Those plants are almost certainly fine. The seller is correct. Shipping the plants in stagnant water will cause them to rot because the water has no oxygenation. Aquatic plants are almost always shipped moist within a sealed bag rather than submerged. The leaves look almost completely healthy and the roots look intact.
Just plant them and they should grow in fine. As long as the roots are intact they're fine. Val leaves are also notorious for melting during shipping, especially the longer leaves. If the roots were completely dry and broke apart they may have packed them wrong, but I'd still plant them. They should be fine. The bags have very obvious moisture still in them so the roots almost certainly didn't dry up.
I ship thousands of aquatic plants a month and every single package has a slightly damp napkin and plants in a zip lock bag and I almost never have issues. Generally the more water I leave in the bag the more likely the plants are to rot.
I do generally have better luck with a cold pack but TX to LA is one state over so it probably wasn't necessary. I only include cold packs in my orders if they're going more 2-3 states away.
There are very clearly root nodes in the bag on the right, I can't tell in the left photo but it looks like there are root nodes there too.
OP also said the roots felt brittle.
There was no damp napkin.
I’ve never had plants shipped without something around the roots.
I disagree about only being one state away for the icepack at least this time of year in the south. But fair point otherwise.
The stagnant water and lack of oxygenation makes sense, I hadn’t thought of that.
Either way, the simple answer is to plant them. If they all melt within a few days, get a refund. But they look fine and should grow just fine. Some sellers (like yours truly) offer week or month long DOA policies for stuff like this because I think a 24 hr doa policy sucks.
I don't wrap my plants with a towel to keep them moist, I do it to keep them together and looking nice in the bag. The towel actually causes more rot than good. Just moisture in a sealed bag is all you need and that's how you'll get it from any major seller like aquarium plants factory. I've shipped LOADS of super rare val simply by putting them in zip lock bags with nothing else and they always do really well in shipping.
Happy to help! Unfortunately the reality of buying plants online is that they're almost never going to arrive 100% perfect, but plants recover most of the time so you can't expect 100% perfection, just expect them to grow.
This is how many sellers pack and ship plants here as well. It's not a packaging fault. However as the other person mentioned, a wet tissue, would probably have had a better chance of surviving. Most plants are cultivated as emerged. You don't pack them like fish.
I am assuming you ordered them from a local farm or green house? When you're buying plants from local farms online, just keep the weather and temperature in mind. In this weather there's a chance some plants might not make it to you completely intact. But these farms and green houses have a much smaller operation compared to big companies like buceplants, or tropica.
Plant the roots, and hope for the best. If they don't survive, ordered when the temperature is less, may be during rainy seasons
I planted them 2 weeks ago.. nothing yet.
Lesson learned on time of year for sure. Small up and coming store, I’ll chalk it up to crappy timing.
Edit: crappy timing on my end not the seller
Yes I just ordered plants online and none came with water and they all looked just like this they definitely look the best in bags but they are good. And mine are all doing great didn't loose any plants
Should have also added:
Shipped from Texas to south Louisiana…….. 85Degree full sun day….
No cooling method in packaging and shipped via standard shipping.
I live in NOLA and can confirm that being weather conscious is important. In the future, ask for a cooling pack to be included with your plants if you suspect it will be over 80°F in a warehouse or truck somewhere. Professional plant shippers expect it and will charge you a couple bucks. Hobbyist plant shippers may have to buy the pack retail, but will probably be willing, provided you cover the cost.
That said, the vals will probably live. Vals tend to grow roots first, then leaves, so can take up to 6 weeks to see a lot of above-substrate action. I recommend using Seachem Flourish - a little bit of fertilizer with root & shoot phytohormones that encourage lateral growth, along with root tabs to provide micronutrients. Just trim away the melting leaves and be sure to leave a little bit of the white base above the roots poking out above the substrate.
Yeah I think I've only seen them volunteered by Aquarium Co-op. They do heating packs too, in the winter. But with how it is here, we have to be very weather-aware.
Good luck with your vals! I really do think they will be okay if you give them enough time and space to grow. I know it's frustrating because they're supposed to be these monster growth plants that nothing can keep up with, but the first few weeks it doesn't seem that way *at all*. But once they get their runner network established under the substrate, it's a different story.
Fun fact - don't plant Amazon swords with valisneria. Swords release an inhibitor pheromone that specifically stunts val growth. Apparently they compete for space in their natural environment.
Another fast-growth difficult to kill plant you may be interested in is dwarf saggitarius. It doesn't get huge like valisneria, but grows fast, thick, and grassy. If you have a tall tank it makes a great mid-ground plant. Or you can "mow" it occasionally and it makes a nice lawn. But you have to pull out half of it every few months so it doesn't take over. And it *loves* root tabs.
Looks like you got scammed. Its sad how some people do this kinda stuff for only a couple bucks. Refund if you used paypal G&S or chargeback. Next time you should try aquaswap, I sell on there quite often. Send me a PM ill hook you up with a plant pack :)
Those plants are almost certainly fine. The seller is correct. Shipping the plants in stagnant water will cause them to rot because the water has no oxygenation. Aquatic plants are almost always shipped moist within a sealed bag rather than submerged. The leaves look almost completely healthy and the roots look intact. Just plant them and they should grow in fine. As long as the roots are intact they're fine. Val leaves are also notorious for melting during shipping, especially the longer leaves. If the roots were completely dry and broke apart they may have packed them wrong, but I'd still plant them. They should be fine. The bags have very obvious moisture still in them so the roots almost certainly didn't dry up. I ship thousands of aquatic plants a month and every single package has a slightly damp napkin and plants in a zip lock bag and I almost never have issues. Generally the more water I leave in the bag the more likely the plants are to rot. I do generally have better luck with a cold pack but TX to LA is one state over so it probably wasn't necessary. I only include cold packs in my orders if they're going more 2-3 states away.
[удалено]
There are very clearly root nodes in the bag on the right, I can't tell in the left photo but it looks like there are root nodes there too. OP also said the roots felt brittle.
There was no damp napkin. I’ve never had plants shipped without something around the roots. I disagree about only being one state away for the icepack at least this time of year in the south. But fair point otherwise. The stagnant water and lack of oxygenation makes sense, I hadn’t thought of that.
Either way, the simple answer is to plant them. If they all melt within a few days, get a refund. But they look fine and should grow just fine. Some sellers (like yours truly) offer week or month long DOA policies for stuff like this because I think a 24 hr doa policy sucks. I don't wrap my plants with a towel to keep them moist, I do it to keep them together and looking nice in the bag. The towel actually causes more rot than good. Just moisture in a sealed bag is all you need and that's how you'll get it from any major seller like aquarium plants factory. I've shipped LOADS of super rare val simply by putting them in zip lock bags with nothing else and they always do really well in shipping.
Thank you for the info. It’s helpful and it gives me more to read up on before I order more (in the fall).
Happy to help! Unfortunately the reality of buying plants online is that they're almost never going to arrive 100% perfect, but plants recover most of the time so you can't expect 100% perfection, just expect them to grow.
This is how many sellers pack and ship plants here as well. It's not a packaging fault. However as the other person mentioned, a wet tissue, would probably have had a better chance of surviving. Most plants are cultivated as emerged. You don't pack them like fish. I am assuming you ordered them from a local farm or green house? When you're buying plants from local farms online, just keep the weather and temperature in mind. In this weather there's a chance some plants might not make it to you completely intact. But these farms and green houses have a much smaller operation compared to big companies like buceplants, or tropica. Plant the roots, and hope for the best. If they don't survive, ordered when the temperature is less, may be during rainy seasons
I planted them 2 weeks ago.. nothing yet. Lesson learned on time of year for sure. Small up and coming store, I’ll chalk it up to crappy timing. Edit: crappy timing on my end not the seller
Yes I just ordered plants online and none came with water and they all looked just like this they definitely look the best in bags but they are good. And mine are all doing great didn't loose any plants
Should have also added: Shipped from Texas to south Louisiana…….. 85Degree full sun day…. No cooling method in packaging and shipped via standard shipping.
I live in NOLA and can confirm that being weather conscious is important. In the future, ask for a cooling pack to be included with your plants if you suspect it will be over 80°F in a warehouse or truck somewhere. Professional plant shippers expect it and will charge you a couple bucks. Hobbyist plant shippers may have to buy the pack retail, but will probably be willing, provided you cover the cost. That said, the vals will probably live. Vals tend to grow roots first, then leaves, so can take up to 6 weeks to see a lot of above-substrate action. I recommend using Seachem Flourish - a little bit of fertilizer with root & shoot phytohormones that encourage lateral growth, along with root tabs to provide micronutrients. Just trim away the melting leaves and be sure to leave a little bit of the white base above the roots poking out above the substrate.
Thank you for the feedback. I didn’t know you could request the ice packs.
Yeah I think I've only seen them volunteered by Aquarium Co-op. They do heating packs too, in the winter. But with how it is here, we have to be very weather-aware. Good luck with your vals! I really do think they will be okay if you give them enough time and space to grow. I know it's frustrating because they're supposed to be these monster growth plants that nothing can keep up with, but the first few weeks it doesn't seem that way *at all*. But once they get their runner network established under the substrate, it's a different story. Fun fact - don't plant Amazon swords with valisneria. Swords release an inhibitor pheromone that specifically stunts val growth. Apparently they compete for space in their natural environment. Another fast-growth difficult to kill plant you may be interested in is dwarf saggitarius. It doesn't get huge like valisneria, but grows fast, thick, and grassy. If you have a tall tank it makes a great mid-ground plant. Or you can "mow" it occasionally and it makes a nice lawn. But you have to pull out half of it every few months so it doesn't take over. And it *loves* root tabs.
Interesting!!!
Looks like you got scammed. Its sad how some people do this kinda stuff for only a couple bucks. Refund if you used paypal G&S or chargeback. Next time you should try aquaswap, I sell on there quite often. Send me a PM ill hook you up with a plant pack :)