Shipping Plants

[Broke Down Ranch]

OK, I am getting ready to ship out a boatload of bulbs from the Whatchagot thread. I have them in potting soil/mulch. Do you guys think it will be OK to ship regular mail or must they go Priority? It will cost a small fortune as these guys are H-E-A-V-Y.....

I'm thinking since they are in damp/moist dirt (not wet) they should be fine going regular.....

 

[newnanchic]

I think regular mail would be fine I would put wet paper towels around the roots and then in a plastic bag and they should be fine.

 

[tiffanyh]

I would think the bulbs could go dry.

Otherwise, I would wrap them in wet paper towels and put them in baggies.....

 

[amazondoc]

What kind of bulbs?

I do a fair amount of plant swapping through the mail. It is standard to send them without dirt, priority mail. If you'll tell me exactly what you're mailing, I'll be happy to give you some guidelines on how to get them safely to their destination.

 

[bugladyleah]

Yeah, I would think no dirt would be fine (think about the bulbs you see in packages at the store). I may consider doing priority tho, b/c of the heat?? Not sure if that would help them to not get cooked in a hot truck or not...

Leah

 

[SueNH]

Bearded iris rhizomes go dry.
Siberian Iris get wrapped in wet newspaper and slipped into bread bag leaving the leaves exposed.

Tulips, daffs, crocus go dry.
Pad true lilies a bit in paper or peat.

No soil should be mailed. Spreads disease and pests. Not even legal in a lot of states.

 

[SueNH]

I send bulbs dry all the time. I put a little crumble paper in there to pad against hard knocks. Not much and don't wrap the bulb. You can vent the box a bit with a pencil or pen. I usually run shipping tape over the vent holes and then repop. Tape is to just shore up the box a bit. Probably overdone and not needed.

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

dont have any idea of size of your plants or if they need to be moist....but the USPS has flat rate boxes for priority mail. Any weight, to anyplace is a flat rate, and the boxes come in different sizes...you might check that out.

 

[greenthumb89]

im sending hostas( sprouted), gladioulas( out of ground still) irises( in ground) and daylilies( in ground) how should i ship them? mostly ive seen them shipped in wood shavings like the ones used for small animal bedding and ive also seen newspaper, what would be the best way to ship. shipping from wisconsin to maryland thanks for the help guys. luke

ps this is the best site i think ive ever been on...lol

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Okay, no prollem. Different people will pack these different ways, and Sue may have more suggestions for ya, but here's what I would do:

Hostas -- shake off the dirt. Wrap the roots in DAMP (NOT dripping wet) paper towels. Insert the root ball in a plastic shopping bag. Tie or tape the bag closed, LEAVING THE LEAVES OUT OF THE BAG. Insert in priority mail box, padding as necessary with dry crumpled newspaper. Ship. Depending on how big the leaves are, you may need to remove some or cut them in half to make packing easier and reduce water loss from the plant during shipping.

Glads -- probably a bad time to ship, these will probably resent being dug up while they're actively growing. I would shake off the dirt, cut the leaves down to somewhere around 4-6", insert in a paper bag, close bag with MAYBE a moist paper towel depending on what the roots on the bulb look like, then box and pad with newspaper.

Irises and daylilies -- easy to ship, these are about impossible to kill. The best way to kill them is to keep them too wet, so don't worry too much about letting them dry out a bit.

Iris -- shake off the dirt. Cut the leaves down to around 4-6". Insert in paper bag. Box and pad with newspaper. Ship.

Daylily -- shake off the dirt. Cut the leaves down. Wrap the roots in moist paper towels and put ROOTS in bag as for hosta, but the daylilies will most likely survive with or without the added moisture. Box and pad.

The temperature this week is likely to give you problems more than having these specific types of plants dry out a bit. Definitely ship priority, and think about waiting a few days til the temps cool down a bit.

Edited to add: do NOT make any of the moist stuff airtight. Humidity+lack of oxygen+heat=rotted mush. It is possible to send plant cuttings in sealed plastic bags with air blown into them, but that's a whole different subject.

You want to let the plants breathe!