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Originally Posted by orchidsamore
The thing I notice everyone ignores is that heat in the summer is a bigger danger than cold in the winter.
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No argument there Jerry, but this is a thread about
winter shipments.
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As to heat packs - you may not like this opinion but having used tens of thousands of them when I used to ship tropical fish and now with orchids - I can say they do not work. They are a placebo for the recipient. A heat pack only lasts 10-12 hours at best. From the time the package is opened to the time the first courier places it on a plane it is already finished. It then sits overnight in some northern terminal. The heat also is concentrated on whatever is touching it and it is not hot enough to move heat through the plant to the other side of the package.
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This I have to disagree with, or at a minimum it makes me think you haven't checked out the newer packs.
About 10 years ago or so, Rod Venger put a temperature recorder in a box with a 48-hour heat pack out in the winter weather (Colorado Springs), and the air in the box stayed above 50° for about 42 hours. More recently, the moderating technology has improved those to 60- or even 72 hours.
When using heat packs, it is important to consider the volume of the box so you can use the correct number of packs, and be sure to allow air infiltration.
All of these packs are based upon iron filings and salt - once exposed to oxygen and water (humidity), the salt accelerates the oxidation (rusting) of the iron, which is an exothermic reaction. Particle size and the addition of other stuff (carbon, coir dust, etc.) control the reaction rate and life of the pack. However, they all have one thing in common - if you totally seal the box, the air infiltration will be insufficient to sustain the oxidation reaction, and the process will shut down, rending a cold heat pack.
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Couriers have heated rooms for perishable products. If they are placed there the plants will arrive fine with or without heat packs.
I received earlier today two shipments from Hawaii (no heat packs) worth over $5000 all of which were flowering plants (probably 1400 flower buds not one blasted). Neither the shippers nor I ever considered the temperature.
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No argument there, either. However, one should not equate the large-scale transport of agricultural products from Hawaii to the mainland with domestic shipping. FedEx, for example, is one of the largest transporters of such goods from Hawaii, and has dedicated, temperature-controlled aircraft and receiving facilities specifically for them. Likewise, their deliveries out of those facilities are expedited to avoid prolonged exposure to the weather. Unfortunately, your average distribution terminal does not have any temperature-controlled space at all, and their trucks and vans are usually unheated as well.
I actually learned this "the hard way", at work: being the corporate logistics manager for a $500-million specialty chemicals company, I got involved with all aspects of shipping and warehousing. We spent between $15,000 and $20,000 a week on FedEx and UPS (and that was at a discount rate I cannot even approach for First Rays). Some of the chemicals we shipped were highly temperature-sensitive, and even with priority-type express deliveries (those that go overnight and are delivered first thing in the morning), we saw some freezing. Because of that, I've been in terminals all over North America, and unless they are dedicated to horticulture/agriculture, there's no exceptional temperature control.
What's too cold?
Lori
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