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Right now Arizona is close to the hottest place on the Planet. I wanted to post some helpful suggestions based on my experience as a buyer and a seller.
Every time I get a plant wrapped in foam wrap, the plant ends up being very hot, limp and wilted. Just this week I received a plant from a popular Greenhouse in Connecticut that was wrapped in foam wrap. I paid a lot of money for the plant and it is sitting in Intensive Care right now to make sure it makes it. I believe any plastic product like that insulates the plants with the end result being a "steamed" plant. I have even had people send me cuttings in plastic bags that are always cooked during the summer.
If the top of the plant is not secured with cotton or paper towel, there will be loose dirt all over the box and on the leaves of the plant upon delivery. If it is shipped in a pot, just place a moistened rolled paper towel or cotton secured with plastic wrap or cling wrap.
Or, by moistening the rootball (just moist, not wet), covering it with damp paper towels and securing the rootball with plastic wrap or even Cling Wrap. Wrap the whole plant with newspaper, shredded paper to fill out the top of the plant (but not really necessary), and wrap the plant like a "burrito." Shredded newspaper is okay but very messy when removing the plant. Wet or moistened shredded paper inside the package will also "steam" the plant.
I am not sure about styrofoam or styrofoam peanuts and would be interested in anyone else's experience with this product in the heat.
I love it when sellers tell me when they ship because I will watch for the postman to make sure the boxes don't sit outside. I have also noticed that, if the boxes are marked "Perishable" and "Fragile," extra care is always taken from the time I drop my boxes off at the counter until the postman takes them out of the truck. The counter personnel even pointedly ask me if the boxes are fragile and perishable.
When I ship my plants, as easy as it is, I never leave them for the Postman to pick them up. I always deliver them personally to the counter at the Post Office.
Many shippers will not even ship during these temperatures but by following the above precautions, it can be done with good results.
I ship year round--with excellent results--and a lot of volume
A little elaboration on a couple of points here:
1. "I have also noticed that, if the boxes are marked "Perishable" and "Fragile," extra care is always taken from the time I drop my boxes off at the counter until the postman takes them out of the truck. The counter personnel even pointedly ask me if the boxes are fragile and perishable."
The policy of the USPS is not to even ship perishable products--as you are standing at the "click-and-ship" kiosk you will notice you have to indicate that you are aware of this by clicking "yes" to continue after a long list of "forbidden" items are listed. Its obvious that they look the other way. They are really only concerned with those obvious things and that is ran through a conveyor x-ray and dog line in the main postal center hubs. I think the postal carriers are humans with integrity and they do the best they can but they are overwhelmed and "special" care probably can't be counted on as soon as it leaves your sight--or at least this should always be assumed.
2. "I always deliver them personally to the counter at the Post Office."
This is actually easier to do than you think and you do not have to stand in the long lines. Never drop them into the kiosk box priority mail. Simply walk past all the lines to the end of the counter that's closed, stack your boxes on the counter, say loudly but sweetly something to the effect of "online priority mail" and walk out. They postal workers will see it and will deal with them as soon as they get a chance. And nothing heavy will be put on top of them--at least for awhile.
(This is optional but I find it effective to stop the glaring of the multitudes of folks standing in line and disarm any comments from them--winking, batting your eyelashes, and general flirting tactics)
I do the majority of my USPS shipping labels online but for a variety of reasons still use the self-service kiosk too. If the post office is open there are never more than 2-3 people in line for it and they are always home-based businesses or ebay sellers. When the post office is closed this is actually located in the PO Box area and you have the place to yourself. I don't have my local carrier stop at the house either--but I live within 2-3 miles of the post office. This would cause him to actually have to come to the house when he may not have to stop here that day--they deliver down the street in community boxes. I have a great carrier and he already has to come to my house frequently to drop boxes off, etc. I hate to make his job harder--but this is my personal feelings here.
If I lived in an area that didn't have self-service kiosks or I was far from a postal center; I would do all shipping labels on-line and schedule a pick-up from the carrier. This is, after all, an service they provide if you want to use their shipping methods.
3. "Shredded newspaper is okay but very messy when removing the plant."
This is the most economically and ecologically sound practice there is, in my opinion. I don't use shredded newspaper but I do use all shredded paper from the office shredder. And, in my opinion, this is the best packing medium for cushioning the item during transit. The problem is a lot of people don't use it thickly enough.
I would never wet it anyway and wonder why anyone would...
Anything that provides air flow inside the box is good - styrofoam peanuts do that. So does shredded newspaper.
I also always poke a few holes (with the sharp point of the scissors) in the side of the box; this helps them to breathe better.
In my experience, plastic is a strict no-no at this time of year, other than to wrap the rootball after it has been wrapped in some wet paper towels or spagnum moss. I once lost an entire shipment of plumeria from Thailand where the shipper had carefully wrapped each cutting in bubble wrap.
I had never shipped plants until joining DG and at first I put the entire plant in a plastic bag ... BIG Mistake ... a sauna of hot, wilted plants if they survive the trip alive.
Now I only wrap the roots with moist paper towel and put plastic wrap around that with a rubber band then loosely wrap the top of the plant in dry paper towels and then the entire plant in newspaper.
I hate those styrofoam peanuts - I remember after a storm one time finding them all over the yard! I have no idea where they came from but we have a neighbor who never secures their garbage can or recycle bins and stuff is always flying around on windy days, so there's a good probability the came from this neighbor. I always either empty our shredder or use shredded newspaper in the box for cushioning.
I like Duthlady1's idea of poking a few holes in the box for air circulation too! Will have to definitely do that the next time I ship plants!
I have used the kiosk in our P.O. on occasion but I always do the delivery confirmation thing and every time I used the kiosk I could never track the package. Finally I asked a clerk and she said to get the confirmation sticker scanned you have to stand in line and wait for a clerk to do it. If it's just put into the drop box I guess no one scans the confirmation sticker when they are loading/unloading. So, it's a waste of the extra 65 cents to use delivery confirmation if you are using the drop box. I always stand in line for a clerk to mail my packages now.
The Click and Ship self service machine in the lobby by the PO Boxes is the kiosk
By the way--you can put a delivery confirmation sticker on a padded bubble mailer with seeds and stick it in the regular blue box for letters.
I have literally sent thousands of pkg's delivery confirmation and now also send all bubble mailers DC (80% of commercial seller's are now routinely doing this)--they are always scanned somewhere along the route--at the nearest central processing hub
I know they work because I have tracked every single one of them on-line myself--I don't consider a sale as actually being final until I have confirmed delivery myself
edited to add: in my opinion its the DC that gets the special services--the post office knows they are going to have to deal with you if it doesn't get delivered. I realize some people have still had DC items get lost, I have just personally never had any problems with anything arriving at its destination that had delivery confirmation.
I use a online sevice for shipping since I live in the small town of La Porte (Outside of Houston) I have never seen that in our town.
When It comes to DC... A few years back I ordered something off ebay.
They used DC well it said delivered but it went to someone elses house and my Neighbor who ever it was was not honest and never gave it to me. It only lets you know the USPS del. it somewhere on your street.
But I do use it for shipping most of the time... just in case it helps a little.
I've never used the kiosk. I do all my labels online through Paypal or USPS.com. Delivery confirmation is automatic and free, and postage is even discounted. I purchased a good postage scale for home use and do everything from home. The tracking is scanned at every point of service. It is not necessary to have it scanned at the counter.
I take mine to the Post Office because our mail carriers do not have A/C in their trucks and the packages sit in the truck in the sun throughout the route. I just walk up to the front, go to the side and drop them off and just say "Click and Ship," if anyone asks. I never wait in line.
When I schedule a pick up, the pick up is next day and the packages are picked up through the regular delivery service, with my regular carrier. No one makes a special trip. In temperate weather, if I have a last minute shipment, I just put a note on the mail box asking him to come to the door for packages.
All my comments are based on personal experience. A popular on-line greenhouse specializing in "rare plants," wraps the plants in shredded paper that has been literally soaked. My recent order mentioned above was wrapped in plastic foam wrap. So it does happen and if we can share our first hand experiences, then we can learn from one another's experiences.
I've heard of problems with DC--I just never have had them
My standard line is from dylan--I can't help it if I'm lucky
That's unfortunate about your neighbor. I know once this winter the UPS folks dropped a box off at the door. They always ring the bell and leave. I could see out the window it was the UPS truck and since I was busy and I'm commercial and always getting something myself--I left it there for about 15 minutes. When I pulled it in I realized it was for a neighbor about 10 houses up the block that I don't even know. I walked it up there in the rain myself (it was drizzle-misting, not real rain for here) just because that's what I would have appreciated being done for me.
I don't ship plants, but I've sure received plenty in the mail. The suggestions for the shredded paper are good -- paper is an insulator against both heat and cold, but should be dry not wet. The foam peanuts appear to work fine, too. I don't believe I've ever gotten a plant wrapped in plastic or bubble wrap, but I agree that should be a no-no.
There are no Click-n-Ship kiosks in any PO in this town, but it wouldn't matter anyway as I ship Media Mail and can't use Click-n-Ship. I always use DC, but I can say that they get scanned only about 99% of the time, not always. Did have a DC scanned in at delivery on a package that the buyer did not receive. She had the package sent to her work address -- a large company in Atlanta -- it was delivered to the company's mail room, but not to her. Figured it wasn't my problem the mail room clerk stole it, which unfortunately is common in large companies. If you print the shipping label and postage online, the DC only costs $0.18 for First Class and Media Mail but is free for Priority Mail.
Yes, if your packages are ready to ship you can indeed leave them at the end of the counter. I do it all the time.
I thought that the PO would take perishable and fragile items, but that they had to be handed directly to a clerk for inspection and no insurance on the items.
dmj1218
Yes that is the thing to do-- I have had the mailman give me quite a few packages in the last few years that were not mine...
decent people find the right owners.
Mailman do lose packages that is for sure mostly by giving them to the wrong houses and the people keep the packages instead of doing the right thing (sad)
Once in awhile a customer will write me and let me know they did not get their package. I do believe them after all what I have seen with mail carriers:) I just send it again and hope for the very best.
so far I've always received stuff from USPS (family members ship a lot to each other) that I was supposed to
It was UPS that left the wrong pkg on my porch--what was sad was when I handed the pkg to the neighbor and explained it had been left at my house by mistake, they just said "oh"---no thank you or anything. go figure--maybe they have your lost pkg
That sounds about right LOL --
I had a package given to me about 3 months ago that was my next door neib. and I said The mailman gave me your package.
He said to me in a somewhat demanding voice BRING it over here!
My mouth dropped and I stopped what i was doing and made the well abled man meet me half way.
That was weird!
I don't put parishable on the box, because it won't be shipped most times. I don't put plants onthe outside of the box either, I have at times at the request of the buyer put. Don't leave in the sun LOL
I always notify my buyers that it was shipped so they know to watch for it.
Packing peanuts just makes the shipping cheaper on you as a customer, it's cheaper to use them than shredded paper, but in my case more expensive to use, I don't charge a shipping and handling fee or packing fee everything I get to ship with is free to me. so I use what I can get.
I ship plants just the way that cindy suggested, if I have peanuts I use them on fragile plants or expensive boxes, to lessen the price some.
If a box gets to the person's house and sits in the mail box or even on the porch all day, then the plants will be wilted regardless of the circumstances because it's been in the heat, even in the shade it will be wilted.
Sad story, someone gets my packages and I get theirs, they keep mine and I return theirs to the postman, he's still trying to get my box of bulbs from them.
never asked him why he didn't file charges on them if he knew for sure he put it in their bo x by mistake.
and this has happened several times. where they keep my mail. Not my neighbor but same address diff street. same city. I have a mind one of these days to drive over to this person's house and tell them it's prison time for keeping somone else's mail LOL
I haven't seemed to have problems shipping plants. I thought I would quit shipping until around september because of the heat, but so far everything has traveled well. I do take my packages into the post office because our kiosk isn't very helpful.
I like to use delivery confirmation and I email when the package is on its way. That way, the recipient knows to look out for it. I has worked well for me this year.
Ibartoo
"me thinks" one set of packaging suggestions can't work for all the plant material people send. I am, at this moment, packing up 6 boxes going out tomorrow. Some of the suggestions apply and some don't.
If I didn't put african violet leaves or strep leaves in a zip lock bag, the person would have nothing but a dead leaf when they received the box. I also put sinningia cuttings and other cuttings in a zip lock bag with lots of air blown into each one.
I have on word shipping instructions that go on all sides of each box that says in bright red letters:
FRAGILE
NO HEAT OR COLD
DO NOT CRUSH
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!
People rarely complain when shipping from DG is about 1/2 to 1/3 of professional shipping from main vendors.
When I first started shipping a lot of plants, I never marked them perishable, then one day the clerk asked me if they were perisable, fragile, etc. She then handed me a marker and made me mark all of them before she would accept them. After that I bought my self a stamp from Office Max. I print out all my labels and drop them at the desk - no waiting.
I never use shredded paper or peanuts, I find both too messy. I simple wad up several clumps of newspaper to take up the extra space - works very well.
