How to ship/mail Bamboo

[boonut]

I use piano wire or fishing leader wire to hold the pot down at the bottom of the box. I have seen a number of people do this. You can actually stack pots on top of each other also in a box. I push the wire through the box and the bottom of the pot to the other side and then wrap the wire and put tape over the wire on the outside of the box. A stick or something like that will help the box from collapsing. The tighter the fit, the better they ship. I use all the rest of the methods mentioned here. I have ordered boo from just about everyone selling tropicals. I have shipped about 50 different times. The only time I have had problems shipping is when it went to the west coast and it ended up in a hot truck through the heat. The boo baked and was dead on arrival. For some reason, it was left over the weekend when it should have been delivered.

[millerlightman02]

Hey mike i feel some people on here look down on newbies to bamboo and are a little short with are posts. You know they were newbies at some point to.Hang in there.

[kudzu9]

I ship fairly frequently doing trades. By trial and error, I have settled on the following:
1. I ship FedEx Ground. I have an account that gives me a little cheaper rate than just walking in to a FedEx counter. I keep the box size to 9" X 9" X 60" or less: if I exceed any of these measurements, it jumps to a much more expensive category. I live on the West Coast in the Pacific NW; if I ship by the end of the day on a Monday, it will get almost anywhere in the U.S., except the far reaches of the East Coast, by Friday. It will get to closer areas, such as California, by Wednesday. I just sent a box this size weighing 14 pounds from Seattle to Tennessee and it is supposed to arrive on Friday; the cost was about $20. I only find the U.S. Post Office to be cheaper/faster for small bamboo that can go in standard Priority Mail boxes.

2. I had several bamboo destroyed in shipping when I first started (and when I was more optimistic about handling practices); this damage apparently happened because the root ball wasn't tethered down well enough, and it got loose when the package was manhandled and smashed the culms. However, FedEx Ground insures the first $100 of value for free, and they processed claims quickly and took my word on the value. Lately, I haven't had any problems because of the way I now package my plants.

3. I usually dumpster dive at the local furniture store for big, sturdy pieces of cardboard, and cut and bend them into boxes that I hold together with clear packaging tape. I size the two smaller dimensions to the size of the root ball, and the height is as much as is needed for the topped or untopped culms. When I unpot the bamboo for shipping, I get a piece of visqueen and wrap the root ball and seal it well with packaging tape. Then I cut a sturdy, dried culm that is the exact height of the box, and tape it tightly to the packaged root ball. Usually I design the box so that one of the long sides opens and I can just lay the plant and root ball inside; this is better than trying to slide the plant down inside from the top end. This extra culm that I tape to the root ball prevents any movement as long as it's well-connected; I make sure both ends of the support culm are cut flat to reduce the chance that either end can punch through the box; sometimes I also try to attach the top end of the support culm to the box with a couple of pieces of tape. I also will typically take a piece of twine and tie it around one of the plant's culms right above the root ball; then I punch a pair of holes at opposite sides of the bottom end and put the ends of the twine through the holes and tie them tightly so that the root ball is held tightly against the bottom flaps. Lastly I seal every seam of the box with packaging tape, and tape over the twine that is on the outside (FedEx doesn't like any loose cords on the outside of the box).

Next time I package one up, I'll take a few pictures and post them.

[David]

Having been the recipient of several of your custom boxes and shipping techniques I can attest to their effectiveness. I usually save the box and either ship back to you or use it in another trade.

[fredgpops]

Re bending - I've had problems with newer culms breaking. More mature culms tend to hold up better. Re boxes - I've found the better boxes at hardware and auto repair dumpsters. In addition, odd size boxes (not square sides) tend to cost more to ship. Re postal shipping - priority mail (arrives in 2 to 3 days) only costs a buck or two more than normal mail. Postal is not bad for plants up to 4 ft in
sq side boxes. Misc - best not to ship in warm weather especially if roots are packed in min dirt conditions. Poking holes in the box helps air circulate. I would not recommend adding paper, etc
to hold the plant in place. These items increase heat and reduce air circulation. Tying branches to the sides of the culm makes packing easier and adds strength to the culm if bending is required.
Make sure "this side up" with an arrow is on all 4 sides of the box and double check the address that you write on the box. Note that people with P/O boxes adds a day or so to end destination as they have to pick it up. I don't recommend shipping recently divided plants that have not been held a few weeks to ensure that they have passed the stress test. Lastly, on requests from long distances, I usually tell people that the ship charge
may be higher than the plant is worth and/or more expensive than if they purchase a plant locally.
Rgds

[fredgpops]

The search function next to "Faq" works real good for helping answer questions from all levels of growers. The search function on top, that taps into other websites, should be up to speed in the near future, according to Bill. My intention was to help new growers tap into answers from past posts on their subject matter not denegrate them. Rgds

[kudzu9]

Fred-
For what it's worth, I didn't think you were denigrating anyone...just being clear and frank.

[kudzu9]

bigone5500-
Even though you are logged in, it looks like you have to log in a second time once you get to that page so that the edit link shows up.

[fredgpops]

Recent shipment show & tell:
1) With agreement from buyer, I tried to keep shipping cost down. I needed to ship 2 plants in 1 box (vs a 2 box shipment), cut the weight from 10lbs, and keep the box as small as possible. This was a coast to coast shipment so cost was a important issue.
2) I did not want a custom box if possible. My experience with customs is that they take too much time to put together. I did a dumpster dive at my local Ace Hardware Store. I estimated height and width of combining a 5 gal, 4 ft plant and a 1 gal, 2 ft. Focus was on width required. I selected a couple of boxes that I could adjust with minimum effort.
3) Weight reduction: I knew I had good root growth on the largest plant. I extracted it from the pot and washed max dirt from the root ball. On the smaller plant, I was carefull to keep 50% of the dirt surrounding the rootball.


Smaller plant:


4) Package rootballs: surround roots with wet papers then put in plastic bags from local markets. Tape then add another bag and tape again. This eliminates water seeping in the end box.

5) Tape 2 plants together at rootball (s):

6) Select best box - mine was a 4 ft, 7"X 7" , drop plants from top down with bottom open. Allow plants past bottom of box so you can determine where to put tie down holes - top of rootballs to hold them down during transit. Puncture holes, insert tie down media, return plants to tie down location then tape bottom of box.


7) Tie down is in place at bottom of box. Taped over for protection.


Need to get height down. Re tallest plant, tie branches to culm. This gives additional strength
to culm when bending and makes packaging easier. Slowly bend plant in box. Cut box as you go.
Do not force bend. Bend will depend on maturity of plant and box opening. I got my tallest pant from 4 ft tp 2 ft without a problem.


9) 4ft box is down to 2ft, 10lbs down to 4.3lbs, plants are held in place to minimize damage during transit. Box shipped postal priority to keep damage to minimum. Total packing time at a minimum.
Cost coast to coast 17 bucks for 2 plants. Label double checked for accuracy. This side up clearly identified. Old info taken off box.


This is a focus on minimizing cost. There are other ways to look at the shipping process depending on end result and amount of shipping, primary shipper does during the year. Rgds

[Alan_L]

Useful "tutorial" -- thanks for sharing!

Also, I like that rock wall.

[ghmerrill]

I agree alan!

C'mon Fred, lets see some landscape photos, its been a few years since you've posted any!

[stevelau1911]

Here's how I've been doing it.

1. Make sure all my divisions are well bushed out with more rhizome than soil in their pots and fairly small for easy packing.

2. Change it to a pot with straight peat moss and moisten it and add root stimulator on it so it can sit for a couple days.

3. Pull it out, triple bag it, make sure the peat moss is wet, and seal it to make sure it doesn't dehydrate.

4. Put it in a box that is barely large enough to fit the plant.

5. Ship it.


This plant in particular is already putting out tons of new rhizomes so I've had to be very careful with it not to break any of them off. The only drawback is with runners, they literally put on a few pounds of rhizome mass by about now and you have to make sure they don't pierce the bags. I prefer sending clumping bamboos since they weigh next to nothing with this method.

[Alan_L]

Steve -- I wouldn't think the root stimulator would be doing anything helpful. What's the reasoning behind using it?

[stevelau1911]

when plants are actively growing like the one shown in this picture, and ready to take a 5 day trip, I want to make sure that it is stabilized throughout the entire process. There is also rapid rhizome growth with this one so I expect the rhizomes to be a couple inches longer and more roots to grow by the time they get to the other side.

I'm also planning on shipping out the rest of my un-planted mosos/heterocladas from last year by some time in August perhaps through ebay through this method since they're starting to look crammed in their tiny pots, but the major problem is that most of them shoot almost continuously, making it very hard for me to take out all the existing soil without really putting them in shock. The goal is to get a 3 gallon plant under 5lbs by shipping only the plant + rootmass & a bit of peat moss. If there is anything cheaper and lighter than peat moss, I'll need to look into it.

[needmore]

Steve, in a different post you said that you don't see rhizome growth now it is too hot and they won't grow until September or October...but you say these are going rhizome crazy now?