Shipping plants overseas/international

[Nepenthe]

I am preparing to send a to-be-rooted offshoot of my N.emmarene to Israel in a trade. I have never sent plants to other countries before.
What do I need to do in order to make this a nice, law-abiding process? I could see simply sending seed to other countries to be pretty simple, but I don't know much about sending actual plants or some other type of organic material.

On a different note, what parcels work best for you guys in terms of shipping cuttings? I was thinking of doing what I usually do which is to just include the rooted basal offshoot in a ball of planting medium (wrapped in cellophane), pack the offshoot into a specimen jar and pack the jar in a padded "tube" parcel of some sort. I don't know how long it will take to reach the recipient (like I said, Israel). I suppose I could put the plant into a wee pot or something, but I'm really looking to minimize the weight.

Have any of you discovered treatments that I could perform to the plant that will give it a good chance of surviving the downtime, stuffed into a shipping parcel for a week or two or three?
What about priority mail services? Is there a way to ship the plant "first class" or "priority" that will minimize the time-in-transit?

I have no intention of shipping this plant unless I am certain that it will survive the trip.
-Trevor

 

[cpaddict]

Hello Trevor,: First of all, you must find out whether there are regulations in Israel that may restrict the entry of plant material. The recipient should tell you this.

Global priority mail from the U.S works for most countries, but you will have to declare the contents of the package. It is the recipient's responsibility to get the package once it has arrived in Israel.

I don't know about cuttings surviving 7 day trips. I know plants do. If you send a plant make sure it gets as much light as it can 24 hrs before shipping and make sure the roots are protected by sphagnum moss ball. Put the sphagnum moss covered roots and plant in a large plastic bag and tie up a cord around the bag right on top of the root ball to keep the the moss from spilling all over the bag. seal the top of the bag but make a small hole near the top for the plant to breathe.