I don't have a trade list set up, but someone saw my garden journal and asked if she could have a division of lamium maculatum 'White Nancy'. Since I was at the post office anyways this morning, I asked the worker what I should know about shipping a plant to Florida. He was really clueless except to say that he didn't think they allowed it. ??? He told me to read Publication 14 at www.usps.com, which I did, but it didn't really clarify anything for me. Can someone please give me a clue? Thanks, Tamara
Confused about laws re: shipping between states
Certain plants are not allowed in certain due to their invasiveness. You can check a state's noxious weed list. The warmer climates tend to be more restrictive since they don't have a winter to kill off some of the invasive species. You and your trader just have to be aware of what is considered a noxious weed in that area.
Most plants can be shipped across state lines. But it is illegal to ship plants outside the US, altho some folks do it, and you can't ship to Hawaii at all, as far as I know. Plants I shipped outside the US were confiscated by customs. So I only ship within the US. I've never had any plants shipped within the US confiscated by customs. And I've been shipping plants for about 7 years.
Good luck!
I just keep my mouth shut and dont tell the postal workers what I am sending.
Now...having said that I dont send things knowingly to places they are not allowed.
I just put persihable - protect from heat - on the box and ship priority.
I dont ship outside the US anymore because of the expense. Inside the US, Calif seems to be the only state that I have really worried about. Just use good sense, you dont want to send something out that will reek havoc on the ecosystem...at the same time you dont have to tell the postal workers everything either.... :)
i just ship it in plain boxes and dont say what i send . you dont have to fill out anything in the us.
just look and make sure its not on the no no lists for that state. example water hyacinth is illegal here in sc and ga even to own it is illegal but other states up north can own it.
most things are being hit by customs now so shipping out side the states is becoming a thing of the past.
just make sure it isnt on the invasive list and dont say what your shipping. you should be fine.
Yikes...guess my packages are "neon billboards" then! LOL Not only do I punch small holes all over it - I also mark on each side in black sharpie PLANTS PLEASE HANDLE W/CARE
The postal employees at my post office know I'm mailing plants and they have no issue with it. It is not illegal to ship most plants to most states. So there is no need for secrecy. Nurseries do it all the time. And they have no special certificate when shipping inside the US.
You'll notice that some nurseries and some Ebay sellers will state when they advertise some plants that they will not ship them to certain states. As you acquire more experience with shipping plants, you'll learn which plants you can't ship to which states. For example, my brother lives in Phoenix but it's illegal for me to send him morning glory seeds. Because the plants reseed abundantly, they can grow like kudzu there.
Don't get too nervous, and don't feel like you're doing something wrong by mailing plants. I've been doing it for about 7 years without any problem.
Chantell,
Actually, your "neon billboards" are are good. I ALWAYS mark my packages as live plants. With the exceptions of California and Arizona (within US continental borders only), unless a plant is a pest, or invasive, you'll have no problems.
The holes aren't necessary, and may weaken the box. They may also allow the plants inside to dry out sooner.
I've shipped houseplants all over the US with no problem. As for what the clerks think, most don't really care. As long as it's wrapped well, there's no problem. I know. I've been working for USPS for 29 years now, and I've seen just about everything you could imagine.
The only tip that I could give is to use Priority mail with a tracking number. That way, both parties can track the parcel. I use this method only, and it's very reliable.
Marsha
Marsha,
Great to get insight straight from the "source"!! Thank you! I didn't think about the holes weakening the box...yikes. My concern was that I sometime ship to the warmer states and I though circulation would be a good thing. Hmmm...I'll have to rethink that maybe. Except for cacti and certain cuttings mine always have the roots or bottom of cutting wrapped in damp paper towels with is wrapped well in a plastic bag...then rolled in newspaper...so hopefully mine won't dry out.
And to any of you I've traded with - pu-lez tell me if something came to you in bad shape. I would be horrified!!
i have shipped to canada and postage is cheaper than sending priority in the u.s. you can only ship plants to canada by air mail. also, i did ship some plants to pakistan that took about 2 weeks for my trader to get. and that was expensive.
Chantell,
You're welcome! Glad I could help. You wrap your plants just like I do.
The reason I don't think that any type of ventilation is necessary, is because the plants are usually in transit such a short time that they really don't suffer. If heat is a concern, I'd just watch the weather, and don't mail during especially hot spells.
My main concern is the strength of the box. All parcels are fairly mixed in size when they come in from the Sectional Centers. (Like the Chicago MPO, for example.) So, that means that at some point in time your little plant package could be traveling with parcels as heavy as 25-50 pounds. Usually not the case, but it does happen.
The stronger the box, the better the odds that everything will make it there in one piece.
As I said before, I use Priority mail...not just because of the good service alone, but because you can get the boxes and tape for free from the PO!
Except for the paper towels, baggies, etc., and the Postage, I haven't paid anything for shipping materials for about 5 years now!
Marsha.
(PS- You can even order a couple sizes of boxes from USPS.com- for free- and they'll ship them for free! I'm sorry if this has turned into a commercial...it's just that free is very good in my book! ;D)
Marsha,
You are so right re free supplies - know you'll cringe when I say this though. I ordered boxes from the USPS store 6 weeks ago - I've yet to receive any of it. I was very disappointed. Luckily - I went to a couple of different post offices and finally one had the triangle tubes in stock. My poor trader waited a month for her cutting...thank goodness she was so patient.
Marsha, can you still get free tape at your post office? The US postal service quit giving the tape away for free about a year ago. I can't order it online nor can I get it from my p.o.
If you order boxes from the p.o. and don't receive them within two weeks, order again. I usually get my boxes within a week, but I have had to order them twice to get them.
This message was edited May 27, 2006 4:39 PM
ButterflyChaser,
You have to go to the PO to get it. Ours gives them away, but you have to ask at the front window. At least the last time I checked, they did. ***This is not correct...I was mistaken. The PO doesn't give tape away any more to people, because people turned around and sold them on e-bay. Sorry for the bad info...I found out, and updated as soon as I could.***
But again, I haven't had to ask ever- I just go to the supply cabinet and take what I need.
(Not the stuff you have to pay for, just the tape and boxes!)
I'll ask Tuesday at work to make sure for you, and when I find out, I'll post it for you.
This message was edited May 31, 2006 3:42 PM
Thanks Butterfly - I will reorder then!!
Chantell,
No, it doesn't surprise me about the triangle tubes. I can't get them easily, either! This is one of the few gripes I have about Priority mailing supplies. It depends on the local person doing the ordering. If they're on the ball...no prob. But if they're not...well, we've both seen the results.
The last tubes I got were ordered by a customer and never picked up...needless to say, I pounced on them, when I found out they were going to get rid of them.
I got my boxes within a couple of days, but I'm still waiting for the scale I ordered from them about three-four weeks ago! Well, at least no-one can accuse the system of playing favorites...we get just as frustrated with the system as people who don't work there.
Actually, I'd have to say I get MORE frustrated than the average person because I know how the system is supposed to work and it drives me nuts, because a few knuckleheads can cause a disaster...and half the time, they're the ones in charge!
Sorry...*sheepishly climbs down off of the soap box.*
Venting is a good thing...very healthy...I say!!! I can certainly understand why you'd esp. get frustrated!! I ordered mine online so there's no local person to "blame" and honestly I like all of our local folks so it's better that way. :)
I ordered triangle boxes online this Spring prior to shipping out several nanner pups. The website said they would be here in two days...it took two weeks. I had already dug the nanners and could not wait, so I sent my DH out post office hopping. He went to the POs at the big city up the street and couldn't find any...finally as a last resort he stopped by our little rural PO...and they had exactly the number of triangle boxes I needed! The triangle boxes I ordered finally arrived, as did the smaller boxes I ordered. What really cracked me up, though, was that one of my USPS box orders came UPS! Go figure! Anyway, I now have a backstock of boxes in my closet. I'll be ready in the future...
When I went to ship the nanner pups, it was pretty obvious what was inside. The roots were a little bit wider than what the large triangle tubes were meant for, so the boxes were a little wacky-whumpus. The PO employee asked me if I was shipping perishable plants and I told him 'yes'...he was very helpful and polite...making sure to mark the boxes 'perishable' and even added 'keep from heat' beside the perishable stamp. Of course, as I said, it is a small rural PO and everybody knows everybody around here.....so I get excellent service as long as I stay away from the Big City (relatively speaking) PO.
OK, here's the story on the tape, I talked to our supply clerk, and the PO DOESN'T give out free Priority tape.
Here's why:
People were taking whole cases of the tape for free, and putting them up for sale on e-bay. Thanks to a few greedy people, no one gets free tape anymore.
(Unless you work there, of course...)
THAT is just plain common behavior...geez!!!
Thanks for all the tips. A concern I have that hasn't been discussed here is which States prohibit soil from coming into the State.
I hate to ship plants bare root, even though that seems to be the recommended (and even required) method. I think it further stresses the plant and may result in the person that receives the plant ending up with a plant that doesn't survive when it probably would have survived if the soil were left around the roots.
I've received plants from some of the major catalog companies potted up with soil, so there may be no prohibition in Florida about soil crossing the State line, but I think California and Oregon and some other States do prohibit soil being shipped in?
This thread is getting kind of long... should I start a new thread to discuss the issue of prohibitions in regard to soil shipment with plants?
Jeremy
Jeremy,
Good idea - re new thread
Will do!
Jeremy
Since we had the attention of a postal worker here, I wanted to repeat a conversation with my local mailman.
I am new to this small town of 900 or so people. We have a small post office with a different kind of people you find in the big city.
RE: Delivery Confirmation My mailman and my post office, most always scans my priority with DC boxes upon acceptance. When you go to the website to check status of the box, this information is there by the end of the day.
Since I use the Click 'n Ship option I get the free DC on all boxes, even trades.
I have a trader out of Cincy Ohio who states he did not receive my package and when he talked to the postal workers they told him to wait a month to put a tracer on it. This, after all scanning was done by both sending PO and receiving PO and shown as delivered.
When I spoke to my mailman about this, he thought the 30 day wait was wrong. He also said that all post offices, postal workers were supposed to scan the DC bar code no matter if Click 'n Ship was used or if it was paid for at the post office. Discussions here and elsewhere pretty much confirm that, in the big cities, certainly, the post workers feel the delivery office should be the only one to scan the bar code, not the accepting office. If you don't use DC the PO says you cannot trace a box. If the package with DC is not scanned at the drop off point, how can you trace a package anyway?
Frankly, when I lived in Lauderdale, paid for DC at the PO counter, many times they did not even scan it then.
UPS and Fedex workers would have a hard time keeping their jobs if they took that attitude.
As for the tape, when I first ordered the free priority supplies from the PO, I included about 3 rolls of tape, not knowing they would last a long time if I used them only for taping the outside seams of the boxes. After over 2 years, I still have 1 1/2 rolls left and I go easy with it and do not mis use it.
Any thoughts here or plans to change the world of postal service?
Molly
:^))))
Molly, Unfortunately, my p.o. is one of those that doesn't scan the DC if it's printed online. So I quit printing the postage online. They'll scan the green DC sticker I affix, but not the DC bar code when printed from online. I've argued and argued til I'm blue in the face. My feller got me so mad as kept arguing that "It's in the system when you print it," (WRONG) that I nearly went postal! LOL
Well, as you know, I'm hosting a co-op. I carried in my first batch of 15 boxes yesterday to a smaller post office in town. I held up the line for a considerable amount of time as the postal employee manually scanned my little green stickers and keyed in zip codes. He mentioned I could print the postage out online and it would save a lot of time. So I explained to him and the other Postmaster of this particular P.O. the dilemma.
They suggested that I print the metered label WITHOUT paying for postage online. Then I still get free DC and they MUST scan it when I drop it off and pay for the postage. I may try it at some point, but it seems like just as much work as writing out a label. I would save 50 cents a package if it actually works that way. But that would be the only advantage.
from Molly's trader
Where I used to live (same PO), my mail was delivered by "casuals" for 3 1/2 years. I receive mail for even numbers in the forties or fifties for any street that began with a 'D'. Casuals were paid $120 per week and only worked for two weeks.
My new place was vacant for three years with mail being delivered. After I moved in last year they declared it vacant and put a red tag on my mail box.
UUallace,
Cincy is a big city? I thought it was. That is too bad that you have casuals delivering the mail. Where's their motivation to do it right?
I am so glad to be living in a very small town. It's like going back in time to when people took pride in their work.
Molly
:^)))