Back to Jonna in Belgium and Butterflychaser. One of the things I like about the forum is that you can search for people who have certain seeds/plants or want certain seeds/plants. So if you don't list all your varieties you may miss out on someone who has what you want. I look for people that want what I have and then go to their list to see if they have anything I want. Just a thought. Annette
Frustration in the plant and seed exchange
Maybe there should be a "wish list area" - If there is / was such an area, I think I would move a lot of my wants to that area.
I think Joanna ... I know you just recently d-mailed me ... I just haven't had a chance to get back with you... Now I know its iffy on shipping out side the US ... Sometimes seeds just don';t get to the destination because of custom issues with different countries. And sometimes the seeds are taken by customs ... I think that's the hardest part. Like I know some morning glories / ipomeas aren't allowed to be imported into certain countries and those countries even when the package is unmarked have been taken by customs when the package was opened by them. I would love to trade with you ... I will be d-mailing you soon.
I agree ... a new trade format would be nice ... :D I'd love to find away to get more organized! :D
I'm up for learning so what suggestions you all have I take in and I don;t take it personal ... I will see what I can do to lessen my Want List.
bsgardens... the "forums' you speak of are not really forums, they're threads in a forum called "seed trading". Some people like to find trade partners that way, some don't. I believe those threads exist primarily because the tradelist is so disfunctional.
Next, I am basically a newbie, and from the day I became a member, I began to use the tradelist as (I feel) it was meant to be used, for finding trade partners who have what you want and you have what they want. I believe that's why it's called a "tradelist". In a perfect tradelist system, people would not only list specifically what they have (to trade) and what they want, but the engine behind the system would automatically match you up with your trade partners. This of course would only work if people followed the rules (which need to be better defined, and then enforced). That engine unfortunately doesn't exist (yet). I did have a brief discussion with dave about this and he said it was in his plans to do this. But that was before the sale to IB. Hopefully, IB will pick up where Dave was hoping to go with this.
You are correct .. :D
I hope thingsdo improve and get a bit easier to use ... Especially in the plant files where it says add tihis plant to your journal.. It'd be nice if that was easier to use.
Now I understand why some people just don't like the trade tracker. Getting a bunch of d-mails can get tiresome for some ... I know that's a whole other bal of wax and there is a huge controversy over it ...
I am new to Dave's, and want to thank you all for educating me on this point! I have a new yard with lots of new plants and have just finished going through my list disabling all the plants that may or may not have made it through the winter!
I use the Tradetracker because if I don't I might just forget the trade. It helps keep ya organized. You can see the ones sent, received..etc.
I use it too-- you can choose whether or not to send the d-mail(s) that part is totally optional.
I agree ... I have been looking into the trade tracker lately ... I know there are some who don't like it do to all the d-mails they get. I personally don't mind them ... I haven't used it too much, because I don't know how to fully set it up and etc ... I would love to have someone actually walk me through it ... I do A LOT of trades and sometimes It does get over whelming especially if its a BIG trade...
Any how ...
ok I know we have gotten off subject of the trade lists ...
I have been going through my "WANT" list and down sizing .. I hadn't realized how hug it was! Almost 2000!!!
I guess disabling items is probably the best thing to do until I am ready to do some in trades.
I have a question. I tried to make a thing for a particular plant that I have a huge amount of and put in the comments the specifics of what I'm looking for and what I'm not looking for ... but now I can't find where it is .... I looked at where it should be mainly and its not there. Any suggestions?
At the bottom of a page in plant files there is, along with Add this to your have/want list an entry for adding it to your journal.
X
I have tried the journal in the past and have had issues with it ... but I will attempt it again...
Also... There are no pictures so, if I wanted to add them to a "wish list" there is no pictures nor a link to the plant file. I have some in catergories and can't view any of them. I have no clue what I am doing wrong. I don't want to "steal" peoples pictures or anything like that ... But would like to have it similar to the trade list to where I can see & remember why I wanted the plant in the first place. Am I missing something or am I doing something wrong in the journals?
This message was edited Feb 24, 2010 1:45 PM
I want to Thank everyone who is there to help us newbies. I also never knew about the disable option. I went through my haves and no have just what is available for trading showing.I was one who had alot of no trades till 2010.I haven't looked at the Journaling page yet. One of these days. Karen W in KS
I'm probably one of the people who've annoyed all of you, then. I had no idea.
How do you handle seasonal trades? There's a foot of snow in Ohio now, I can't really trade any plants, but I do have them to trade, weather permitting. Are we reasonably expected to do a big seasonal switch?
I think most people are not trading plants at the moment. Even here in the South, we've been buried in snow and have more expected today. If you have numerous plants, you may wish to disable them til winter is over and then enable them come spring. That's what I've done on my trade list. That way, traders can just scan down my list to see what seeds I have.
The thing is, if trading becomes too time-consuming with little reward, people will just go to a catalog and order what they want. Your trade list is like an ad; you want it to draw people in, not drive them away. The easier you make it for fellow traders, the more trades you're likely to have.
Even here in Florida, I have had a very few plant trades. These have only been with people here in Florida & in Texas. Its mainly been seed & bulb trades.
It seems the people who are trading plants have greenhouses or have brought there plants in and ship on priority mail to make sure the plant isn't sitting too long in a shipping warehouse for too long. Even then its pretty risky.
I agree butterflychaser. I have been working on my want list and down sizing everything. Also with my have list I'm waiting to see what will make it since the 2 week freeze here. I do have so much on my have list ... but its all disabled right now. lol ok most of it is.
I think I just have different frustrations with trade lists. I don't care at all if I see a plant/seed there that isn't ready to trade, or that the member is temporarily out of trades. On the other hand, I'm sitting here thinking if I'll feel obligated to spend hours switching plants back and forth from journal to trade lists, and making sure that I edit my list when my cat knocks over a plant so that cuttings aren't available for awhile. Please, I beg you, I'm not being argumentative, I just have a different perspective. I'm okay with finding someone who may be able to trade in the future (I'm rooting six trades right now), or negotiate something similar, or smile and walk away from no deal at all.
You don't have to switch plants back and forth from your journal to your trade list. On your trade list, just disable what isn't available. You'll still see it, but the rest of us won't until you enable it again.
View my trade list. You shouldn't see any plants because I've disabled them all, unless I missed one. But they're still on my trade list and I can still see them, edit them, enable and disable them.
I honestly had never even noticed the disable option--OK, any of the options-- on the tradelist page:lol: Good to know=)
I've also noticed that you can do an "edit" and change your have to a want or a want to a have. Found this out today... :D
I have the problem of looking at other peoples want lists and seeing things I want and adding them to my want list also ... lol ... and forgetting to disable them until I'm ready to do some trading :D
I guess I just have a different perspective, and obviously one that may have annoyed people in the past, unbeknownst to me. I've run into people who had a plant I wanted, but that wasn't ready or available, I just moved on, I guess it just doesn't bother me that much. Having to edit the list every time one of my episcias gets repotted and rehabbed because I might not have a stolon right when someone wants it just seems an odd expectation.
I do get the idea of a trade list being for trading, and that they're fairly accurate, that's reasonable. I also understand listing things that will be available soon, or are available seasonally. Like I said...if I hadn't had a couple of plants listed now, when it's too cold to trade, they wouldn't have shown up and the persons with whom I'm trading in April/May wouldn't have had any source other than online vendors. If I want instant availability, I go with a catalog or online vendor, I don't necessarily expect it of the traders here.
I don't get annoyed by any of it ... lol ... I do see all the different perspectives. :D
I usually only change things when I've traded it or recieved it ... as of late I have been trying to disable some of things on my want list ... I know 45 + pages is a bunch to look at. :D
I definitly understand where you are coming from Celene. I also have had to disable things that are on my HAve list because I am an Online vendor at the same time. I try to keep those seperate. :D
The wheel that squeaks the most should be the first to get the grease. If we could eliminate the way some members use the tradelist for "personal inventory" all these other situations would be less significant and thus less frustrating. We all have understandable good reasons to be less then current or accurate on our lists. To those people who do use the tradelist for personal inventory, please disable them or find another way to manage your items.
straight and to the point :D well said :D
I'm reading ...I'm reading..All good perspectives. Celene..Didn't quite understand "switching plants back and forth from journal to trade lists" ?? If it's in your journal as inventory it stays there. If it's in on your trade list then it stays there. But if it's not available. disable it. Just curious..I probably missed something. I just ask questions...lol
This message was edited Feb 13, 2010 1:26 PM
Sorry Kim, it'd help if I'd be clear, eh? If you've already set your list up with some plants not available for trade, you can disable them. But hard to switch them to the journal, which apparently is ultimately what I should do. I'm not sure why I'd use the journal, then.
I guess a person would use the journal for inventory and about their progress on a plant, it's location, what it requires..etc. And the Trade list would be for items one has for trade.
Okay. I mean, I understand that they're trade lists, having plants on them that you can trade makes sense. I am apparently less annoyed by the idea that someone may have a plant that I want listed, but not available, for whatever reason. As I said before, if all the plants I disabled a few days ago hadn't been visible in January, the people for whom I'm rooting episcias, alsobia, and nematanthus would still be looking. KWIM? While I can't ship them now, they'll be well-rooted when I can. Potentially, this would've cut off one or two of the traders who wanted me to root stuff for them, since if I activated these in May, by the time they'd have been rooted, it would be too hot in the recipient's area.
I understand not using trade lists for inventory, but I also see a middle ground. Last summer, I saved seeds for a lot of stuff I grow for people at their request, which they'd have been unable to search via tradelists if it wouldn't have been listed. None of these were super-special plants, but the people who got seed seemed happy about it. *shrugs*
Celene, those of us who are looking to trade RIGHT NOW get frustrated by pages and pages of seeds/plants and so many of them are unavailable. I mean, you run down their "trade list", and almost nothing is available right now. I personally don't scan trade lists unless someone has requested to trade with me or has responded to my post to trade. They say, "Look at my trade list." But when I do, it's just a waste of my time because everything is "out".
It doesn't bother me if it's just a few items, but if half of the trade list is "out", it would make things simpler if the trader emailed me a current trade list. But in my experience, even these traders don't want to deal with their trade lists and often won't bother to send me a current list. So no trading gets done that way.
My philosophy is, if I show you mine, you should show me yours; please don't make me work for it.
They just need to make an Inventory ... to the plant files at the bottom where you can click on the add to the have or want list ...
IT should be ,,,
Have
Want
My Inventory ..... that only the member can see :D
:D One more link and where one can edit it through the "edit button" on the trade list... oh how easy that would make things :D lol I guess I can only dream ... lol :D
I can certainly understand that. I've also found sources (if not immediate) of a plant I couldn't find elsewhere. I think there is reasonable middle ground, without having the majority of your trade list unavailable for trading, which I agree defeats the purpose. My guess from reading the majority of the posts here, is that no one would have a real problem with that, yes?
I'd love to have a solution for pages and pages of wants/haves for collector plants. I could drool over pages of episcia wants/haves, but I know not everyone else will; clicking through page after page of irises, hostas, tomatoes, etc. to find something else is at times unwieldy. No offense to anyone, wish I could grow 200+ varieties of anything. LOL
LOL ... me too ... I want to try everything! :D Best way to gain acurate knowledge is to grow it and see what each and every thing does :D lol ... Even 200+ species of a hosta ... they all have their own characteristics and grow differently even if most are similar ... yet so different...
Spoken like a true enabler! I'm workin' on it with the episcias. And the AV people forced me to grow some variegated trailers, which actually like me and grow well. And sinningias, too...lol
I am soo enabler .. I admit it ... I'm a plant a holic ... lol
Don't you hate that ... you start growing something you know you may not be thrilled about and then the plants/ seeds like you ... lol ...
Oh yes. Kniola Black Morning Glory. Calamint. Gooseneck loosestrife, they all love me way, way more than I love them. They're codependent that way.
LOL ... For me its butterfly ginger, four o clocks--- grrr, white czar violets, brazilan musa & klondike cosmos ... there have been several others.
I am one of the guilty ones "misusing" the trade function. I will hurry over there and learn to use the "disable" button. I have been using the "trade" list as a "wish" list.
I think the trade button comes in handy when researching the plants in the plant files. for example, I read about a plant, look it up in the plant files, and push the "add it to my want list" button. Later, when looking at seed catalogs or whatever, I look at my want list.
Like many others, I probably don't maintain my list as well as I should. For example, I have received some seeds in trades that I haven't disabled from my list, yet. I don't want to delete them, yet, because the seeds may not germinate.
I try to be patient and considerate with others and hope they are the same to me. Gardening is a hobby for most of us, we also have busy lives. Please add me to your "don't bother to look" list.
I have been following this thread but not commenting so far. I like the tradelists but I see room for improvement with the format. Perhaps we could come up with some recommendations for making the format more user friendly and send it to the admins. Some of the things I would like to see are:
•More status options than enabled or disabled. I think there should be options such as "Available Now", "Available in future", "Available on request" (i.e. I will start cuttings for you to send when they are rooted.)
•The actions for each plant (disable/enable, type of material, etc.) presented as check boxes (only when viewing your own lists). When doing large list edits, multiple boxes could be checked and then saved with a button at the top and/or bottom. Clicking and confirming changes for each individual plant gets annoying. Perhaps an option to move to a non-trading inventory list that does not require all of the extra info input of the journal.
•The ability to filter or sort tradelists (both your personal version and someone else's public version) by type of material, status, data added/updated, etc.
•A text section at the beginning where we can describe generic or non-plant gardening things we would like to trade. We could also describe our seed philosophy briefly (I really don't care if there's a bit of chaff in my seeds so if that's important to you, please don't trade with me.)
I like how Dave set up the tradelists to be linked to the plantfiles so that if you are looking at a certain plant you can see who has or wants it. With written out wishlists, you lose that link to the plantfiles. I think an ability to sort or filter the tradelists would reduce a lot of frustration that various users have expressed.
And that's my 4¢
Katlian, I created my own text section where I list other items I'll trade for as well as explain how I trade, what I expect, etc. See my trade list and you can see what I've done. I entered the text as a plant, more or less.
One thing I would like to see added to trade list is a "last updated" box. So that when you are looking at someones trade list you know whether it's up to date or not. I have looked at many lists here and notice that someone may be a member through whatever date but you don't know if they are an active member or not. I have sent demails to some of these people inquiring on trades with no response. There is no way to tell if someone is an active member or if they only check in every 4 months or so.