Sending Plants Via Mail
Mar 5, 2015 1:46:27 GMT -5
greenbeast, thecarnivoregirl, and 1 more like this
Post by Jonathan Mejia on Mar 5, 2015 1:46:27 GMT -5
Sending Sarracenia via Mail
I sent out plants, for the first time via mail to the winner of the auction.
I was a bit nervous about getting it right, and so I looked online and tried to remember how I received plants in the past. thecarnivoregirl actually wrote a very helpful blog post about it recently:
www.thecarnivoregirl.com/plants-in-a-blanket-or-how-to-ship-bare-root-plants/
I have photodocumented the process I chose, and so I will share with you. Making sure plants get to their destination alive and healthy is an important part of cultivating plants, so lets start a conversation.
Step 1: Choose a plant to ship and inspect it! In this case it was my Sarracenia purpurea 'Avalanche' x 'Firespirit'. The plant was clean and free of bugs, and the pitchers were empty (contained no liquid or carcasses)
Step 2: Clear off all dead plant material. In my case, two leaves were half dead, so I clipped them! Some taller Sarracenia's may require a straight cut, and many growers cut leaves on all plants shipped, regardless of species, for fear of spreading pests and invasive bugs! Use your best judgement.
Step 3: Remove plant from the pot.
Step 4: Carefully remove all growing media. Try not to disturb or damage the roots too much.
Step 5: Wrap the roots in wet LFS, or some other safe medium. Use only water appropriate for carnivorous plants. I use clean New Zealand Sphagnum Moss for this. Try not to include anything with too many twigs/debris since these things invite fungal infections which can harm the plant.
Step 6: Wrap the sphagnum/root in a moistened paper towel, and do it again with another one. I didn't have rubber bands or any rope to fasten the paper towels, so I used twist ties! The point is to make sure the roots stay moist, and that the package doesn't come undone!
Step 7: Put the plant in a plastic zip lock back and seal it. Zipper bags work best:
Step 8: When packing the plants, make sure they cannot be jostled easily. Use Newspaper, packing peanuts, or anything at your disposal. I keep lots of plastic bags from the supermarket as trash bags for home, so I used that for packing! It is soft, has no harsh edges, and is clean:
Step 9: Be sure to completely cover the plant, even on top! goodkoalie has plants in this box pictured. Can you see them? No? Well good! I did my job. lol.
Step 10: Here is where I fudged up. Seal the box. I used Gorilla tape, which is similar to duct tape. The lady at the post office scolded me and told me to use packing tape . I had also written the address in pencil and she told me to re-write it in pen . I felt like she was the teacher and I was in school again (can I admit I kind of liked it? ). Anyway, imagine the box in the following picture with the correct type of tape, and that is what it should look like:
Hope this helps. If anyone wants to discuss shipping methods or variations do so below.
Thanks!