Buying Plants Online Saves Time and Money

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Written by Garden Vince | 03 July 2011

Frequently Asked Questions about Buying Plants Online

The world is going to the internet for their consumer needs.  In a time of high fuel costs, high priced automobiles, and ‘middlemen’ raising the prices, buying plants online saves time, fuel and money.  There are many questions that arise when people first hear the notion ‘Buy Plants Online’. Frequently asked questions are about postage, packaging, secure online payments, and plant preparation. Others inquire of the benefits of buying online compared to buying locally and the market advantage of purchasing plants online.

Questions about Online Nurseries’ Postage and Packaging

How much is postage for plants bought online?
For most internet websites, the easiest way to get a postage quote is to add your items to your cart, and often there is a postage calculator associated with ‘the cart’ or a following step to ‘view order’. Many online nurseries will have the shipping cost within the product description.

When will my parcel arrive? 
This will depend on the online plant nursery and most will give an estimated arrival date with the order confirmation. A business’s shipping schedule may determine arrival date. At National Tropical Plants, orders are only sent on Mondays to give good time for the plant to arrive before the weekend.  So if you order on a Thursday, your plant will be sent the following Monday. Plants are carefully prepared to live about 2 weeks in the package; this gives an added boost if delayed through the Post.

Buying Plants Online, how are the plants packaged for shipping?
Plants are often prepared in organic solutions and sent ‘bare root’ to ensure the plants are not root bound or damaged. This also helps the plant take on its new soil more eagerly. For an example, at National Tropical Plants soilless plants are soaked in a seaweed solution to strengthen the plant for delivery. The bare roots are then wrapped in a moist media and secured in sturdy cardboard boxes.  Most online nurseries care for their plants, and your business, so plant packaging will vary but the essentials should be met to ensure your plant is alive on delivery.

What payment methods are accepted at Online Nurseries? Is buying online a secure transaction?

Most online nurseries accept the same payment methods as local plant nurseries or even more options including: check (by entering bank and routing number), money order, credit cards, and even gift vouchers.
When paying for plants online most online plant nurseries use a ‘secure checkout’. National Tropical Plants uses the latest technology for ‘online payments’ to ensure that your personal information is protected. This is usually achieved through software that codes your personal data and hides the information during the transaction.

How should I prepare for my new Plant?
Before making a choice, consider the amenities that you can offer the new plant so it can be successfully grown. Knowing a plant’s particular species and characteristics will help ensure you provide the right amount of light, water, soil and nutrients.  If planting in a garden, consider the amount of space you have and the amount of room the plant will need at full growth. If a tree is desired, make sure to investigate how tall it will grow and check overhead of the planting area for future obstructions like power lines.
Many people purchase baby plants online and nurture them in a home plant nursery before planting in the garden. Seedlings, or baby plants, need a good place to grow and if you are starting a home nursery, most plants like a warm area with proper sun exposure. Nurture these little plants with close attention to the particular specie’s care instructions and the results should be full grown adult plants.

Here is the Advantage to Buying Plants Online

Buying Plants online is becoming extremely popular as a means of convenience and saving money. As a consumer, we don’t always have the time to frequent businesses during operating hours or we go online to ‘pre-shop’ before actually driving to the store. When you get online to access your favourite shops, you open a worldwide market. Although you can’t always buy plants from other countries, states, provinces, or areas due to quarantines and restrictions, the internet provides a vast base of plant research and then discovery of the nurseries that are carrying the products and plants you need.
Finding exactly what you need online is easy but the local stores don’t always carry the products you desire. Ordering online will save gasoline rather than driving extra kilometres to find these plants. Ordering online will often put you direct to the actual nurseries growing these plants and not a ‘middle man’ which adds cost to the sale for an extra profit. At National Tropical Plants, all plants are grown and propagated by the company within Australia, and this allows for some of the lowest costs and ‘freshest’ plants. 

Considering the convenience and money saving benefits to buying plants online, this is more than a trend but an advancement of the marketplace.