tropicalkid

Auction on "the bay" is ending today. It has one bid and it's from a member here that is not me.
Please keep us posted on how it goes !!!


Here is the link to the auction:


http://cgi.ebay.com/Very-Rare-Varieg...QQcmdZViewItem


Carlos, (Tropicalkid in NC)

JoeReal

I will not bid on it because I want Harvey to win it.

I just hope that it will not be frosty by the time it gets here from Thailand. So it could die near the end of the trip if not well insulated. I hope it doesn't go through one of the frozen hubs like most other bananas from Florida, often they stop over at Denver, and they're fried when it gets here when shipped after the first frosty nights here.

But if it is via the sea, which is about 14 days average travel, and the sea is a balmy 50 to 70 deg F, and generally the Bay Area Shipyards are still above freezing, about mid to upper 40's, and they go straight into Isleton, the exposure should be minimum. But if they ship it first to sorting and inspection facility out of the Bay Area, it could freeze at one point or another.

harveyc

Hey, I did get it, which surprised me a bit. The seller had previously listed it at least one other time (more, I think) for $129.99 so I figured I'd give it a try for the new sale price of $49.99 and, fortunately, I "won". It's not as variegated as some other specimens he's had, but it still looks nice and will serve as a nice backup in case something unmentionable happens to my Ae Ae. The seller says 5-7 days to get here which is nice, but the shipping cost more than the plant! It's coming from Thailand, Joe, so I don't think it will be visiting Denver unless it ends up as lost luggage.

My current plan is to set up an indoor lighting system in my shop which I keep heated in the winter. It's heated with an old stove which I'll put a pan of water on to keep the humidity reasonable. I'll be keeping around 25 potted bananas in my shop so it might be a jungle by springtime. I just hope to have more growth by spring so that I can get more pups and, possibly, some flowering next year. I may then pot up pups and bring them in like the ones I have now in case the mother plants don't make it through the winter of 2008/2009. I won't keep up this practice indefinitely, but I'd like to give as many possible a chance to see how they work out here.

Jarred has one of these but it has not pupped yet. Does anyone else have one that has pupped to give some sort of idea how often the pups are also variegated?

__________________

harveyc

Oh, one more thinkg. The same seller has this Kluai Hug Mulk previously listed for a starting bid of $129.99 and now has it listed with a starting bid of $49.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220154405589

This is a nice-looking plant but I don't know anything about it. Does it have another name that might be listed on the wiki? I don't think I'll be bidding, so feel free to go at it!

__________________

MediaHound

Thats probably the variegated Giant Indonesian (seeded bananas) but often mislabeled in Thailand as the variagated Silver Bluggoe (which would be unseeded). Check the synonyms section here:
http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Musa_Silver_bluggoe

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

tropicalkid

Hey Harvey:
Have you received the plant? updates?

Thanks,
Carlos(tropicalkid in NC)

harveyc

Not yet. It was shipped on 9/29 and arrived at USA customs on 10/1.

__________________

harveyc

Bad news. I was worried when I saw tracking reflecting it at US Customs on 10/1 and still there late on 10/3. Today the package arrived empty with the phytosanitary certificate stamped "REFUSED ENTRY", etc. accompanied by a USDA Mail Interception Notice that indicates the following"

Anybody else every have an experience like this with this seller? I'll ask for a refund, but don't know how likely that will be. Ouch!

On the bright side, I didn't pay $129.99 + $59.99 shipping like it was listed for previously. I "saved" $80.00! LOL

__________________

MediaHound

Just looked that up, it's a type of scale. That's a bummer

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

natedogg1026

Sorry Harvey. Hope you get a refund.

__________________
Banana's are a safe addiction. Right?Maybe I need classes.

JoeReal

I never knew that bananas are affected by scales. Maybe it was a hitch hiker. I hope you get a refund, at least for the cost of the plant.

As for me, that's how far i would push the refund for. The seller has lost the plant and has paid for the shipment. Ordering from overseas will always have that risk. I am sure glad the USDA workers are doing their job.

harveyc

If the Bangkock inspector had been doing their job, the plant should have never been shipped. While I believe the USDA probably did the right thing, I can't help but wonder if they sometimes might make something up if they don't like the looks of something. It was signed by two officers, however, so that's not likely.

I wrote the seller and report what happens in case others may shop with this seller since I know other members have bought there in the past. I'm not going to fret for it and push hard for a refund. Life is too short already! I have many good things in my life and this isn't even a bump in the road.

__________________

SteveW

Hi guys,
I bought a Siam ruby from this seller a while ago.
Which got stopped by Defra and British customs,took 3 weeks from posting to reaching me as a result.There was a problem wiyh the phyto not having any accompanying notes,which Chawalit quickly sorted out.The long wait was just caused by all the red tape in the UK,as defra quickly released it to customs who didn't get in touch with me for the better part of a week.By the time a letter from them arrived it was the weekend,so I wasn't able to do anything about it.
Obviously I was extremely worried that the ruby would be completly dead when it finally arrived,but the seller told me to let him know if it doesn't survive as he'd refund me the cost of it.
Thankfully its now started to grow,along with a couple of pups that emerged over the last fortnight.
So I'm sure Chawalit'll give you a refund on the price of the banana.Especially as you never received it.
Steve

harveyc

Thanks, Steve, that's encouraging.

__________________

JoeReal

You'll never know for sure. EVEN IF the Bangkok inspectors have done their job to the dotted i's and crossed t's, it could be cross contamination from shipments from other sellers and shippers who don't bother with phyto inspections and paper work. The mixture of plants will go together into one container, and you know when that happens even if you have a sickingly clean plant to start with. Banana plants have more water than other plants and hold on to it longer too, and if the other plants with scales have dried out, guess they have no choice but to sip on Harvey's very plump variegated banana.

tropicalkid

Harvey:
Please keep us posted as how thing are going in regards to this.

Thanks,
Carlos(tropicalkid in NC)

harveyc

Joe, it only took two days from shipment until arrival at customs and the box was sealed well with tape completely covering all seams. Cross-contaimination seems extremely unlikely. Scale moves quite slowly as well, I believe. It wonder if the inspectors do anything to sanitize the box before sending it on. Guess they didn't want to spend the $.41 to mail me the paperwork.

__________________

MediaHound

Like I mentioned to Harvey in a PM, Chawalit scrubs the corms clean pretty good. I'm surprised that this one had a hitchiker.

__________________
Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

harveyc

Chawalit just e-mailed me and made a full refund, including shipping, and apologized for the problem. This was very kind of him. I had just asked him what he could do and made no demands, etc. I complimented him on his top integrity. Maybe I'll try again next spring.

I think I should get an import permit before trying this again, just in case. Can someone direct me to the form I can download? I've seen this before but can't find it now.

Thanks for the well reassurances, etc.

__________________

chong

Harvey,
Here's a link:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/forms/index.html

It's relatively simple, but Good Luck anyway.

Chong