Karel Knize's new website

[woof woof woof]

Someone asked for Karel's email addy not too long ago..... today I got an email from him with his new website./// thought I would share.

http://www.plantasexoticasknize.com/ his email addy's are on the page,..... if someone needs help with spanish or german.... you can ask me. My german is reasonable. My spanish is very good.

Karel has been known for interesting negociations. You might want to ask for people's experience with him. I dont know how he has been conducting his business lately

[Torsten]

Everyone I know who has ordered from him in the last 3 years did not get their products! Some people ended up getting things they didn't order [always of lower value], others didn't get anything. Communications with him are reasonable up to the point when he gets your money. Once he has your money it often takes months to get a reply. His favourite excuses are that the peruvian government is not issueing him with export licenses and that items get seized. However he does not tell his customers this until months after being pressured. The last lot of seed I got from him was over 50% completely unviable. ie half of the varieties had not a single germination. The rest varied from mediocre to good, but it was usually only the common ones that were good.

Knize still owes me several hundred dollars worth of seed and this seems to be normal for others too. And it's not like he hasn't had time or opportunity to fix the problem.

[Gunter]

i wish that rumors of his unreliability were few and far between...

sigh

[incognito]

i have ordered seed from knize 3 times in the past, and have never had a problem? sounds like i may be the exception to the rule.

a few vars may not have been the var that they where advertised as (well only one for me, seed i bought as kk919 bridgesii ended up being something completely different), and some had low germ rates, but i feel thats a small price to pay for rediculously low prices.

On the other hand ive had near 100% germ rates and grown some really beautiful, unique cacti, as well as gained some crestate and variegated vars.

customes kept back some seed as they couldnt interperet the labels. when i contacted and told them what they would be they whre better able to interperet knizes 'english', and forwarded them on.

I first contacted knize when i was an overly enthusiastic cactus grower, and emailed the poor guys head off with querys about what cacti he had, i think he just sent them to me to stop the email onslaught ;)

maybee in the future if i feel like growing more cacti i would make another order.

[Auxin]

My instincts say his site and he have been vanished for so long even if a person is willing to risk dealing with him they should wait a while and see if this new site is legitimate, or just some white collar crim trying to suck a fast $40,000 out of cactus folk.

...I first contacted knize when i was an overly enthusiastic cactus grower, and emailed the poor guys head off with querys about what cacti he had, i think he just sent them to me to stop the email onslaught ;)...

For the life of me I cant remember you being the previous teotz.

No offense, teotz

As for prices, getting the right product and in good condition for an acceptable price is far better than getting the wrong thing or absolutely nothing for cheap.

I just hope mesa garden starts getting into active trichs more.

[Evil Genius]

Knize still owes me at least 500 US Dollar and he has ignored and lied to me so often that i dont even care to go through that hassle with him again in order to get my money back. Most worldwile seed retailers stopped working with him because he is the most unreliant person in the cactus seed business. The times when he got great products are obviously over and now he´s only ripping off people. And the seed he sells is dead like wood. I tested some of the seed he sent the last time and got not one germination from about 2000 seeds! Anyone who decides to do business with him will lose his money. This way or the other. bye Eg

[Gunter]

I was passed along seed (KK339) by someone who bought it from Knize, they had 0% germination with the seed, but when i did a test sowing I had 100% germination, i am not sure it it will grow into what it was labeled as, but for the record seeds can be viable and not germinate under specific conditions and at specific times

i'm more than happy to take "bunk" cactus seed off of anybodies hands...

[Teotzlcoatl]

For the life of me I cant remember you being the previous teotz.

No offense, teotz

[tripsis]

as well as gained some crestate and variegated vars.

Pics?

[Teotzlcoatl]

One day I'll go visit Mr.Knize... perhaps he's just old and forgetful?

[Plantas Peru]

I had the same problem with KK seeds, I travel all years to Peru and now I have my own seeds from there. If somebody is Interestred you can write me an PM.

[niggles]

The KK site isnt exactly information abundant at the moment.

No window shopping to be had.

[Torsten]

Knize promised to fix up the stuff he owed Evil genius and myself, but after dozens of emails and more time wasted we got nothing - again. That was the last attempt. he's had 3 years and about 50 emails to tet this sorted. I can only advise against doing business with him. he has ripped off so many people now that even if he comes through with the occasional order it just isn't worth it. There are other suppliers.

[Evil Genius]

I second that. The times when you could still get something good out of a deal with knize are over. I know many worldwide seedsmen and all of them stopped doing business with Knize. You either get no seed at all or you get seed that is at least 15-20 years old. Here´s the thing: From the few seeds that knize actually delivered to me, only three or four varieties were viable. Everything else is pure junk. I stopped trading away knize seeds long time ago because i dont want to disapoint our fellow SABers with his seeds. You know how far it is? Its so shitty i wouldnt even give it away for free.

There are better international sources that deliver top quality seeds directly from peru. I just got extremely fresh Trichocereus Peruvianus seeds from peru that was harvested in April 2011. Knizes prices might sound cheap but it changes the whole game if your only getting 10 seedlings out of 5000 seeds. No sane seed seller buys his stuff anymore. And we´re not even talking about the fact that most of his seed isnt even labeled properly. Im so pissed i´m thinking about wearing a fancy wig and dance around the fire the whole night and behead some chickens to put a voodoo spell on him or some crazy ass shit like that. The man is dead to me. And thats his loss...he would have been making some serious bucks there because i know many cactus growers worldwide but it seems he isnt able to ship a simple letter anymore. All he does is blaming it on the peruvian post office. Every single cactus-seed-letter i got from peru arrived. Every single one. Only the ones from Knize keep disappearing magically. You know what? Screw him. I want my first heart attack to be caused by something thats worth the anger. Certainly not because of someone whose days in the cactus business are obviously over. bye Eg

Edited June 10, 2011 by Evil Genius

[Teotzlcoatl]

Icaros DNA sells the freshest and best Trichocereus peruvianus seed out there, never more than a season or two old!

[Auxin]

isnt there some peruvian better business bureau or something that he can be reported to?

If one tenth of the people hes ripped off for over $100 reported him I imagine his business license would be revoked instantly.