3 replies to this topic

[Pete Bog]

....or more specifically how do you pack potted plants to survive the rigours of the dear old Royal Mail?

I sell the occasional plant on Fleabay and usually wimp out by sending bare root, wrapped in moss, wet kitchen towel and clingfilm and a custom made cardboard box- it does keep the weight down and it does make it easier for me to pack.

Sometimes however it'd be nice to send something without disturbing the roots or leaves here's an example of what I received via Ebay and though the seller had gone to reasonable lengths to protect the plants the  GPO had other ideas...only two survived btw.



tnx


Bob

[mantrid]

If he filled the cups with broken polystyrene then it would have held the plants in place.
For bare rooted VFTs I buy lengths of plastic waste pipe form B&Q(40mm diam) or other DIY place. Its about £2.50 for 3m and depending on the size of the plant you can get about 20 lengths from it and 1 to 3 plants in each length (depending on plant size). So about 12p per length. Its practically indestructable in the post and can be sent in brown envelopes, no box required. Plants are put in plastic bags before going into the pipes.

[jimlard]

I would consider wrapping the pot in clingfilm to hold the substrate in place too, obviously leaving the plant poking through. I can see where this would be tricky with certain species though.

[Mujician]

mantrid, on 19 June 2012 - 22:08 PM, said:

If he filled the cups with broken polystyrene then it would have held the plants in place.
For bare rooted VFTs I buy lengths of plastic waste pipe form B&Q(40mm diam) or other DIY place. Its about £2.50 for 3m and depending on the size of the plant you can get about 20 lengths from it and 1 to 3 plants in each length (depending on plant size). So about 12p per length. Its practically indestructable in the post and can be sent in brown envelopes, no box required. Plants are put in plastic bags before going into the pipes.

Could you post some pics of how you do this?