Steele Plant Company

We were looking forward to receiving our sweet potato slips and upon opening the box was instantly disappointed. The quality of the plants were ridiculous, especially for the price paid for 25 plants. The plants were limp with yellowing leaves. Most were tiny and didn't have a chance to survive from the start. In my opinion these shouldn't be considered a plant to begin with. If lucky seven of the plants might make it. We found healthy plants from one of the big box stores to fill the void and now consider the few Steele plants that may survive an experimental planting.. Do hope they make it!

I have not received the sweet potato plants yet. So I cannot comment on those. But I will update this review after all is said and done. But so far, I am less than pleased with ordering from this company. I live next to TN, so I figured it wouldn't take too long for an order to arrive. I placed the order early and ask them to note on the order that I requested to receive them in time to plant on May 23. But, they just now sent the order out. So it looks like I will be receiving them May 25. I might feel different about that if they had let me know. But this company does not like to respond to emails in a timely fashion. And apparently they don't know how to read notes placed on orders. Furthermore, they do not send you the tracking number. I don't care much for this company so far. They don't do business half as well as all the competitors. So I am likely to order from somewhere else from now on. And considering the bad reviews already posted here, I expect to be changing this to a negative when a handful of terrible plants arrive. Crossing my fingers on that one. And since I am pretty much fed up with bad business altogether, if this one goes sour, I will be posting bad reviews all over the Internet. It's high time we all fight for the service we all deserve. It's our money being spent!

I have very mixed feelings about the Steele Plant Company. They do a lot right. They have an amazing stock of sweet potatoes. I am sincerely impressed by how quickly they reply to emails, and how fast they send out orders. However, in my case there just wasn't enough attention to detail. The first time my order shipped, they wrote my wrong on the package, so it was returned to them. They assumed I'd given them the wrong address, and told me I'd have to reorder, but they agreed when I offered to pay half price. I asked them for a photo of the returned package and discovered they'd written the address wrong, but they didn't offer to refund the extra charge. They re-shipped the package, and I got it a week later. The slips looked dead and smelled terrible. They weren't wrapped very well considering the distance they had to travel, with a very small amount of moss to hold moisture. Still, they must have sent 25 when I ordered 12, and after a week of nursing them back to health I'll probably have 10. If I lived near Tennessee I would definitely order from them again. Farther away, I'd ask them to pack the order a little better, and keep my fingers crossed.

Posted on January 2, 2009, updated June 1, 2012 I ordered onion and sweet potato plants from this company. The onions arrived with prefect timing for planting. Very nice plants that grew beautifully. The sweet potato plants were a different story. They were tiny dead plants. I tried to nurse them back but no luck. I called the company and told them I might be able to still save 4 plants (they did end up dying) but the company sent me an entire new order that I received in 2 days. The new order was big plants that grew beautifully. My only thought is why I didn't receive the big plants in the first order. I will order again from them this year.

Posted on July 30, 2010, updated January 21, 2012 I ordered some sweet potato plants last winter from Steele and they finally shipped on the 23rd of May ( a bit late for Minnesota). I notified them that the order was short and a bit late and that the plants did not look good but I planted them anyway. Did not receive the rest of the plants for another week. The balance of the Georgia Jets also looked bad but the other varieties looked fine. Their literature said the plants would do well even if they looked bad when received but all but about 6 of the 50 ordered survived. I had noticed on their web page before I received my order that they were not accepting orders for any more Georgia Jets because they did not have enough. I assume that is why they shipped plants they would probably not have normally shipped. I have sent them one notice that the plants were very sickly looking and another email early July telling them the mortality on the Georgia Jets I planted and they have not responded. Their Web page states that they will not accept responsibility for plant that do not produce because they can't control how they are treated after they are received. Since the other varieties I received did fine I believe they are fully aware that the problem is in the quality of the plants they shipped but refuse to acknowledge it or to compensate me. All of you readers know that there is a lot more involved in bad starting plants than just the cost of the plant but the vendor should at least make good on that part of it, especially when they know full well that the plants they shipped were not good quality. If you buy from them you may get good plants; some of mine were good, but if they are not - it is obvious that they really don't care!

Recently placed an order for two varieties of sweet potatoes. Received my order in a timely manner and did receive a generous number of slips. I've ordered slips from numerous sources over the years and I can say without hesitation that these slips are the best.

I sent an email asking about ordering slips and if snail-mail or phone were the only options. I received a 1 line email in response that said, "We are out out for the season." Good or bad, first it didn't answer my question and second customer relations must be last on their list in my opinion. I'll find a friendly company that is interested in the home gardener.

Onion plants received just as website stated and, in good shape. First order with them and if the sweet potato slips arrive in time in good shape, well, we have a winner!

The order took longer to ship than I was originally quoted, and the communication from the company was non-existent, but the plants arrived in excellent condition and I was pleased to have ordered from them.

Excellent plants and they ship early enough for planting in Middle Georgia. They respond quickly and courteously to inquiries. They also have a good selection of the better modern cultivars.

Super great transplants and service. I've grown sweet potatoes for three years and I am amazed at the harvests, even in Maine. People are surprised when I tell them how easy they are to grow. Try them!

I would prefer to order online, but their site only allows an order sheet to be printed and then faxed. I had ordered late from them as I was having problems getting the sweet potato plants from another company. Their customer service was friendly and it was apparent that they were part of the parent company and very knowledgeable. They shipped when they told me and there were more than 30 very healty plants for an order of 25. I will be using them again in the future.

I called them in a bind as my usual local suppliers were coming up very short on slips. The lady I spoke with told me my plants wouldn't be shipped for about a week and a half after I ordered causing them to arrive while I was on vacation. When I explained this to her she pondered a moment; then she squeezed me in on an earlier shipment. The slips arrived better than promptly, though I did pay a dash extra for expedient shipping. The slips were healthy and the shipment was generous. Now the yields are up to me. I will trade with them again despite their prices being somewhat higher than the local farm store as they seem much more dependable and have much more variety.

I called Steele appx 2 weeks ago to order slips for Sweet potatoes. They were very helpful helpful with specific information about the varieties I was ordering. Never grown them before so I needed guidance. The slips arrived Monday in great condition with a booklet on how to plant and care for them and a flyer of recipes. Can't ask for better service!

I ordered sweet potato plants in 2001 & 2002. When I called the company in 2001 to make my first contact, I found the staff friendly, knowledgeable and informative. Being somewhat casual about my gardening and a novice at sweet potatoes, I was very pleased with the yields I received. In 2002, I also ordered onion plants (Texas 1015) and was delighted with the quality of the plants both upon receipt and at harvest time! I expect to order from the Steele Plant company again in 2003.

Not too expensive. They only ship in-season. Personal service meaning someone from the farm called me. They do not appear to be using an answering service or boiler-room order processing service. Good sweet potato plants, extra slips, labels, and thorough planting instructions. Even a little cookbook!