dumb trading questions

What should I ship irises in -- padded envelopes? boxes?
If it is a pay-postage arrangement how much is postage usually and does it include the cost of the packing material?

Ship in boxes with a light, airy packing material such as excelsior or straw. Do NOT use any sort of plastic or styrofoam packing material, and do NOT overstuff the box with any type of packing material. The idea here is to use only enough packing material to prevent the irises from shifting all over the box in transit. You want to punch numerous holes in the sides of the box to allow for air circulation around the plants.

Make sure the plants are perfectly dry before shipping (assuming you are mailing bearded irises and not beardless). Any moisture retained in the leaf fans will likely cause the irises to rot in transit.

Live plants should be mailed USPS Priority Mail on a Monday or Tuesday so the plants will arrive as quickly as possible without being held over a weekend in an overheated postal warehouse or loading dock. Priority Mail boxes, packaging tape, labels, etc. can be acquired free of charge through your P.O. or ordered free of charge through usps.com. If you prepay and print out your shipping labels through the usps.com website, you can get delivery confirmation for free, as well. Postage cost depends on the size, weight, and destination of the box and can be determined on the usps.com website. Postage and packing costs are normally absorbed by each trader for the plants he or she mails out, though other arrangements can be made if both traders are agreeable.

Laurie

This message was edited Jul 26, 2006 8:28 PM

I dried mine out properly for one collector and she complained that they were "all dried up". So, I didn't dry the second group and they arrived all mushy. Just no pleasing some people...

Laurie is right. Dry is best for your iris. I like to mark the name on each root for easy identification, but my handwriting is awful. Sometimes I just wrap each group of roots loosely in newspaper and write the name on the paper.

Thank you laurief for such a detailed answer -- particularly about the plastic packing material. I have so much of that stuff lying around that I was going to reuse it with the plants, yikes!

I got some in the mail last Thursday that were all dried out and they are already sending out new leaves so I think dry is better as well.

In this heat, it would be natural for bearded irises to dry out very quickly. Even so, it's always safest with bearded irises to err on the side of too dry rather than risk shipping them with any moisture retained in the leaf fans at all.

I've been mailing A LOT of bearded irises this summer, even in this heat, and all have apparently been arriving in great shape. After I dig and trim the irises, I soak them for 20 mins in a solution of 1 part household bleach to 9 parts water, then rinse in clear water. This helps reduce the possible transmission of soil and plant pathogens from one garden to another. Then I hang the irises upside down in a length of chicken wire stretched across two low trusses in my garage overhang out of direct sunlight and give them about 24 hrs to dry -- longer if temps are cool or there's a lot of humidity in the air. Hanging upside down allows moisture to drain out of the leaf fans.

It's easiest to identify each cultivar by writing its name (or color and class, if you're sending unknowns) on a single, central leaf with a Sharpie. Do NOT write across two leaves, as they will separate in transit and make the writing illegible. Do NOT write on an outer leaf, as outer leaves are the first to die and shrivel up, again making the writing illegible.

Laurie

This message was edited Jul 27, 2006 7:09 AM

Whoops, I've been trimming and bleaching some pass-along irises this afternoon... found this thread, got as far as "out of direct sunlight" and ran out to rescue them from my back deck! Thanks!

I have a question... after dividing some really huge clumps, I have a good number of smaller "orphan" rhizomes that don't have fans on them. About half of these have several places where new fans are forming, with small green sprouts showing, so I'm pretty sure those should be all right if I just plant them... But, what about the rhizomes that aren't showing any sign of sprouting at present? Should I even bother planting them? I realize that if I don't plant it, it surely will not grow, but if it has little chance of growing I'd rather use my digging time to plant something else.

What you are describing as "orphans" are actually bloomed "mothers". The ones that aren't currently showing any signs of increases sprouting, may or may not develop increases later. Whether or not you replant them depends on if you want additional plants of those particular cultivars enough to bother planting them and waiting to see if they increase. If you have plenty of viable, growing rhizomes of those same cultivars to replant, go ahead and trash the mothers, or give them away to folks who want to take a chance on them.

Laurie

Thanks, Laurie! I think I will probably not both with them unless I have a little space and a little energy left after planting out all the others (seems unlikely)... I don't think I'll press them on anyone else, as they are nothing fancy.

I appreciate your patience... this isn't my first newbie question, and I'm sure it won't be my last!