I ship a lot of carnivorous plants in winter. I also get a lot of plants shipped to me in winter. That's because it's almost always winter where I live. (Okay, okay, technically, it's warmer than freezing for most days from the beginning of May through the end of September). In any case, I end up seeing a lot of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to winter shipping. Done correctly, any plant can arrive at a destination with -11 degrees Fahrenheit (-24 degrees Celsius) without a heat pack and survive without issue. Done incorrectly, any plant can arrive at a destination with 30 degree weather with a heat pack and die. So how do you do it correctly?
The first step for winter shipping is to consider insulation. Not all insulation material is created equally. Among products I see frequently used, aluminum foil and newspapers are actually pretty bad at insulating boxes. Plastic filler, styrofoam peanuts, and those air-filled bags (like the ones you get when you order from Amazon) work really well. It also helps to wrap the plant - whether bareroot or potted - with a material such a bubble wrap before placing it in the insulated container.
Also note that bigger boxes do not equal better. A box that is about 3x - 4x the size of your plant is what you should really aim for (if that's feasible). An exceedingly large box is more likely to be left outside, in the cold, at some point during shipment because the mail-people will have to take more time to fit that in their trucks and arrange everything else around it.
The second step for winter shipping is heat pack placement. Honestly, I would not recommend ever shipping without a heat pack in winter, although I have seen it done. Most people use a 72-hour Uni Heat Pack. You can find these for sale online in various quantities for various prices. Most price at around $3 - $4.50 per pack. You should place this heat pack inside the insulation, but not directly next to the plant. (You want the heat to be inside the box, not on the side of part of the insulation, and not so near the plant that it cooks the plant).
The 72-hour Uni Heat Pack works best with Priority Mail Shipping, which is generally a 3 day shipping event. I wouldn't recommend shipping in winter with anything less than Priority because it is less likely that your plant(s) will be put on the airplane if they're not Priority, meaning that they'll sit somewhere, possibly in the cold.
The third and last step for winter shipping is checking the weather both at home and your destination. Chances are that you'll drop the box off at the Post Office, it'll get sent to the regional sorting/shipping warehouse, where it is likely to be exposed to outside temperatures for at least a short period of time. Then, it'll be loaded on an airplane, shipped to the regional sorting/shipping hub at your destination, where it will wait overnight for the next truck to your destination's Post Office, meaning it will be likely exposed to outside temperatures for at least a short period of time again, then, finally, delivered. Therefore, it's a good idea to check and make sure that the destination isn't experiencing severely negative temperatures due to a storm or other weather anomaly before shipping.
Done correctly, you can get a Heli from Alaska in -11 degree temperatures without a heat pack just fine. Done incorrectly, and you can get a block of ice that used to be a plant from anywhere.
This couldn't be more true. I wish the rest of the country would warm up already, so I don't have to insulate plants like nuts anymore. This winter for you all up there is a good reminder why I'm never moving back, lol. You can send stuff to me though, FYI...
ReplyDeleteAlso, just because you ship priority, does not mean your package will sit overnight indoors though. If the airplane carrying your package stops at an airport before transferring it to another plane or vehicle, your package most likely will be sitting out, possibly overnight in a bin out on the tarmac. There's no hub or warehouse, packages literally sit in bins outside the planes overnight. It's also very cold at 30,000 feet in an unheated cargo hold of a plane. So insulate better than you think you need to is the lesson for sure. Heat packs, I'm up in the air about. I've gotten perfect Nepenthes midwinter back in NY with a small heat pack, and totally thermal burned, half melted orchids midwinter too. With heat packs, I think less is more. Use a smaller one than you'd think you'd need. Winter sucks is the real lesson in all this.
Huh, I didn't know that about packages sitting on the tarmac. That shouldn't surprise me, even though it does.
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