Comments regarding The Banana Tree (Banana-Tree.com)

The Banana-Tree was very fast to proceed my order : 1 week from my internet command to delivery here, in Tokyo (I'm leaving in Japan). Seed quality was good, with high germinating rate. And on top of that, they have quite nice price. I certainly recommend them.

Their customer service / communication with customers could use some improvement. I placed an order and received a confirmation e-mail, which stated I could view order detail by following the link at the bottom of the page. There was no link. After reading the FAQs (as you are required to do before contacting them), I sent an e-mail (including my order #). I never received a response. Every other internet-order company I have ever dealt with not only sends a e-mail with order details, and responds to customer inquiries promptly, but also sends an e-mail to notify when the order is shipped. I received the order 2 1/2 weeks later, but no "order shipped" e-mail. Consequently, I was not able to gauge when to expect my order and be home to receive it. I picked up the package from the post office after the weekend, only to find some moldy ginger!

I figured since the prices were so good I would take a chance. The order arrived promtply, the seeds appeared in good condition. To top it off, I have 3 different types of palm seeds sprouting within a month. This is much faster than the more expensive seeds, I purchased at the same time. I will definitely order again.

I recently ordered several tropical and sub-tropical species from Banana-tree.com and was very happy with the seeds. They were all full, fat and healthy looking. My order arrived in only five days, and that’s all the way over here to England! Viability was excellent. I believe we have to make sure we have the adequate knowledge, experience, and equipment to geminate the harder species, and those that may have a long/tricky dormancy, before we jump to blame others for our own lack of experience or knowledge, and especially with the more stubborn species. I’m constantly ordering plants and seeds from all over the world, and I am very happy with the speed of delivery and quality of the seeds I received from Banana-tree.com and would definitely use their services again.

Well, I had good luck with this company. I ordered some seeds I'd not found anywhere else. I found the packaging quite acceptable and they arrived promptly.
Germination so far has been quite good. Especially since these are seeds I haven't seen anyone else growing!

I'm about to put in my second order here- my first having been last year. I received good, viable seeds, and was quite happy. I even had good germination with a couple types of cycad seed, which I understand are rather highly perishable. (The plants have continued to do well.) I got some other houseplant seeds, some vegetable seeds...had good results with all.

I HAVE FOUND THAT MOST OF THE SEED ARE OLD. THE PLANTS HAVE ALL BEEN IN BAD SHAPE. THIS PLACE IS A LAST RESORT FOR HARD TO GET SEEDS. I HAVE ORDERED 4 TIMES IN THE 10 YEARS AND IT HAS BEEN THE SAME EACH TIME.

It's been a while since I've ordered but I remember having had good experiences with them in the past. Magnificent selections of seeds, corms and plants. Just wish they had kept their large selection of bananas.

This is an excellent company - I have ordered seed from them on two occasions and received them promptly and well packaged. They can count on me for repeat business. The seed they offer is not the easiest to germinate and I imagine that it is for this reason some people had issues with seed germination.

I've been buying from The Banana Tree for years now and havefound them to be the best quality and price out there. I figure they're good because they where from the best of my knowledge the first company to be selling tropical plants and seeds and I've been running a green house for over 20 years now.

2 experiences with this company- 1 negative, 1 positive. the first time i ordred it was 5 yrs ago or so. remember the guy being very curt on the phone. had barely any germination- so i chalked it up to my being only semi-experienced at the time, though i'd had good luck with seeds form everywhere else. this yr, i really wanted seeds for brug. sanguineum, and so i placed another samll order. one variety of seed was sent pre-germinating, and i had good results with the remaining 7 varieties, except 1. unfortunately, the pre-germinated ones never grew- they just sat there in the pots for months and eventually rotted. looking over the comments posted, i may not order from them if i can find another source.

I ordered almost 20 species a majority were palms all but 2 species arrived in a week ,fast but figured there was a catch VIABILITY well most rotted the 1st month but some species need time ,so i stayed patient for 6 mths the only thing that germinated were majsty's and kings wow the cheapest species i got .i finally emailed them and let them know the situation.Obviously no reply .THIS COMPANY SELLS JUNK !!!!!!!!!! how there still in buss is amazing.I buy 2000-3000 dollars worth of seed a year and luckily i only spent around a 100 with them for a trial run .i recommend this with any comp buy a small amount if they don't take care of the little orders then they dont deserve the big orders. jason S FL

i got seeds from banana tree many times ,always got them within a week ,i got thousands of seedlings growing like mad .verry good prices ,and the best service you can get. fruittree micco florida .....

Picked up several varieties of Pachypodium seeds from Banana Tree. Germination on all was zero. Had the impression I ruined the owner's day by stopping by the store.

"In response to the one negative comment; These seeds need to be treated very carefully, some of them are very perishable. If the order gets held up by customs etc. and you get it late the seeds can be dead in some situations; please let us know if you recieve a shippment late. Also if you don't plant them right away, or if you don't follow the instructions exactly you will be unsuccessful growing.

Sincerely,
The Banana Tree
"

Generally I'd say they are good. Prices are nearly as good as some wholesale places. I've only had one batch of bad seed, not bad considering all that grew well.

I placed an order with Banana Tree.com for a Dwarf Cavendish Banana. I spoke with them on the phone and they were very courteous and helpful. My banana plant arrived promptly and in good condition. It is growing very well. I am a satisfied customer.

have gotten seeds from them and been to the store several times have always been happy with the service and info i have gotten

I've had great luck with this company. I've ordered lots of seeds. They arrive within ten days, and germination rate has been great.

Great selection of tropical and exotic seeds, I think this is the best place to buy tropical seeds from!

I noticed comments about Banana Tree and want to add that I have bought a number of tropical seeds from them in the past. Few have germinated, although I am a pretty good gardener. For instance, I ordered variouspassiflora from him, but they did not germinate at all, although all the passiflora varieties I ordered from Thompson and Morgan germinated just fine with the same treatment. The few times I talked to the fellow at Banana Tree, he was quite snippy and made a lot of remarks about how he was too busy for me because he had orders in the 100s of kgs for seeds. I know from experience buying seeds from wholesalers that anyone who sells seeds in those amounts does not do any seed packets, but I said nothing. Spring of 2001 I finally ordered a batch of a single species totaling $70. They were quite small for their species and kind of desiccated looking. I got absolute zero germination on them. When I put them in water, most of them floated. Many were so dead that when I opened them, I could see that the innards had shrunk away from the shell. In the past, I had bought the same variety seed from him, and they had been fine. I knew the market for these seeds was tight at the moment, though, and figured he was just being a little greedy and selling old seeds. I called him, and as others have reported, he was very rude to me and said outright that I did not know how to grow seeds. The seeds in question are to be nicked to germinate; he claimed this was absolutely WRONG. I said I wanted some consideration about the dead seeds, especially since I had spent several hundred dollars on his business in the past. He said if I returned them, he would send me *half* as many replacement seeds from a new batch he had just got in. Although this meant the price was twice as much, I consented, because I needed them. I returned the seeds, and when he got them, he left a message on my phone saying he was crediting my card for the seeds and that he was NOT going to sell me seeds anymore. In a very nasty voice, he added, "I just hope you can find somewhere else to buy those seeds." As a matter of fact, the same day I ordered them from Companion Plants for the same price, and they were nice and fat, and had 80% germination.

I ordered the following palm seeds from The banana tree. Washington Filifera, most germinated. Trachycarpus Fortunei, none germinated. Phoenix Robellini, 1 germinated. Jubea Chinensis, none.

I have had germination problem with seeds from The Banana Tree.

I asked if they would ever be selling a certain banana corm again and the owner emailed me back a curt reply that he only dealt in large wholesale sales for banana corms and he knew nowhere I could get the particular banana corm anymore.

I have placed and received several orders from the Banana Tree over the past several years (plants and seeds). I have NEVER had any problem getting their seeds to germinate and grow. I've ordered a lot of different types of seeds and have had great success with them. Each time I've received seeds from them, regardless of the amount ordered, they have always arrived in a padded envelope. I have never received crushed seeds from them either. Every time I've called there to place an order, the man I talk to is very nice. I've never had any problem with him being nasty or rude. I've been very pleased with the orders I've received from The Banana Tree, and I will continue to order from them in the future.

I live in the area. Stopped in to look around and perhaps buy some seed. After all I do live here so why order by mail...He told me if I was just window shopping, he was to busy with mail orders to wait for me to decide. If I had no knowledge of growing things from seed perhaps I should try Radishes. This is not a joke. He seems to do everything alone (and I really believe it best that way-who could stand to be with such a negative person all day?)

I used to order palm seeds from the Banana Tree, and got very poor germination. I assumed that I was doing something wrong. Then I ordered seeds from D. Orriel Seed exporters out of Australia. I went from zero per cent germination to sixty five per cent germination for Livistonia australis seeds. Others fared as well. I also found the owner of the Banana Tree to be very rude on the phone, when I called him about a problem. He told me that he likes to deal with the public as little as possible. Small wonder.

I have ordered from Banana Tree in the past. I had very poor germination of ALL seeds ordered. I have also ordered the same seeds from other companies (exact Genus and species) with much better luck. However, I will continue to order Voodoo bulb plants (Amorphaphallus riviera) from Banana Tree as I have had great luck with these.

I have ordered two or three times from Banana Tree, Inc. It was a bit of a let down to get the seed after reading such an informative catalog. However, I have not experienced any problems with the quality of seed. I have not run any controlled germination tests though either. Packaging could be improved and perhaps handling fees reduced. I will continue to order from Banana Tree, Inc. but will be more selective in my requests.

I've ordered a couple of times from the Banana Tree. Almost nothing germinated, but I had thought it was my fault. I live in Costa Rica, and we germinate a fair amount of seeds for the nursery, so maybe it *was* a problem with the seed quality.

Banana Tree ships seeds in small plastic bags, all pressing against one another, in an unprotected larger envelope. In each instance, Iordered several seed packets and required to pay their $5 or more minimum mail charge, and each time, they slapped $.29 on the envelope.The average seed amount is between 5 and 7 - usually 5. The majority of the seeds seemed to be quite old as viability was low and few sprouted - some of the seeds were crushed upon arrival. When I called to complain, they were rude and adamant that "I" was doing something wrong, even though I've grown tropicals ordered from J.L. Hudson, Brudy's, Logee's and even Mellinger's in summer, spring and even in the dead of winter over a heating pad, and have always experienced great success (many of these seeds were of the same kind ordered from Banana Tree, but of obviously better quality). Banana Tree refused to replace ANY of the seeds ordered, and the crushed ones were caused by poor handling of MY postal service, according to them, and not due to their poor packing. I regretted having sent in a second order, before waiting to receive the first, since sure enough, when it arrived shortly after, it was more of the same. All and all, my experience with Banana Tree has amounted to a lot of wasted dollars over half a palm-full of overpriced, worthless seeds.