plants and trees we sell.
Does the company offer a Plant Guarantee? Companies with confidence in the health of their plants also want their customers to be satisfied should something go wrong and the plant does not perform. Plant guarantees vary considerably, among online plant retailers.
The most common plant guarantee is, "no guarantee at all". Once the plant or tree leaves the shippers facility, many times it becomes your responsibility. And if the product is damaged in transit, it can also be your responsibility to contact the shipping company and file a damage claim. Unless you have experience filing a claim, it can be a frustrating task. Be sure to learn the online plant retailer's guarantee before hand. The best plant guarantee is free replacement if the plant is damaged in transit, and the shipper files the damage claim. Companies that offer this type of guarantee should be your first choice when purchasing plant material online. Sooner Plant Farm offers a full replacement guarantee for any plant material damaged in transt. We also file any damage claims with shipping companies should something happen during delivery.
What kind of Customer Service is offered? The horticultural expertise of the online company will play a role in the quality of customer service. Many smaller nursery operations use their entire staff to perform all nursery operations. All personnel may be working outside on the farm and may not be available to answer questions 24/7. The larger online nurseries or marketers may have customer service attendants available to answer your questions during normal business hours. Sooner Plant Farm will answer most phone and email questions promply. During certain times of the year, all staff may be away from the office, although we will normally reply to your questions within four normal business hours.
Comparing the size of plant material, can be confusing.
Plant material can be categorized in several different ways. Bareroot vs. container, age of the plant material, size of plant material, size of container.
Bareroot plant material has all soil removed from the root system. Lower shipping costs, because of less weight is the most beneficial aspect of buying bare root plant material. The down side to buying bare root plants or trees is the livability factor. The process of harvesting trees to store and ship bareroot, can be very damaging to the plants root system. As the tree roots are mechanically cut loose from the soil, many of the feeder roots are cut off( the last inches of a root). At the very least, the plant or tree must regenerate the lost feeder roots before becoming healthy again. Correct storage is also very crucial in maintaining healthy bareroot plant material. Controlling temperatures and humidity levels in storage coolers is what keeps bareroot plants dormant. If the levels are not correctly maintained, plant health will be jeopardized.
Containerized plants or trees keep their root system intact, this results in virtually no transplant shock or stunting. Since no feeder roots are damaged or removed, most plants and trees transplanted from containers will become established and produce a flush of growth very quickly. Because of the weight involved, shipping cost for containerized plant material can be higher than bareroot, although this is not always true. I recommend adding the price of the plant or tree and the shipping costs, before comparing. Many times adding additional plants or trees to an order, results in very little additional shipping cost, resulting in lower shipping cost per plant. Sooner Plant Farm ships only potted plants and trees.
When buying plants, trees online; the age of the plant or tree should also be considered. Inferior plant material is sometimes passed on to unsuspecting online plant buyers. Generally, plants and trees have a lifespan in which they should be planted, repotted or destroyed. Plants or trees allowed to over grow a container can become rootbound. If field grown plants are allowed to grow too large before being harvested as a bareroot plant, the root system will be severely damaged during the harvesting process. It is best to buy plants and trees from experienced and reputable plant nurseries.
Container size is another aspect to consider when comparing and buying plant material online. Container size can be described in several different ways. Smaller size pots and containers, up to one gallon, are measured and described as a pint, quart or in inches / millimeters (example; 4 inch pot, one pint or two quart container). Larger pots are measured and described in gallons (example; two gallon pot, five gallon pot). The Federal department of weights and measures has recently become involved in the nursery and greenhouse business. Comparing pot sizes from different companies will become much easier very soon, as every plant producing company must begin to follow certain size description rules.
What is the reputation of the Online Plant Company?
The best way to find out if the company you are purchasing from has a good reputation, for the products they sell and their customer service, is through a web site called Garden Watchdog
There you will find out the experience other gardeners have had with that company, along with other information about that company. The Daves Garden website is an independent site with tons of information for all gardeners. I incourage everyone to bookmark it and use it as a first choice reference site. To Check out the Scoop on Sooner Plant Farm click here.
