Would you accept this?

[ChipButtiesRule]

I bought a choisya from an reputable online seller. I wanted a semi-mature shrub so spent £60 on a 10 litre sized plant.

It's arrived today and I'm really disappointed. As I took it (carefully!) out the box it was coming away from the soil, like the plant was loose. I tugged very gently and the whole plant came out of the pot and has such a small root ball. It can't have taken up more than 20% of the total size of the pot.

It really looks like a 2 litre ish root ball that has just been repotted into a much-too-big pot to be sent out and sold for a higher price.

Just want to check I'm not being unrealistic in my expectation?

I would certainly complain, it's good that you have photos. I would expect the roots to be circling the pot at the sort of price.

Thanks @TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

It came from a seller often recommended on here, with a good reputation so I started to wonder if I wasn't being a bit naive expecting a more mature plant.

The plant itself is more or less the size described (30cm-40cm) but the root seems so juvenile that I cannot believe it genuinely should be a 10 litre plant. The seller prices and categorises by plant pot size.

I wouldn't be happy with that. Plants are usually potted in a pot that is only an inch bigger than the root ball, otherwise they get waterlogged and rot. Plants I've bought from garden centres always have pots with roots that fill the pot. I've never bought shrubs online, but I would say they’ve either made a mistake, or pulled a fast one.

This is why I have given up buying from online retailers, I have had this issue with Crocus, Thompson and Morgan and Sarah Raven!

I think if thr plant is exactly the size ordered, I’d 30-40 then I’m unsure if the issue, you decided to buy a 30-40 plant and got that.

Thanks all. Yes, the overall size is in line with the description but my worry is that every gardening program, magazine etc always says to check the rootball pretty much fills the pot you buy it in and this falls so short of that, I am worried the plant itself is not a particularly strong or healthy one.

Why price according to pot size if the plant is going to come in a pot way bigger than the rootball clearly needs or can fill? It would fill a 2 lire pot (price for that pot size of the same plant is £18).

I end up feeling like I'm paying about £40 of the cost for the 8 litres of soil they sent with the plant.

No that’s not good. £60 is expensive. Complain.

Op. You happily paid for a plant this size, you got what you paid for. If it filled ghe pot it would have been at least 3 times the size,

Actually I don’t think she got the size she paid for. She paid for a plant with roots that should fill a 10l pot.

Yes complain.

That is shocking.

No, the rootball would have filled the pot and the growth would have been pruned back ready for the plant to be planted and to grow. This one will need at least the season to grow enough roots to survive let alone get any bigger.

Well no not really. I understand your point, but generally age of plant and size is key. And it meets the size criteria.

op can you post a link to what you bought?

I don’t think i would be happy with that, to be honest I would expect a plant that size to have bigger roots regardless. I think I would ask for a refund on the basis of poor root system rather than size of pot, because it looks like possibly the plant is the right size, but a poor specimen.

Ridiculous price for that size of choisya

For £60 the rootball needs to be much bigger than what looks like little more than a cutting.

I bought this: https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/choisya-ternata-sundance-lich/classid.824/

I agree, for a ten litre pot generally they are twice that size, says on the description when you buy and about 40 quid. Hence why I’m asking for the link to what she bought.

After last year's rip off, I'm no longer buying anything other than plugs and seeds online. When I tried to complain, they weren't the least bit interested. I think you should try though.

Op was it this?

https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/choisya-ternata/classid.825/sku.PL00001470/

if so you got what you paid for, but I’d no way have bought that.

Sorry cross posted. You got what you paid for, but what a rip off.

It looks like a 2l one put into a 10 l pot.

Yeah. Whether they uphold the complaint or not it's going back. I'll just have to suck up the postage costs/loss if they don't agree with the complaint.

If anyone else knows where I can get a decent Choisya Sundance for £60 or less, I'd welcome recommendations. Otherwise, it'll be a trip to the garden centre this weekend to see if I can find one.

I honestly think it's a 2l in a 10l pot. The fact that the 2l is available immediately and 10 not available until late spring - and yet mine arrived a few days after ordering - makes me suspicious.

I knew immediately that it would be Crocus. I have a post from last spring asking similar questions about a load of perennials I’d bought. I took loads of photos, complained, and got pretty much all of my money back. I won’t buy from them again. It’s a shame, as they have varieties that I don’t see at my local garden centre or nursery, better heights, colours etc, but I won’t buy from them again.

Fair play to them - they answered almost immediately with a full refund, inc postage.

So no harm and it's quite a common plant so hopefully I can find a better replacement for the money.

Just google plenty available.