Ecuagenera does not sell tissue cultured aroids

A post appeared yesterday on another garden website which, at least, strongly implies something that is entirely inaccurate. One poster appeared to indicate Anthurium reflexinervium was a tissue cultured specimen and the source may have been Ecuagenera in Ecuador. I immediately went about doing some research on that one since I had never heard such a claim.

Anthurium reflexinervium is now a highly sought after plant in SE Asia. Yesterday on eBay someone paid an extremly high price for one specimen in the thousands of dollars! I have dealt with Ecuagenera and know several people who often buy specimens from that company. I checked with several sources and, as I suspected, Anthurium reflexinervium has not been tissue cultured as far as anyone is aware. And certainly not by Ecuagenera.

For the record, there are formerly rare aroids that are commonly sold as tissue cultured (TC) specimens. These include both Anthurium veitchii and Anthurium warocqueanum, both of which were formerly quite rare but now very common and inexpensive. There are also a fair number of Philodendron species in TC but all of these are produced by a Florida company. Ecuagenera is not involved!

I was caught by surprise with that quote so I contacted an individual who has a lot of dealings with Ecuagenera and has spent a great deal of time at their various nurseries in Ecuador. He often imports aroids from the firm. I've bought quite a few through this individual. So I asked that he clarify if this is correct. This is his email answer, "Ecuagenera has never, to my knowledge, tissue cultured any aroids of any kind for any reason. I've been in their nurseries (all of them) on multiple occasions and never seen anything that looked like or could conceivably have been TC aroids. They've raised some plants from seed in large numbers, for example A. veitchii and A. warocqueanum, but none of those plants were tissue cultured. The only plants that they've attempted to TC are orchids, their main business."

I was alarmed that the reputation of a good company could be damaged by such a claim. So if you read it, DO NOT BELIEVE IT! Ecuagenera does TC some orchids as do numerous orchid growers, but not aroids! They do it at least in part to avoid removing orchids from a fragile environment. Ecuagenera is an honest company that strives to serve the aroid community as well as other rare plant groups. Please don't help this rumor get into circulation!

 

One personal email appeared to indicate the individual was displeased with Ecuagenera. They specified their displeasure but since I've never experienced a problem I would prefer not to repeat the reasons. Please be sure, I am not an agent for Ecuragenera, I simply buy plants from them. If you have experienced problems then post them so all of us can be aware. But minus some sort of proof, I see little reason not to continue to give them my business.

 

I take exception to this post. I was the person who posted the thread on the "other garden website". You must have thought that I would never see this here, because you must not have known that I have been a member of this forum just as long as you have, and that I do follow it from time to time.

Your implication that I was trying to "damage the reputation of a good company with such a claim" and your implication that what I posted was some type of attempt to "start a rumor" about that same company has absolutely no foundation in truth and is totally ludicrous.

You are the person who not only read things into my post that were not, in reality, even THERE, but you MISQUOTED IT to begin with.

I think that you need to be very careful what you post about people on any forum, even if you do not call them by name. You couldn't defend your position regarding this issue on the "other forum" which, to clear the record, is the Garden Web Aroid Forum, so you have to bring it somewhere else so that you feel you can continue it where the person you are talking about won't know? That's very very sad.

 

No one implied anyone was trying to damage Ecuagenera. But many would read more into that post than was written. I simply wanted to make it clear Ecuagenera does not sell tissue cultured aroids, nothing else. And I'm pleased you have made your presence known. Nothing I ever write is intended to offend anyone. Absolutely no one. I only pass along what others teach me. And that is the entire purpose of this forum. I write what I've been taught by a number of botanical scientists and experts. I've never made a claim anywhere to be an expert, simply a student. My post was simply to be a clarification before anyone had the chance to construe otherwise. I believe you'll find everyone here to be very open. That is exactly why I sign my posts with my name and make it easy for anyone to locate me. Again, I'm pleased you have decided to make a post on the UBC aroid forum.

Please copy and post your original post from the other forum as it was originally posted so anyone can decide for themselves if I was commenting on the post or attempting to impune you. I was simply commenting on the post.

 

Yes, Steve, you DID imply that someone was trying to damage Ecuagenera when you wrote, and I quote from your post:

"I was caught by surprise by that quote..."

Well, I imagine that you were, because you either misread or imagined the quote you are referring to. And:

"I was alarmed that the reputation of a good company could be damaged by such a claim. So if you read it, DO NOT BELIEVE IT!" and later in the same paragraph, "Please don't help this rumor get into circulation".

And since the original post (which, as I said already, you MISQUOTED) belonged to ME, you are implying that I am that person.

You need to start being very careful when you play these games. I consider your coming over here and posting about this subject where you thought you would not be caught out to be bordering on inflammatory. Even though you are not naming me directly, and not naming the "other forum", there are several people on this forum that also frequent that one, so they know EXACTLY who and what you are referring to. Its a clear cut and direct link, and your "tone" with this post is one that pretty clearly seems to indicate that you think I was actively TRYING to say innacurate things about Ecuagenera, which is simply FALSE. I have been a satisfied customer of theirs and will remain one. I frequently recommend them to others.

I know that you have a personal "network" of folks that you email privately and in effect "cry to" when you think that someone is dissing you online. You would do best to keep some of your thoughts confined to that private sector in the future.

What you have done with this Ecuagenera thread is take something that was totally innocuous, and MANUFACTURE, for whatever personal reasons you have, an entire "OTHER FACET" to it, which is inaccurate, and which you are now placing in a public place, and that is WRONG.

 

I is regrettable, this is the second time you have tried to draw me into a personal argument both here and elsewhere. I'm sorry, I just won't take the bait. And again, welcome to the forum.

 

That's okay, you can play the martyr if you must. I am not trying to draw you into an argument, here, or anywhere else. I am merely defending myself from your attempt to somehow cast a negative light on what I posted, for whatever private weird reason you have.

And, since you went to Gardenweb and had one of the topics that you did this very same thing on over there partially removed, I have every expectation that you would try to do the same thing to the thread you are misquoting here, in an attempt to cover yourself.

The only thing I wish from you, Steve, is for you just to keep your opinions to yourself where I am concerned, and I would certainly return that favor. You cannot seem to represent things that are typed right in front of you accurately, so it would be best if you just ignored my contributions to both Gardenweb and any other forum you see me on, and resisted that little impulse to poke your nose in.

 

Or would that be a spadix?

 

Funny one Ron, I liked it ; )

Seriously, can we all keep our personal differences aside...

Ed

 

That WAS a funny one, Ron.
Edleigh7, the only way "differences" can be set aside, is if BOTH of the parties involved realize that they are, in fact, doing something unfavorable. In this case, one of the parties (and it isn't me) is incapable of seeing that they could ever possibly be wrong about ANY issue, even when they sneak about in a furtive between-forums manner and twist things that others write around to their own advantage in an attempt to garner attention and feel self-important at someone else's expense.
Once the other party involved here realizes this, and stops it, certainly, this issue can be laid to rest.

 

It's been pretty much my policy from the start that I'm not too interested in drama and personal conflicts on these forums, and that I would much prefer the conversation to be about plants.

From my perspective, with the original items being referred to not findable (or at least, I couldn't find them) and therefore lacking context, this argument is a) impossible for others to weigh in on; and b) not going to be resolved. It might make for interesting TV, but it doesn't really align with enthusiastic discussion about plants. I've closed the thread.