Okay,
since I seem to have said some things worthy of attention....
For one, we all have a different opinion of what a "new grower" is, and while I can remember how much (or little) real experience I had after raising CP's for a few years, I do see that even after all the time that has passed and all the plants that I have grown (both successfully and unsuccessfully) since then, that I still do not know nearly as much as I would like.
I also realize that even after years and years of growing plants successfully, something unexpected can still easily happen to wipe out my entire collection. Just because I start to grow some Neps or Dews lets say, without ever killing any or having problems of any sorts, even for a few years, does NOT make me an expert or even a highly experienced grower. Lucky perhaps! But without experiencing some plant diseases, fungus, insect infestations, plant killing temperatures or other general situations requiring resurrections or overcoming other near death experiences, how can I call myself experienced or trust myself to handle such possible situations with confidence in the future? Who knows better how to endure the storm, than someone who has by their own hand and not luck, endured the storms many times before?
To me, every "problem situation" that arises, is another opportunity to learn how to handle something new, and it is experiences like these that
can help make us better growers. Knowledge and understanding is not just a measure of time and luck! And while studying and reading about something is extremely valuable, it is still not a replacement for hands on experience. I have seen many growers who have "not killed" plants for years, but they have no real growing experience. And so without some external guidance or hand-holding from others, I know for a fact that they cannot confidently do basic things like transplant a plant or divide it to produce others, without a good chance of killing it!
I only mentioned about "new growers" (in the first place) in relation to "problem" situations that they have not encountered before, and to help people realize that even when bad things do happen, they can benefit from it. I myself have learned some of the most important lessons in growing, from turning a problem around and getting a plant to survive thru peril, and eventually thrive (or even in trying but failing). (I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but then this is a varied audience.)
Chris, in looking over your posts you have repeatedly expressed worry about people not trading with you.... (I didn't bring it up first, but responded to your expressed concern.) ...and here again you mention "
....that sucks that people won't consider trades with me anymore based on this bug bomb of an abomination." But as I tried to reassure you already about myself.... I don't think any grower who trusts their capabilities will have a problem trading with you. You have shown your capability to find and identify "bugs" and problems already, and expressed a disgust for them. I would think people could trust you more because of this! But as I pointed out already about this being a varied audience, you will indeed still find that some people will come to the logical conclusion, while others can not.
[Hellooooo, even Andrew had aphids on one of his plants and worms in another! That doesn't mean you aren't gonna trust him, does it? Well....!]
So I guess I am saying, try not worrying so much about trading your plants, as it will happen when the time is right. Be patient, and stop bringing it up how no one is gonna trade with you! Just put out your trade "have's" from time to time, and what you are hoping to find, and it will happen.... (so long as whatever you are offering and wanting, is a reasonable trade of course!)
Andrew, I couldn't get into the link (on post #43):
http://cpforums.org/gallery/d/32537-6/newvftwithbugs . Maybe I am doing something wrong again, but for me it asks for user name and password and doesn't show a picture.
And it wasn't until (post #36) when Exo used his "20-20" vision to see the aphid and mentioned it, that I even noticed it. (I am Growin'old ya know, so the eyesight ain't what it used to be!) I do apologize, but I didn't see any reference to anything about aphids before that either. (Boy, my eye sight sure isn't what it used to be! Pictures and words, whats next?)
Had I caught the mention of aphids on it, I would have made the connection and probably located the aphid. Again, sorry.... at a normal glance it just looked like a VFT bulb out of cold storage to me. (I didn't even notice on the "huge" picture, although I only gave it a glance too, and again wasn't looking for aphids. To me it hust looked like a bigger version and I couldn't see it covered with aphids, in focus or out! In all fairness to you, I have to admit that I usually have trouble with a lot of the photos that people post online, especially the really large ones. They just look like the same out of focused pictures, only larger, so that now I have to move the picture around to see the whole thing! I didn't used to have this problem, but from years of doing very fine close up work, my eyes are shot and it is just plain difficult for me to see what is going on sometimes.)
Actually, when I looked at the (normal sized) picture, I kinda liked the VFT bulb! It looked decent size and all, and I didn't see any real damage or rot to it! (I thought it looked pretty good, as I have seen a lot worse, and was impressed at how good it looked after being in dormancy/cold storage! That's why I wanted to see the rest of the bulb, as I couldn't tell what I was supposed to be seeing!
Now I really feel old!)
Also, the reason I mentioned it looking like a normal VFT bulb, was that I thought perhaps Timmy was asking what it was when he mentioned about cultivar. (Sorry Timmy, I just never understand what you are really asking sometime, or why!)
Indeed aphids can become a real nuisance, especially lethal for other garden plants that I grow. I have experienced "blooms" of them and other pests in the greenhouse in past years, even in the winter! (Winter's unexpected guest list also includes frogs, preying mantis's, and some unusual butterflies!)
However, here again, not something a vendor should be sending out in good conscience. (But then, if the VFT bulbs were a dime a piece, I would easily accept the risk! Especially if the real damage that they had done was only negligible. Again, something I would trust on past experience to help me decide.)
Oh boy, accepting infested plants... bad me again! I bet I'm gonna get flack for that one! ...but hey, I can picture the ad:
"Large, lightly damaged aphid infested VFT bulbs for sale....10 cents a piece!"
(Oh yea, it will have to specify the cultivar of course! I almost forgot!)
And yes, a layer of rocks/weed shield, etc are some of the common sense things one would expect from a decent vendor! As you say, even if it isn't outright destructive, these are things that are easily preventable and shouldn't be happening from someone who is a vendor. (I assume your "problems" came from an individual, and if not, is a vendor you have spoken to about the issue.)
And thanks for clarifying on the picture SirKristoff. It certainly helps! (Especially slow, semi-blind people like me who need things spelled out!) By the time I saw it this time however, I already read Exo's post and looked for and found the aphid and his "skin/shell". (Prior to that, I thought the white aphid "shells" were some fungus crud left over from cold storage.)
Actually, I used to be very good at the "where's Waldo" things! Now I am gonna have to call Exo to help me read the posts correctly! Oh jeez, you have no idea how ironic that is to me!
Well, I think I addressed everything that was brought up... oh yea, on the surface and taken at face value, I don't understand about the whole R.O. water thing killing aphids with popping bubbles, but then I didn't make the connection or see any relation to the conversation at hand concerning aphids infesting a VFT bulb ...awhen the question arose about what cultivar the VFT was, either... but then in re-reading it I figured it out!
I apologize, as it is sometimes a bit difficult to understand and communicate effectively via a "faceless" forum environment, without having the cues necessary for a full understanding as to where the "ideas" and information presented are coming from and how to take them and how to respond.
After further research, in spite if other issues, I think it is ultimately very nice to see when someone can identify how nice some people can be here on the forum, and are thus wanting to be a part of that.
And I REALLY don't expect many people to understand what that meant!
BTW, not that it is practical for others and it is probably already common knowledge with everyone, but in the past I have sprayed plants to kill off the bugs, and then sprayed the plants again later with clean, fresh water to wash off the other "bug" spray, to help prevent some of the problems that are apparently of concern.
Oh well, it's been a real...treat.... Love to stay...
But for now I am off to grow something fun!