Thanks, guys.  I may be too aggressive at times, just wanting to make sure innocent folks don't get hurt. I do make mistakes!  Heck, I apologized to Dave for missing some important details about one of his figs.  But, whether they like it or not, folks like ebatihk and Alex are not people that members here should be wasting their time or money with.

I saw cuttings that ebatihk sold as Panache recently which are solid green.  Go figure.  He also sells Jolly Tiger and I suggest Alex turn to him as a supplier.  They deserve one another! :)

Keep your suggestions to yourself, old fella! I did not ask for any!

Harvey

If occasionally some friendly's have to take some fire in the battle to expose unscrupulous fig sellers it's a small price to pay for the good of the whole fig community  I'm sure you saved allot of people on this site from buying fraudulent cuttings by exposing those rotten varmints that our ripping people off on ebay everyday with there misrepresented  cuttings , keep up the good work Harvey :-)

Thanks, Dave.

ebatihk doesn't seem to have the same appreciation for my work and has been contacting me making up more lies.  It seems that he's been crying to his mommy and I asked him to give me his mom's phone number so I could help give her some advice in dealing with him.

If the sh**t is in the process of drying up, let it dry-up hopefully, so the stink subsides.
That is my opinion.

FYI ebatihk changed his ID to figgpassion yesterday, still scamming....
http://www.ebay.com/usr/figgpassion

You guys are like detectives omg. Nice work.

Since all this scamming started....I've practically stopped buying from folks I do not know.  

Name change.... Folks like this make it really difficult to sell on eBay. Great awareness Harvey.

ArgHHH  I BOUGHT MALTESE BEAUTY FROM THIS SELLER TOO.  I hope next time resources are here to check the credibility of the seller.  Should have tried that check here first but was so wanting a new variety such as this one. 

Good rule of thumb...If you don't know the seller, just ask the forum before you bid.

I'll go one further.  Don't buy unless the seller is on FFFF or is vouched for by a long time FFFF member.  I have no interest in waiting a year to find out if I've been scammed.  It's clear that the fig market is ripe for scamming, so the only choice is 3rd party verification.  And at the moment, this forum's it.

Man, It would stink to spend years nurturing a plant only to find out your baby was switched at birth!

I had been looking for a Hardy Chicago and bought from Hirts:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PD7REO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I also bought a Smith from Almost Eden.  I have had many communications and feel very reassured, but it will still be good to get the scoop from the "F4F Mafia".  Sounds like a rap group.
https://almostedenplants.com/shopping/products/c126-Figs-Figs-Figs/


Has anyone had dealings with either?

HarveyC and friends,

Can anyone provide feedback regarding buying plants from Hirts on Amazon?  I am purchasing 5 plants from GreenFig and if there is a question regarding the Hardy Chicago I bought from Hirts, I will buy another from GreenFig.  If Hirts gets a thumbs up, I will buy other varieties.

The plant has fig shaped leaves and is growing like a weed.  I hope it is not a weed ;-)

Thank you,
Andrew

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/554/

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/2433/

Almost Eden is rated very high, top five in tropicals, it doesn't get better than that.

I've bought plants from Hirts on on several occasions and never had any problem with what they've sent me. Their plants might be smaller than you might want them to be but their prices are also on the more affordable side if you're not in a hurry. Just make sure you protect your plants from voles etc.. Due to their small sizes, they will not be able to handle abuse.

Has anyone bought from this eBay user before: valarie1582

Mwawrzyniec that is me. :)

Yes Brian, you are, but can a senior member vouch for you?

Just joking... :p

I felt bad I had an accident with one of you valley blacks. I moved them into a grow tent, but did not hook up the four ft T5 6 bulb fluorescent light right and it fell 4 ft and crushed one of them... I tried to salvage it by cutting it into 3 pieces to see if I could get one to root... Well all 3 cuttings rooted and the crushed plant grew back from the soil line. So now I have 6. :)

Matthew, I purchased two trees, an excel and an atreano, from valarie1582 back in August. Both trees arrived in good shape and healthy. I also purchased some cuttings last winter, smooth transactions in both cases. As in all cases, until the tree bears fruit, we all take a leap of faith in the accuracy of the variety, that being said I would feel confident.

Thanks Dave. I have background records of all of my trees which are available on request. I feel very confident that everything purchased is accurate and labeled correctly.

Thank you to SaS and all who replied.  For the record, Hirt's was on the small side, but a plant for 4.99 was a good deal in my amateur opinion.  Providing it was in fact the species they were advertising.  For the record.  The plant arrived DEC 4th and just over 3 weeks later it is no longer small.  The growth was remarkable:

Here is a pic from Dec 7th:

     


Here it is Today (Dec28th):

 

I read this post a bit too late. I recently purchased a few cuttings of De La Reina from a seller called 13figger. I asked him about his sources and received the below response.

Quote"

I get my varieties locally, I live in Allentown Pennsylvania which is 10 minutes from Bethlehem Pennsylvania where treesofjoy (Bassem Samaan) lives so I deal a lot with people he sells with locally and him also. He is married to my mothers sister. Any other questions please let me know. Thank you

On 12/23/15, 3:49 PM, mohan wrote:

mohan has sent a question about item #321953986758, that ended on Dec-20-15 18:10:25 PST - De La Reina MP Fig Cuttings

Hello 13 figger, I recently purchased some cuttings of De la Reina MP. Can you please tell me the source of your cuttings and where you go them from? Appreciate any information you can provide.

Thanks,
Mohan.

Unquoute.

Now that's a bummer.....