WARNING - E-Bay Tropical Seeds Purchase

Another photo this guy posted earlier this summer on ebay was of a flower that was almost identical to a photo of Lookithat (Schlueter cv) that I used to have on my website, only someone had added big spots to it as well. It is clearly a swindle, because you cannot get plants with flowers true to the photos from hybrid hibiscus seed. Each seed will produce a unique plant and flower. Richard Johnson of Tahiti is a legitimate seller of hibiscus seed, known to many of us for a lot of years. Also you can get seed from the American Hibiscus Society and the Australian Hibiscus Society for free. Just remember, after the seed sprouts you will have to give all the space and normal care to the growing plant that you would to any hibiscus and it will not bloom for at least a year and often much longer. The bloom will be of a hibiscus, but size, color, and form will not be known until you get the first bloom. Most hybridizers toss out 99 of 100 plants they grow from seed because they are not as good as the ones that already are available or are not what they are looking for. That said, even the "throwaways" are still hibiscus and many people think all hibiscus are attractive whether up to standard or not. It can be fun to grow them from seed, but the price is time, space, and resources that could instead be used to grow the top of the line, well tested hibiscus that are also available.

Charles

I was also cheated by the fellow and until today no seeds received or refund. I found out that fellow used address in Singapore and Australia. Hibiscus is our Malaysia national flower, however, there is none for sale in Malaysia and South East Asia.

Thank you for the info ultimateshopper, many times I thought about placing a bid on these, I am warned now and shall try the AHS instead. I purchased 3 Tropical Hibiscus at the local USF Sale recently but they are still adjusting, it takes some getting used to them.
~Samantha

This schiester has been around for years under many different names
Andy Floral Kingdom, Dahu-Bansai, etc.... add infinitum.
Ive has a few go arounds with him
All were miiserable failures and he never dellivered
He is known to verbally abuse women and also attempts to intimidate as well.
I wish he lived close to me, id pay him a visit.
He wouldnt be able to type or pack seeds anymore ;)

I think the best policy is to pass on the sellers that you are not familar with or someone hasn't recommended to you. I think E-Bay is good for many things but this is probably not one of them. Just my 2 cents worth

Don't the seeds that one purchases off ebay or anywhere else, not come true from the parent anyways? will they look exactly like the flower posted onthe auction?

just wondering. I thought they would be different than the flower anyways.

You're right, they wouldn't come true from seed, so even if the picture they posted of the plant wasn't Photoshopped, the seeds still wouldn't look like the parent.

That's why I would never buy seeds from hibiscus, they don't look like the parents anyways, I feel like their cheating us anyways LOL kind of like buying echinacea seed from those fancy ones they have come up with LOL

thanks

Kathy_Ann thats all part of the excitement not knowing what your going to get kinda like ole Forrest and his box of chocolates.Never the same thing twice some may look the same at first glance but there is a difference. Take care
Gene

I'm with Gene, I think it can be fun seeing what you might get, and as long as the place you're getting them from is honest and just tells you what the parents of the seeds were, I don't think they're cheating you. The eBay sellers who are photoshopping their pics and trying to make you think that's what your seeds are going to look like probably don't have good quality seeds in the first place, and even if they are actually viable hibiscus seeds they probably didn't take the time to cross pretty hybrids that might give you something interesting, they probably just pulled seeds off of some garden variety plain colored hibiscus so I wouldn't expect much out of those. But if you get seeds from the AHS or somewhere like that, you can end up with some really gorgeous things.

Thats fine if you get Hii seeds for a hibi auction.
I recived Hibi seeds for a plumie seed auction.
They were hollow shells
Then He sent me plumie seeds from an unknown red when the auction was for 'Pink Pansy' plumeria seeds :/
The guy is a thief.
He is well known on about 4 forums that im aware of as a thief.
Once in a rare while he gets it right.