Scam? Or ignorance??

[LittleDingus]

My guess would be ignorance:

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$800 for a sapling that has a few purple leaves? I'd guess I could get at least $1k for the same age tree with gold leaves then

These are mine:



I know for a fact mine were discolored due to too much light. I'm sure theirs are purple for the same reason!

 

[AppleBonsai]

Nearly every other cork oak I've had pushed purple leaves... If he waits a few weeks they will be green... Maybe seller ignorance??

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

The seller has searched extensively. So ignorance can be ruled out.
Cold can do this to many plants. Poor soil conditions can too. P+K overdose or antibiotics can have similar effects.

Spring growth on my plants has all kinds of colors.

Could very well be a mutation, but if it's not a proven hardcoded one.. Then I don't think it's worth that kind of money.
The older foliage being green tells that it's not a mutation that's set for life. So in essence, that's 800 for a possibly-temporarily-purple branch.

 

[Cadillactaste]

His listing clearly shows its new growth...the lower sections are green.

 

[Nybonsai12]

 

[LittleDingus]

I know, right??

My pictures are from just over a year ago on same age trees as his. Mine happened to burn golden from being too close to my lights. I'm sure @Wires_Guy_wires has it in that the "mutated" individuals are just responding to cold in their individual fashion. Seen it many times The old growth is still pretty dark...but not $800 dark!

I don't think he's trying to scam...my guess is just ignorance. Still, I won't be buying anything from him!

I only looked at his listing because I was looking at what young cork oak might be worth. I grew a batch from seed and I have about a dozen more than I need...talk about good problems to have

 

[MrWunderful]

Pricing a sapling for 800$ isnt ignorance, its a scam.

Maybe pricing it for 25$ instead of 15$ would be ignorance.

 

[LittleDingus]

Pricing a sapling for 800$ isnt ignorance, its a scam.

Maybe pricing it for 25$ instead of 15$ would be ignorance.

Perhaps I should clarify then...

Does he KNOW there's nothing special about that tree and is trying to defraud a buyer? Or is he just so inexperienced growing things that he doesn't understand that's a normal growth pattern and truly thinks he has something special?

People who believe they have something special sometimes overvalue what they think they have...that's a different sort of negligence to me and not necessarily an intentional scam.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Perhaps I should clarify then...

Does he KNOW there's nothing special about that tree and is trying to defraud a buyer? Or is he just so inexperienced growing things that he doesn't understand that's a normal growth pattern and truly thinks he has something special?

People who believe they have something special sometimes overvalue what they think they have...that's a different sort of negligence to me and not necessarily an intentional scam.

Judge Judy would say you can't presume what another is thinking. So...

 

[Cadillactaste]

Falls under...a fool and their money soon parted.

 

[Forsoothe!]

There are plenty of listings for many different kinds of things on Ebay and Esty for every price in the world. I assume that they are fishing for someone who is stupid drunk or just drunk or just stupid to click before they think about the likelihood that the item is not really special, just the price. I've seen CDs for $800, model train paraphernalia, trees, etc., etc. I carefully move away.

 

[MrWunderful]

Perhaps I should clarify then...

Does he KNOW there's nothing special about that tree and is trying to defraud a buyer? Or is he just so inexperienced growing things that he doesn't understand that's a normal growth pattern and truly thinks he has something special?

People who believe they have something special sometimes overvalue what they think they have...that's a different sort of negligence to me and not necessarily an intentional scam.

Dude (or female) has an etsy store called “california conifers”. How naive could they be?

I don’t know about you, but I would much rather donate it to a college or try and propagate it to have a variety named after me. It may be real. But pricing it at 800$ is a scam.

But if he can get someone to pay that, then hey- yay capitalism.

 

[penumbra]

I think these types of listings are obscene.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Dude (or female) has an etsy store called “california conifers”. How naive could they be?

I don’t know about you, but I would much rather donate it to a college or try and propagate it to have a variety named after me. It may be real. But pricing it at 800$ is a scam.

But if he can get someone to pay that, then hey- yay capitalism.

If it were real you'd want to partner with a propagator muy pronto to make sure it lived. You need to get it in two different places so if a mouse eats it one winter you still have it at the other location. If you think that's far-fetched, how many trees do we lose without trying? Variants are always less vigorous and less hardy than the type and the further they are from green, the worse it is.

 

[AppleBonsai]

I will be making an offer!

 

[Wulfskaar]

As a kid, I used food coloring in a glass of water and put celery in it. Could this be something like that? Which brings up the question... does that work in trees?

 

[AppleBonsai]

Perhaps I should clarify then...

Does he KNOW there's nothing special about that tree and is trying to defraud a buyer? Or is he just so inexperienced growing things that he doesn't understand that's a normal growth pattern and truly thinks he has something special?

People who believe they have something special sometimes overvalue what they think they have...that's a different sort of negligence to me and not necessarily an intentional

As a kid, I used food coloring in a glass of water and put celery in it. Could this be something like that? Which brings up the question... does that work in trees?

As a kid, I used food coloring in a glass of water and put celery in it. Could this be something like that? Which brings up the question... does that work in trees?

 

[sorce]

A dollar was worth about $800 when that picture was taken! Lol! Where'd you find that? 80'smemes.com?

Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I took a good look. It may actually be a cork oak with an unusually strong presentation of anthocyanin pigments. I would say the seedling offered is "real", in that there is an overexpression of pigment. Not just a nutrient imbalance. This sort of coloring is in the range of "uncommon but perfectly normal" for most species of plants. Is it worth $800 ? Not to me. The first purple leaf Acer platanoides, Norway maple would have been well worth $800 to a wholesale nursery. Similar the first Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood', would easily be worth $800 in the hands of a wholesale propagator, like Buchholz Nursery, or Isle Nursery. But it would only be worth that to someone who already had the "infrastructure" to propagate the cultivar in quantities. To the average hobby grower, it really isn't worth the money. The fact that old foliage keeps a dark cast, but is not "purple" says that it is "real" but not particularly worthy of propagation. Good luck if the seller can get their price.

It is quite likely that you will see this trait pop up now and then, whenever you raise a large number of seedlings, you will see variation. If you raise more than 1000 seedlings of almost any species, you will find one or two that have some unique traits. Be if foliage color, shape or size. Variation is normal, which means oddities do pop up. It all depends on what trait you are looking for and why that makes the difference as to whether the trait is valuable or not.