Shipping plants methods? - Page 2 - For Sale or Trade

pineapple · 08-04-2004, 04:54 AM

I imagine that Oriental Aquarium ships so many packages that 'volume' might be a costly issue. Hence they eliminate extra air from their packing to cut costs. My 2 cents.

Andrew Cribb

anonapersona · 08-04-2004, 05:14 AM

I've found that you musst be sure to have no free water sloshing around in a bag with paper-wrapped plants, too-wet newspaper is sure to tear and that weight sloshing around damages the plants. I've had plants shipped to me that had a lot of damage from too-wet paper. I've also shipped plants where I sprinkled the newspaper but not enough, so the dry paper drew water out of the plants, which arrived crispy.

I've tried wrapping the plants, the filing the bag and draining it, but I think that left too much water in the paper, it was too heavy and the paper was mushy just a few hours later. So, I've gone back to sprinkling, but being careful to not leave the inner paper too dry.

Sir_BlackhOle · 08-04-2004, 06:05 AM

i have used newspaper with success. I just hold a whole section under the faucet and then fold it up with plants inside and stick in a ziplock bag.

Corigan · 08-04-2004, 09:18 AM

I've also been shipping with cold packs this summer, and all plants seem to do well this way when shipping in the heat.

Matt

JanS · 08-04-2004, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by litesky

Do heater bags really work? And when people refer to the heater bags, do they mean the ones that you use for camping? How long do they last? I thought they only last for hours. If that's the case, then by the time the plants board the airplane, the heat packs dead, and by the time it reaches somewhere like in chicago...the plants popsicle. What's the deal?

Living in the tundra I have quite a bit of experience with hand and body warmers (yes, they are in the camping dept - or at every checkout and convenience store in Minnesota

). The bigger body warmers say 16 hours, but when they are packed in a box with styro, they last much longer than that and you don't have any big temp spikes with the styro for insulation.
Last year when we tore a friends tanks down we packed the plants on a Friday night and when I opened the boxes on Sunday there was still plenty of warmth in there.
I agree in most cases they aren't necessary though - I'm just answering the question.

All in all, plants are pretty durable when they ship and I don't worry nearly as much now after some experience as I used to. I saw some that were lost in transit for 2 weeks and they were all still in amazing shape except for a couple of delicate ones.

aquasox · 04-18-2006, 06:11 PM

Hi I'm wondering what the best possible way to package these stem plants for shipping would be: stargrass, bacopa australis, ludwigia arcuata (some have roots, some are clippings). They are going 3-5 day service.

I was going to put them in a freezer zip-lock bag with a small amount of water from the tank. Double bag that, put them in a small box and stuff box with newspaper. Dumb question: would it be wise to put some air in the bag carrying the plants? Also I've tried putting the plants in the bag with a wet paper towel, but it didn't work to well.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

Salt · 04-18-2006, 06:16 PM

Many places soak newspaper in tank water, then wrap the plants in that, and put it in a zip lock bag. Try to ship overnight or 2 day if possible.

Most importantly, don't require a signature. If you do and the person misses the doorbell, the package will have to sit at the post office until the next day.

AaronT · 04-18-2006, 06:28 PM

I use paper towels. Soak them with cool water and wring it out well. Then gently roll the stems up in the paper towell and put it into an airtight plastic bag. Leave some air in the bag as a cushion. Plants should last up to a week when packed like that.

Bert H · 04-18-2006, 06:31 PM

I gently wrap them in a damp paper towel. Place that into a zip lock bag and remove as much air as I can. That goes into a USPS priority shipping box. If need be, I add some styrofoam peanuts to it to avoid having it bouncing around inside. So far, (knock on wood), no problem.

aquasox · 04-18-2006, 07:20 PM

All good pointers guys

Salt, I'll make sure that no signature is required (never even thought of that).So the paper towels do not need to be soaking wet...just damp after being wrung out?