Comments regarding Aloha Tropicals

I am very disappointed, having read all of the negative comments about this company. If I had checked this website before, I may have made a different decision...
I had ordered three plants from Aloha Tropicals, sometime last year. I received them all in the time frame given, and all three plants were well packaged and in great health. The Gardenia I had ordered bloomed two days after it's arrival here in Connecticut!!!!!
Two of the plants continue to thrive. I accidentally broke the main stem of the Gardenia I had ordered, and I will definitely reorder this variety when the weather permits. I will have faith!

I got my order right away and packed good. A little pricey for the size, but I figured that. It's worth the price, as there are no nurseries in this area that have any of the plants I ordered anyway. I'd order again from them.

I really like these guys! Yes the stock is somewhat small, but they've yet to send me any plants, and I've ordered large quantities of material from them, that was anything but viable and healthy.

I ordered a white sapote about a month ago. Well, it's relatively cheap and labeled "yellow sapote". I did communicate with them as to variety and to my pleasant surprise they told me "Suebelle". My only concern is after 4 weeks and not getting a confirmation or the order itself I had to email them. They assured me it would be sent out next week! Well, I finally got the item in about 5 weeks. Sapling is healthy enough and about a foot tall.

I recommend but be prepared to wait a bit.

I'm suprised at the negative ratings because I was very pleased with my recent order.
I ordered a Traveller's palm, Cyperus Papyrus plant and a Strobilanthes and was very happy with how healthy they looked (the Strobilanthes is gorgeous, even being so young) and they were also packaged very well with no shipping damage to the plants.

Ordered 1 heliconia rhizome. Dwarf rostata. Paid over 28 bucks with shipping included. I got a very small , very badly cut rhizome. So badly cut that it rotted in 2 weeks. I've grown heliconas for 10 years now,and this by far was the worest rhizome i have ever recived. For as much money as they charge for their plants, i would think you would get a nice fat rhizome with at least 1 root growing out of it. geessshh!

I had ordered two ginger plants from Aloha tropics. One plant was very health upon arrival and is still thriving today. However, my Siam Rose, which I paid over $30.00 for, looked ill when I received it and died within 2 weeks after arrival. I never called them about it since it has been over 2 months since I ordered it.

The plants arrived quickly and in perfect condition. It was clear that much care had been taken in packing and shipping. I will definitely order from this company again.

I am very pleased with Aloha Tropicals. My first order was for several plants. 2 rooted Plumerias, 2 Gingers, 1 Pakalana Vine, 1 Sego Palm & 1 Pikaki plant. ALL are doing very very well currently indoors. I have all plants potted in pots and they get 5- 6 hours of afternoon west sunlight in my living-room window area. I have had the plants about 5 weeks and all are flouishing. Plumerias have many new shoots, Pikaki bloomed already, Gingers have new shoots and are already 4 feet high. The Pakalana Vine has new shoots and may produce flowers in a month or so. I must say the Sego Palm is a bit iffy but I believe only due to not enough light. I am moving it outdoors to my west facing deck. I have experience with Plumerias, as I have grown 3 from cuttings that I brought from Hawaii, which bloom every 2 years, so am aware of their needs. This is my first experience with all the other plants. But so far all is well.
All plants arrived within 2 weeks as stated on website and packed in damp newspaper with roots in plastic bags to preserve moisture.
Due to my excellent experience, I will continue to recommend and purchase from Aloha Tropicals.

I ordered 5 heliconia's rhizomes from the company. The rhizomes were VERY small (I paid an average of $25 per rhizome) and two of them looked rotten (the packing was too wet) and unhealthy . After 3 weeks those two have not break to the surface. I am an experienced heliconist who lives in a tropical island so I am confident that I planted them correctly. I gave the company a second chance (two years ago I had a similar experience with them), but not any more.

I ordered Jasmine (Duke of Tuscany) on the first week of May. They sent me a confirmation of my order thru email. Then they sent me another email with the invoice but the invoice is supposedly for somebody else. However, the credit card number was indicated in the invoice. I emailed them back and copy furnished the person who really owns the invoice. I had to email them again since I have not received my order. I received my order last week of May but I was so frustrated of the plant they sent me. It is about 4 inches tall and the leaves are not healthy. I am trying to do my best to bring it back so that it may survive. My experience with them was very frustrating and I won't do business with them again.

I just received my order from them. The plants I got were very well packaged every thing was taped up and packed in newpaper and they were the size I expected. The palm tree was about 14" high and the banana plant was about 8" high. They appear health and I just repotted them. The delevery took 2 weeks which was what they said it would take. I would buy from them again.

I purchased a Siam Rose Ginger for $32 plus shipping which promptly died a few days after I received it.

Just over one year ago I spent several hundred dollars at this store. Most of my orders were placed online and all but one order were sent to me by mail (I picked up the other one in person). All plants arrived in great condition and I was satisfied at the time. However, once the plants started to bloom, I realized that several were not even plants that I ordered (even though I was told that all those I ordered were in stock and when each plant arrived they were labeled according to what I purchased).

I ordered a canna 'cupid' and was sent a canna 'ellen gallow.'
I ordered and paid for 2 costus spiralis @ $10.95 each and was sent 2 Costus Spicatus(Indianhead) which were priced @ $8.95 each.
I ordered and paid for a Costus 'Peruvian Pineapple' @ $27.95 and received a Costus Laevis priced @ $8.95.

I'm still waiting to see what heliconias will look like compared to the ones I ordered and paid for.

I was never made aware that substitutions were made and was never refunded the difference(s) in price.

I feel completely ripped off by this company. When substitutions must be made, the company should not mislabel the plants or charge $27.95 for a $8.95 plant, etc.

Very frustrating experience.

any company that does not respond to reapeated emails, telephone calls, and answering machine messages over a four month period is not worth dealing with. after having received only half of my order, which was mediocre at best, and being charged for the shipping and cost for both, i attempted to contact them in order to at the very least recieve a delivery estimate, or discuss possible refunds. however, all of my attempts (at least 5 emails, 10 calls, and 5 voice message over a 4 month period) at contacting them proved futile. even if they do recitify this situation, i would warn anyone about even thinking of doing business with such an unprofessional and negligent company. caveat emptor.

Last year I bought several tropical plants from few online nurseries and the only negative experience I had was with Aloha tropicals(in my home town)! First, They did not allow me to pick up my plants although I was less than an hour away. Then after I paid for the plants, they did not arrive for over a month. Only after my repeated inquiries via email and phone(which were never answered) finally one of my plants arrived with a receipt telling me they did not have the second one(supposed to be in stock). No adjustment was made to the shipping cost(one instead of two) and I the amount I paid for shipping was more than double the amount actually cost them for shipping(as per the shipping label). The plant was unhealthy and did not survive for long(all seven of my other plants survived, despite being shipped from Hawaii, Florida etc.). I would NOT recommend anyone buying from them.

I had searched high and low for jade vine, and Aloha Tropicals had it for sale on their website. I took a chance and went for it. My confirmation email stated delivery would occur within 2-3 weeks, and it did. The baby jade vine they sent is small but healthy and has a decent root system, too. It'll do nicely. All in all I'm very pleased with my order from this company.

I recently placed my first order with Aloha Tropicals. I ordered five plants. One was a live plant with five leaves and looked pretty healthy. One was a rhizome (actually, two rhizomes). The other three were brown sticks with minimal roots).

Of the five, only the live plant made it so far (the rhizomes MIGHT still appear I suppose, though they've been planted for more than eight weeks without breaking the surface of the soil).

One month after placing the order, I e-mailed Aloha Tropicals and described the lack of progress I was having. They responded by saying the warantee period was only 10 days and that time had already passed. I e-mailed back asking what sort of progress I should have noticed from brown sticks in 10 days and whether they truly believed 10 days was sufficient for the types of plants I ordered. I got no response.

I spent $116.91 to get a $25 plant. I won't let that happen again. I only wish I'd seen this website before to see that even those who rated their experience as positive had to contact the company to resolve problems.

Thank you for your website - now that I've found it, I'll use it to locate another source for the many tropicals I have yet to purchase!

I ordered 3 tropical vines and 3 passifloras. All 6 arrived in good shape (larger than I expected...but I didn't really know what to expect) 2-3 weeks later. One of the passifloras was the wrong one so I emailed them and a week later received the correct one. Pretty easy to deal with!

I have ordered from Aloha Tropicals twice and each experience had some disappointments. The first time I ordered 4 plants of which one was a Heliconia that cost $16.95. For that price I received a 3 inch potted rhizome that was in decline and never recovered. Two of the other plants (Strophanthus gratus and Cananga odorata) were also received in poor condition and died just a few days later. As many others have already stated, this nursery has plants that are difficult to obtain elsewhere, so I placed a second order in the spring of 2004. One of the plants ordered was a Heliconia griggsiana "Full Moon", which arrived as a large rhizome. I was excited to see such a large rhizome (even though I paid $37.95 for it), but noted that the two new growths didn't look healthy. One growth already looked totally black and the other was starting to look brown. I decided to plant the rhizome and see what happened. Nothing happened! The rhizome went into decline and I emailed Aloha Tropicals explaining the situation, that I ordered twice from them and that I have a botanical background. I can tell you from experience that I have received Heliconia rhizomes from many different sources and they have all done well. Aloha Tropicals didn't need to strip all the growth off the rhizomes (potentially for agricultural inspection purposes) to send them to me, because I only live about 30 miles away from them and in the same county. I never received a response to my email.

I do have a few plants that are still alive that I ordered from Aloha Tropicals. However, I don't feel that this company has good quality control on what they ship out. All the plants that I have received from them have either died or have had major set backs that took months for them to recover. Many other plant mail order companies I have done business with have provided me with large well-grown plants that take adjusting to a new environment well. Because Aloha Tropicals doesn't seem to have good mail order business practices and can't even respond to an email, I think they deserve a negative comment. I would never order from them again!

I ordered 6 tropical fruit trees from this company two years ago. I was only sent 5, although they billed me for all 6. They were out of stock on the 6th, and my repeated attempts at a refund went unanswered.

Also, I was told that all of the plants are self-fruitful and can be grown in containers. I have found information on one of the plants, an Ice Cream Bean tree that says no known cultivars are self fruitful...and I have doubts that such a large tree can be grown in a container for long.

Also, the trees suffered cold damage during shipping (their shipping policy stated they would wait till weather was forecast to be warm, but they did not).

On the positive side: All of the trees I received were of decent size and health. The sapote lost all of its leaves because of the cold damage, but they grew back. They all remain very healthy.

I live about 1 1/2 hours from Aloha Tropicals and decided to drive down to save on shipping. Andy runs a nice, clean operation and has several greenhouses full of tropicals. I purchased several gingers which were in great condition and transplanted well.

Upon getting home I worked my way through Aloha's catalogue which Andy had given me. I then found two more plants that I decided I wanted. I ordered them on-line and received them a short time later. The plants, both tropicals, arrived in excellent condition.

I ordered two red jade vines for thirty dollars each. What I expected were two healthy plants, well rooted. What I received were two twigs, no more than three inches long, one of which was just about dead on arrival. To their credit, they replaced the dead plant, however, it was with another twig, with a total of two sad leaves. The second plant was very poorly rooted in its pot.

For the price I paid, I would have hoped for better. I would not order anything from Aloha Tropicals again.

Order placed July 11, order arrived August 2. They were not the fastest, but absolutely not the slowest in shipping my plants. The plants were healthy, well packed, and they did not bill me until they actually shipped (a practice that makes me very happy with a nursery!)

Vancouver, July 19.2004. 19 days ago I placed a small order, confirmation and order number (#1544545_17964) was sent to me the same vary day. I waited patiently up to July 17, and then I checked my visa statement ( no charges from Aloha Tropicals), so I sent them an e-mail, asking what's going on. Presently is 5 pm. July 19 and I haven't received any answer. I tried to rich them by phone, but there is only answering machine. Of course I left a message, but again no respond. Today about noon I send three (3) e-mails to Aloha Tropicals. No respond at all. I checked again with my bank, no transacion from Aloha on my visa. Finally I sent them an e-mail with cancelation of my order ,asking for confirmation. Again no respond.
It looks like this company completely ignores some castomers, particularly those placing small orders. I could have my plant at home already, if I pick another company. 20 minutes ago I placed new order (different company) and my plant is on its way.
I strongly advice to stay as far as possible from Aloha Tropicals, to avoid disappointment. If you don't want to lose your time and energy for nothing, please go and FIND ANOTHER COMPANY .

I ordered a pepino plant, a grand nain banana, and a miracle fruit from Aloha Tropicals. I must say they did come small, but they all took OFF! The pepino is atleast 2 feet high and full of purple flowers! Very good service too!

Talk about helpful! I had written them several times prior to placing my order and they responded as if I were their only customer. Because of a small glitch in their site, I could not access the "more info" links under each plant, so I wrote and asked for guidance. The response was overnight and they gave me a great list of recommendations for my NYC terrace and indoor plants.

I placed an order for 10 plants today. If their plants are as great as their service, I will be thrilled. Will add to this when the plants arrive.

About four months ago I ordered a Triple Pikake Jasmine, A White Hibiscus, and an Awapuhi (Shampoo) Ginger from Aloha Tropicals. All of the plants I ordered arrived exactly when Andy had told me they would. My order was complicated by the fact that I had to have them delivered to my workplace and wouldn't be able to use a normal address or shipping method. My specific needs were no problem for them.
All of the plants, with the exception of the Ginger, were in excellent condition and were actually quite lush and healthy. The Ginger looked a little weak, and didn't appear to have been very healthy to begin with. But lo and behold, inside the wrapping around the rootbal were bits of extra rhizomes. The original stem didn't make it, but started new growth on it's own. The other rhizomes they packed with it produced two new plants. I was a little concerned when I saw the condition of the Ginger (but was still very pleased with the service that Andy had provided), but quickly realized that they had made sure that success was assured. I'm actually happier with the outcome, since now I get to nourish the little guys from the start.
Andy and the folks there are very personable, easy to work with, and you can tell he is proud of his work. Since I prefer tropicals (they remind me of home) to most others, I'm sure that I'll be doing just about all of my business with Aloha Tropicals.

I placed my order Sept.13.I have e mailed them tree times in regard to my order,and have yet to recieve a reply.

I bought alot of plants from them and they are so beautiful and bigger than I thought they would be, they grew alot and I'am very pleased with this Company

I've ordered 3 times via the web. Communication leaves something to be desired, but when Andy did call me he was great! I will order from them again. Ask him about his new farm in Thailand.

I have ordered from this company about three times in the past 2 years. I've always been pleased with the service and the plants

I decided I had to take time and praise the owner of Aloha Tropicals. I had just come out of a bad experience with a FL company over sending me Cavendish banana plants when we ordered Basjoos. I was apprehensive about ordering from a website but Aloha's owner, Andy, happened to be the one that answered my call and took my order. Wow, does he know how to take care of a buyer! We ordered 5 basjoos on Thursday and they were in Tennessee by Monday morning! The plants are very nice, bigger than expected, and REALLY basjoos (all the right markings). This is not a paid advertisement (LOL) but just one person's desire to give credit where it is due.

Very long time from ordering until shipment. They do have a nice selection but one of the two gingers I ordered was already dead (tiny to begin with) upon arrival. The second plant was a decent size.

I've ordered quite a lot over the past 1 1/2 years, Gingers, coffee plants and proteas and everything has gone smoothly... and I'll continue to order from them till they mess up

Ordered 4 plants first wk. Nov. 02 to be delivered in two to three wks. mid Dec. emailed no answer. end of Dec . emailed ,no answer, this went on for about four more times.First week in Feb. I called,was told plants would be in stock first of March . Mean time I found plants on Ebay , and canciled order.

A few years ago I ordered a white Canna from Aloha Tropicals...when the canna bloomed it turned out to be peach...I emailed them 3-4 times to report the mix up but no one would ever reply to my email....this canna cost 12.95 for one. I will not order from them again and do not recommed them to others.

I ordered some plants from them in the summer of 2000. I ordered over the internet and forgot to include my complete credit card number. They were extremely nice, we e-mailed back and forth several times, the plants arrived in excellent condition and have done great. Nice people, good service, reasonable prices. I would highly recommend them.

I ordered some tropical plants last spring. They arrived healthy and good sized. They were packed very well. I would recommend them highly.