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Thread: Shipping plants to Sweden: any experience

  1. #1
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    Shipping plants to Sweden: any experience

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    Hi,

    not sure if this should be in "planted tank" or "trading post" but whatever...

    A friend in Sweden has requested if it's possible to send some plants to him via mail. Does anyone have any experience with sending plants overseas? What are the things I should watch out for to ensure healthy shipments on arrival? And declaration of customs is required in which country?

    I was advised by Karin (Far East Aquatics) to wrap the plants in wet newspapers and ship via those envelopes with plastic air pockets in them to protect the plants.
    Cheers
    Boon Yong

  2. #2
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    Re: Shipping plants to Sweden: any experience

    Boon Yong,

    What plants will you be sending?

    I've sent aquatic plants to many people living all over the world and the thing I can tell you is it depends very much on the species of plant. Some plants like mosses and ferns travel very well but stem plants usually won't survive the journey.

    An airtight plastic bag is very important. I don't use ziplock bags as I think they are not airtight enough. The plastic is also too thin. I use thick plastic bags (small ones) and seal them with my lighter. It's also very important to keep the plant dry, with just a little bit of moisture. Too much water will cause the plant to rot during the journey.

    I use padded envelopes which are available in all post offices. Small ones cost 50 cents each while the big ones (A3) size is 70 cents, I think. If I'm using small envelopes which I usually do, I don't declare the contents. In other words, I pretend that it's just normal mail and usually, it will get through customs without any problems. Big envelopes, however, are a different matter. Chances are they will be opened for inspection even if you declare the contents.

    If you can, send the bare minimum. If for instance, you are sending ferns, cut off all the leaves and send just the stem. If it's an Anubias, cut off all leaves too and send just the rhizome. If it's an Aponogeton, send just the bulb. For other plants, snip off the roots as much as possible and pull away all old leaves. Forget about using newspapers to wrap the plants.

    The lighter and smaller the package, the better the chances of it going through customs without being opened.

    I rarely have to use more than a Sing $1 stamp. $1 would get a small, light padded envelope to anywhere in the world.

    Loh K L

  3. #3
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    I got moss from Loh K L and it went great.
    Remember that Sweden right now is filled with snow (almost) and your plantshippment may freeze.

    Good luck!
    /Pär

  4. #4
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    Re: Shipping plants to Sweden: any experience

    Quote Originally Posted by cheeboonyong
    A friend in Sweden has requested if it's possible to send some plants to him via mail. Does anyone have any experience with sending plants overseas? What are the things I should watch out for to ensure healthy shipments on arrival? And declaration of customs is required in which country?
    Boon Yong, when my Echinodorus Ozelot was generously sprouting plantlets, I sent them to the UK and USA even through winter, BUT it was packed in a little self-made styrofoam box, not padded envelope.

    Ensure roots are soiless and trim down on the leaves. Pack in thick plastic bags like Kwek Leong said, no wet newspapers, and the plants will survive (but remember that Echinodorus are tough plants. YMMV with more delicate species).

    I declared them as 'tissue samples' (yeah, I cheated! :wink: ) and the recipient didn't have any problems either.
    I'm back & keeping 'em fingers wet,
    Ronnie Lee

  5. #5
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    I recevied a mail from Poh San asking for advise on sending stem plants. For the benefit of the members here, this is my reply to him.

    Sending stem plants are more complicated as compared to moss. Moss and riccia can take crushing but not stem plants. For beginners I would suggest that you send using box with moist newspaper. This will prevent the plant from drying up. Once you wrap the plants with moist newspaper, put them in airtight plastic bag then into the box. The box will prevent crushing of plants.

    The other important factor will be timing. You have to know the number of days it will take to reach Greece, check it out on the Singapore Post website (you can find out the charges there). From the timing work out which day of the week you should send out the plant to prevent the plant being stuck in either their post office or our post office during weekend. Eg. If it takes about 9 days to reach Greece, you will have to send before Thursday, any day after that will hit the weekends when it arrives in their local province/states post office.

    Lastlywill be the type of plants, not all kind of plants can be sent via air mail, you will have to test it on your side first. Do a mock up of the type of plant you intend to send, pack them, exactly the way you send and leave it aside. Check them on the expected arrival date. If the plant rots or melts, then it is obvious that you shouldn’t send that plant. (This step is important) Alternatively you can you express service, min $40.00 or more

    There are other ways of sending, but of course this is the simplest.
    A few hobbyists wanted to send plants in return using my own methods, non succeeded. Thus I shall not touch my ways of sending plants here. The key point to sending plants is to prevent the plant from being crush.

    regards
    Gwee Sia Meng
    AKA 08742
    SAA 163
    Fish List

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