I've been interested in how we can send plant material (not just CPs) through the mail easily and safely for the cost of a single stamp. This would accelerate the process of distributing interesting plants. I'm thinking small leaves, cuttings, roots, plantlets, seeds, gemmae, etc. that can hopefully make it past the USPS requirements for first class letters (60 cents).
The main USPS requirement is that the thickness of a letter has to be less than 1/4 inch, so significant padding is not allowed. Rigidity of the envelope is a problem. The plant material also has to survive the USPS rollers, which tend to crush and kill unprotected material. Is there a solution? There should be. I'm considering a few different options. I hope there is something that works.
With postage costs out of hand these days, it would be nice if there was a way to send material for well under a dollar, which is pretty insignificant. $5 or more is not.
Here's my first attempt. This method would be limited to material which is small size-wise, although perhaps it can be increased in size slightly. I received some coin cases in the mail, yesterday, to try this. The first two photos show the dimensions: roughly one inch diameter by 3/16 inch thick. So I hope they meet with USPS's approval. If not, the worst the worst that can happen is that I will have to send using a hand stamp, which requires an additional 40 cent stamp. That would also be a solution if they turn out not to be strong enough. They should meet the 1/4 inch thickness requirement.
I'm thinking about trying 3 test envelopes in a few days, each with small cuttings of both D. capensis 'Red' and D. binata. I packed an initial set today, with existing cuttings removed from water (started 1/28) and will mail those to myself as a test: Photos labeled 1-4 below. Basically, I 1) cut down the plant material (these were precut, although I ended trimming one D. capensis) 2) put the cuttings in the coin case 3) put the coin case in a small ziploc bag and 4) tape the coin case plus bag on a piece of paper with packing tape to put into an envelope.
One person has already expressed an interest, so I'm looking for two more recipients to test this. Presumably these would be people in warm enough climates, so freezing in the next week or two is not an issue. The cuttings would be completely free, and the worst that could happen is crushing of the material, or perhaps rejection by USPS. I would expect that recipients would post their results on these thread, even if they are failures.
Probably most people are aware how easy and productive D. binata and D. capensis are from leaf cuttings in water or on appropriate media. One question people might have is whether such small cutting(s) are enough to generate new plants. The cuttings I'm sending to myself total at least 1 1/2 inch for both D. binata and D. capensis red. I started a different cutting of D. binata about 3 1/2 weeks ago (final photo). I'm barely able to see the beginning of plantlets. The point of the picture is that at least for that species, 1 1/2 inches should be enough to (hopefully) get new plants. That assumes the cuttings make it in good shape of course.
So if two more people are interested in receiving cuttings, please respond to this post.
The main USPS requirement is that the thickness of a letter has to be less than 1/4 inch, so significant padding is not allowed. Rigidity of the envelope is a problem. The plant material also has to survive the USPS rollers, which tend to crush and kill unprotected material. Is there a solution? There should be. I'm considering a few different options. I hope there is something that works.
With postage costs out of hand these days, it would be nice if there was a way to send material for well under a dollar, which is pretty insignificant. $5 or more is not.
Here's my first attempt. This method would be limited to material which is small size-wise, although perhaps it can be increased in size slightly. I received some coin cases in the mail, yesterday, to try this. The first two photos show the dimensions: roughly one inch diameter by 3/16 inch thick. So I hope they meet with USPS's approval. If not, the worst the worst that can happen is that I will have to send using a hand stamp, which requires an additional 40 cent stamp. That would also be a solution if they turn out not to be strong enough. They should meet the 1/4 inch thickness requirement.
I'm thinking about trying 3 test envelopes in a few days, each with small cuttings of both D. capensis 'Red' and D. binata. I packed an initial set today, with existing cuttings removed from water (started 1/28) and will mail those to myself as a test: Photos labeled 1-4 below. Basically, I 1) cut down the plant material (these were precut, although I ended trimming one D. capensis) 2) put the cuttings in the coin case 3) put the coin case in a small ziploc bag and 4) tape the coin case plus bag on a piece of paper with packing tape to put into an envelope.
One person has already expressed an interest, so I'm looking for two more recipients to test this. Presumably these would be people in warm enough climates, so freezing in the next week or two is not an issue. The cuttings would be completely free, and the worst that could happen is crushing of the material, or perhaps rejection by USPS. I would expect that recipients would post their results on these thread, even if they are failures.
Probably most people are aware how easy and productive D. binata and D. capensis are from leaf cuttings in water or on appropriate media. One question people might have is whether such small cutting(s) are enough to generate new plants. The cuttings I'm sending to myself total at least 1 1/2 inch for both D. binata and D. capensis red. I started a different cutting of D. binata about 3 1/2 weeks ago (final photo). I'm barely able to see the beginning of plantlets. The point of the picture is that at least for that species, 1 1/2 inches should be enough to (hopefully) get new plants. That assumes the cuttings make it in good shape of course.
So if two more people are interested in receiving cuttings, please respond to this post.
