FWIW, this has happened to me too with stem props. I have heard many people
make the same statements. I have decided it is best to deal only with
companies who will refund the set up fees if EVERYTHING turns out to get
contaminated. I mean, honestly, *I* can do stem props with less than 100%
contamination on 20 stems, if I only had the time. And if the best a
company can do is tell me to wipe them with Physan BEFORE I FedEx more stems
next time, I can do with out their EXPERTISE. How can you even tell if they
did anything but charge a credit card and report failure several weeks
later?

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
K: That could work -- if they have a LOT of friends also interested in
orchids, or do their own lab work. I've been thru 2 labs which couldn't
deliver any product (claimed that everything either didn't germinate or
contaminated). The 3d lab is producing almost every pod I send (no
reports of contamination, only one report of "no germination"), but has a
minimum order of 1000 seedlings ... That's a lot of plants, so I need to
be very confident before I send one. Kenni

"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..So what's a hobbyist
to do if they want something other than a boxstore
orchid? Create their own hybrids, trade 'em with their friends? Drive
for
miles to get to the few shows in their areas that sell something other
than
boxstore orchids? (SBOE, Redlands, Chicago)