A lot of people are buying aroids these days. For whatever reason, they have become some of the most popular plants that are currently being collected by new (and some not so new) gardeners and plant enthusiasts. But some of these plants, like the much sought after albo- variegated Monstera deliciosa, are hard to find here in the US through regular sources and can even be rare, like the aurea-variegated Monstera, and so as it is with all things, its a seller's market for these. (These plants are not nearly as expensive in Europe as they are here).
Most nurseries do not carry specialty items like variegated Monstera, or some of the other in-demand vining Philodendrons like P. x'White Wizard', P. 'Pink Princess', Rhaphidophora decursiva, Rhaphidophora tetrasperma and others. So people are turning more and more to venues like eBay and Etsy where the majority of sellers are not really state licensed and inspected nurseries, but backyard plant growers who see a chance to make some extra money selling plants.
What is being sold in many cases, especially for the Monstera, are not really plants per se, but small stem cuttings. It is surprising how many single-node cuttings you can get out of one stem of a vining/climbing plant. Not all of them are equally viable. And these small cuttings are commanding exorbitant prices, some in the range of $300 and up. Its truly a case of 'Buyer Beware' and 'Do your due diligence' by asking a LOT of questions before you make a purchase, and knowing how to treat the plant to make it grow and thrive once you get it.
With this in mind, a friend of mine who is admin on another site came up with this handy table that can help guide people who are new to the world of aroids on how to #1 choose the best cutting once you have committed to spend a couple hundred dollars on one and #2 what you might expect from a cutting that you receive that may be less that what you expected to receive. This advice, if you will, was formulated by folks with years in the area of first hand growing and propagating of aroids, and studying the culture of different aroid Genera and species. It seems like it should be common sense, but to someone who is not as experienced, it may help a lot with the process. He gave me his permission to share it one this forum.
Hopefully it will be helpful to someone here.
