Thoughts on mailing trades

Hi all,
I've heard that packages are taking longer to go through the mail because of tighter security. I just wondered if everyone is still mailing trades as usual or doing anything differently?
Cindy

I'm mailing a living vine soon. (Be watching, tiG) I plan to get it to the post office early on a Monday and sending it "priority." That should give it the best chance of survival. I also need to wait until this 95+ temps cool down.

I DO NOT LIKE California weather, at all. Sun and heat are not my cup of tea. Give me overcast skies with soft breezes (or raging gales), damp, so-called "dull" weather any time! But on a positive note; I've never grown roses like the ones I can grow here!

Heard they're going to be looking real closely at misshapen, lumpy packages....
and that pretty much details what we mail in envelopes.

"eyes"

I haven't noticed a slowdown. I've got some hostas to send out Monday, and I figure I'll make sure their roots have plenty of moist paper towels around them,and double-bag the roots to allow for the extra moisture.

I have found that wrapping the foliage of plants in newspaper really does help minimize wilting. It's also a good barrier between foliage and plastic if you're putting the whole thing in a plastic bag of any sort.

PoppySue mentioned in another thread that marking our packages as "seeds" or "live plants" should help out the P.O. folks.

I've gotten several packages this week, and they are moving fast. Nothing I've gotten looked even slighty bad. gv, I was reading the primer again this morning, and am still amazed at the info there.

I haven't noticed any problems either. 3 or 4 days for delivery. sue

tiG I'm glad you are finding helpful hints in there. The credit belongs to all the DGers who sent in all their tips - it was a fun project to work on, and I hope it helps out new traders AND attracts more folks to Dave's Garden :)

I'd like to do something similar for co-ops - probably more of an FAQ. But NOT until I finish my current project, which is compiling quotes for daily newsletter So, got any great quotes? please post them here: http://davesgarden.com/showthread/118496.html

I could sure use some help with them - I've got a bit of a warped sense of humor, so ya'll really shouldn't leave it to me to come up with ALL the quotes :)

International stuff is taking forever.I mailed a birthday package to Norway on the 25th of Sept. and it still isn't there yet.Domestic stuff doesn't look like it has slowed much,maybe a day or so.But I'll bet after this weekend,it will get more noticeable.

I got some ferns 10 days later that were sent Priority Mail on September 25. It had a stamped message "Scan Before Delivery." Praying they survive.

zeb

Scan before delivery?? Were they sent delivery confirmation?

I got two priority packages today, one dated 10-9 and one dated 10-10. I did mail three things overseas, hope they get there.

On a round robin I sent the package out regular mail (from Iowa to Texas, I think) on 9/23 and it didn't reach the next person on the list until 10/11.

Poppysue, yes they had delivery confirmation. I guess that explains it. I thought it was a security thing. I was thinking WOW these guys are serious.

zeb