UPDATE: Management finally emailed me back and completely refused a refund. They claimed that total…read morecore liquefaction within 4 days is just an environment change issue, that their heavy, un aerated peat mud mix is perfectly fine for flytraps, and that the completely brittle, brown, dead String of Pearls roots I photographed are just naturally small. They tried to sweep this under the rug by offering a partial $60 store credit trap instead of a refund to my card, hoping I would walk away losing $85. I have rejected their credit and filed an official dispute/chargeback with my credit card issuer for defective goods. Do not trust their health guarantee.
I am incredibly upset and disappointed by my recent experiences at Robert Plante Greenhouses. I bought 4 pinguiculas, a venus fly trap and a string of pearls throughout August 22, 26, 30 and September 6. All of my carnivorous plants i bought from them developed crown rot within 4 days. Their website explicitly guarantees that their plants are sold in good health, but their carnivore plant stock is plagued by a systemic nursery infection. I bought four separate Pinguiculas (Weser, gigantea, moranensis and a emarginata) and a Venus flytrap across a couple of trips spanning three weeks, and every single one of them collapsed into black, mushy crown rot exactly 4 days after bringing them home. The fact that this happened to multiple plants bought over a 3-week span proves they are neglecting their inventory and keeping an active water-borne outbreak alive on their benches. A healthy plant does not turn to rotting mush in 96 hours under proper care, ruling out any home environment issues on my end.
I tried repotting them two days ago to save them and my weser and moranensis completely fell apart in my hands because the core was entirely liquefied. My emarginata was a total goner and had to go straight in the trash, and the other most recent one my gigantea from Sept 6th is in critical condition after hacking the rot off.
To make matters worse, a staff member gave me completely wrong care advice for the p. emarginata telling me to leave it dry for 2 days. It was in a tiny nursery pot so it just completely shriveled up and died immediately. On top of that, their soil mix is a joke. They put a light dressing of rocks and perlite on the very top of the pots to make it look airy to a buyer, but underneath it is completely sandy, compacted silt and heavy peat with barely any perlite. Their premade carnivores soil i bought was so compacted that it turned into a heavy, suffocating mud that completely drowned out and choked the flytrap's roots.
On top of the carnivorous plant department's massive issues, the variegated String of Pearls I purchased was sold with completely dead, dehydrated roots and immediately turned into a shriveled mess. I paid $7 for basically one strand of dying pearls with brittle, dry, thread roots that were dead on the sales floor long before I bought it.
I have lost a total of $146 because this business sells pre existing liabilities, gives the wrong advice for specific species, and sells packages of garbage soil. I have reached out for a refund or replacements and hope management makes this right. I strongly warn others to avoid their compromised stock.
The photos attached are all separate pinguiculas bought on separate days showing the black center rot and the compaction under the top soil, and my Venus fly trap is basically dead. I also included a picture of the tray i made trying to save them but almost all the leaves have brown rot, it also includes the mix i made for my pinguiculas so you can compare to what they sell, but obviously they were already compromised when i bought them so i had no chance to save them and my p. weser after it collapsed all the leaves are rotting.
