Shipping Nepenthes Around X-mas

[jurow]

Imagine multiple sources of 115*F all pouring heat on your plant.. not good.

The surface temp of a Uniheat 72-hour bag is only 115* for about 4 hours, and then it starts dropping to about 100*. That's really not a very hot temp at all, particularly for a lowlander. As long as your plant isn't in direct contact with the surface of the heat packs, you should be fine.

Also, the temperature of separate packs isn't additive. Multiple packs won't cause the package temp to somehow raise above 100-115*. The only thing that adding multiple packs will do is cause the package temperature to reach 100-115* faster, and resist the external temperature longer. You will also definitely need that humidity bag you talked about, since that heat can really dry out a plant.

Mass: Since I do ship a lot of Neps around the country, I'm interested in how a heat pack did that to your plant. That looks a lot like frost-burn, but I've never seen what cooking a plant looks like. Was the plant sealed to keep from drying-out?

 

[RL7836]

I feel like the USPS is just such an unknown.

In general USPS Priority Mail works well. It's obviously not foolproof - but nothing is (unless you want to pay for overnight).

Ever since another grower forwarded me a link to a website detailing good mailing procedures which actually recommended shipping on Sat, I have usually tried to ship on Sat and get a Monday delivery over 90% of the time (continental US).

However, when the weather is unusually hot or cold, check that someone is there to receive the package so it doesn't sit outside. Just today, my mailman hung a package full of plants on the mailbox. If I wasn't watching for him, they would have sat in sub-30*F temps for hours ...

 

[Dexenthes]

Thanks for the additional input guys.

I have heard about the Saturday trick. Maybe that is what I will do. I don't doubt the postal service's ability to deliver on time, but sometimes what happens between shipping and arriving is so dubious!

Still up in the air over the heat-pack issue, though.

Multiple heat-packs? just a few heat packs? I was prepared to use 'em all.

 

[Exo]

Use heat packs.....several of them....one heat pack is needed per square foot.....to actually damage a plant, they would actually need to touch it, so wrap them lightly in newspaper and tape them to the walls of the box...red line on the pack facing inwards.

 

[jurow]

Use heat packs.....several of them....one heat pack is needed per square foot.....to actually damage a plant, they would actually need to touch it, so wrap them lightly in newspaper and tape them to the walls of the box...red line on the pack facing inwards.

I agree, with a re-emphases on on wrapping the heat packs lightly. If they can't get oxygen, the reaction won't happen and there will be no heat. The side with the red line is the micro-perforated side that allows oxygen into the pack.