Waterlogged orchids in package

[junjie_z11]

Hello everybody! This is my first post here goes..
Sometime last summer I received my orchids by parcel and they're swimming in water! Luckily some dendrobiums and a phal survived. The rest, mostly phals were lost to root and leaf rot

Here's how it happened:
While on vacation, I bought and shipped some orchids to my home address.
To save on weight, they were shipped bareroot with damp paper towels wrapped around the roots.
I packed them in an airtight plastic box--the type used for food storage.
It took 1 WEEK for the courier to deliver the box. Upon opening I was surprised to see my orchids waterlogged. It appeared that water "leaked" from the phals and flooded the container!

My questions are:
1. How did water get into my box? I didn't use too much water I just sprayed the paper towels just enough to get them moist. Or was it because of the heat or humidity in an airtight container? It was hot then around 32 C (~90s F).

2.I'm planning to send another box soon and I'd like to prevent the same mistake. How should I pack my orchids for a week long delivery?
Express air freight is not an option; nor is shipping in an open ventilated box.

Hope you guys can help me out!

[Gin]

Hi welcome to the orchid board This is what I think , it was hot , the plastic sweated and the box was air tight .
If I send thru the mail I use a damp paper towel not wet on the roots then wrap the plants in news paper put in a cardboard box with either wadded up news paper around them or the poly fluff they use in pillows to keep them from rattling around in the box if any are larger they are taped to the bottom of the box . Hope it goes better next time Gin

[Izzie]

Originally Posted by Gin

Hi welcome to the orchid board This is what I think , it was hot , the plastic sweated and the box was air tight .
If I send thru the mail I use a damp paper towel not wet on the roots then wrap the plants in news paper put in a cardboard box with either wadded up news paper around them or the poly fluff they use in pillows to keep them from rattling around in the box if any are larger they are taped to the bottom of the box . Hope it goes better next time Gin

Water cannot be created in an "airtight" container. If there was more water than you began with, it was introduced in transit somehow.

Hope next time goes better- Gin's packing system is pretty good.
And welcome to OB!

[ronaldhanko]

Even tiny plants will usually survive dry. I always dry out plants before shipping them and wrap them in newspaper or something that will absorb water. The combination both of heat and water or of cold and water are more likely to cause trouble than dryness.

[junjie_z11]

Originally Posted by Izzie

Water cannot be created in an "airtight" container. If there was more water than you began with, it was introduced in transit somehow.

Hope next time goes better- Gin's packing system is pretty good.
And welcome to OB!

Thanks I'll try Gin's suggestion.

Izzie, the plastic box had a snap-on lid pretty sealed airtight I don't think water was introduced from the outside...

Is it possible that the water somehow came from the leaves an the orchids drowned in its own water?! I've read somewhere that phals undergo "transpiration". Any ideas on this?

I sent 4 phals, 3 dendrobiums and a vanda. When I opened the box, there was this rotten smell, the roots were mushy, and those orchids with soaked leaves were eventually goners. Will it help if I sprayed some fungicide before shipping?

[Daethen]

I agree with Gin. I wouldn't do the airtight thing as orchids like air movement. I know they won't really get it inside a box, but at least they would get air exchange. Any I have ordered have been packed as Gin describes and I have always had great luck with survival.

[CTB]

Welcome to the orchid board. You have joined a great bunch of people, as you see how many are trying to help. Enjoy! Make lots of posts.

[tucker85]

I know Cattleyas can be shipped bare root with no moisture at all. But orchids do need some air. I would not put them in an airtight container and I would not put wet paper towels in the box. I think something in your method caused moisture to actually come out of the psuedobulb. I don't have experience shipping Phals. They may be different.

[junjie_z11]

Thanks for all the info! You all have been very helpful. I'm the persistent kind of person I'll give it another try. I'm probably the only person in this board who managed to kill his orchids even before they reached home!