Shipping S/H plants: in pot w/ LECA or bareroot?
 

I've been playing around with various S/H parameters, media, watering automation schemes, etc. I've been doing this with plugs from Carmela or OrchidWorks. I now have hundreds of plants that have served their guinea pig roles and are outgrowing their small containers and my limited space. I'd like to sell/trade them.

What experience do people have with shipping plants in S/H? Should the pot+LECA be taped up like one in bark would be or should they just be bare-rooted, maybe shipping the LECA packaged separately, depending on what sells? Bare root would save the poor appearance issues of cruddy LECA and algae-covered plastic cups that many of these plants sport.

Shipping in its dry LECA will be less disturbance to the plant, unless it is dormant, in which case the bare-root method would be no disturbance at all.

This is a question I have wondered about myself too.
All plants I have ever bought have been sent either barerroot in bark or in moss.
They are protective and soft.
Clay pebbles are hard and a package gets thrown in transport.

I would not be worried about the pebbles being wet or dry, I would worry about the roots getting squashed when the package gets dropped. It's just a question I have wondered about myself. Maybe someone has received a plant sent like this.

I used to do it all the time, but shipping is expensive with the extra weight. Bare root might be a better option, and let the buyer get and prepare his or her own LECA. If you do ship them potted, this is how I did it:

>>Fill the top of the pot with wadded-up paper and tape over it to hold it in place. I used paper towels, as they are more absorbent of leaks. Because the LECA can move more easily than most organic media, do a real good job of that, leaving no gaps.

>>Drain the pot through the holes in the pot sidewall, then dry the area and tape over the holes.

>>Despite that, it can still leak, so I found that putting the pot in a plastic bag and using a rubber band to hold it closed around the base of the plant helped a great deal.

As I don’t deal with plants much these days, I have a lot of unneeded 7” x 10” bags in packs of 100 that are yours for the cost of shipping, if you want some.

Ask the buyer whether they prefer bare root or in the original LECA. Most who purchase may want to transition to their regular way of growing. Then if preferred in LECA, pack as Ray says. Weight should be fairly irrelevant for priority shipping, and small amounts don't weigh much anyway.

Ray I just got fertilizer and a plant from you, I wish I had known about free bags! 😜

I’d take some if you don’t think you’ll need them.

How many would you like? I have packs of 100 available. I can probably get 300-400 in a flat rete, padded envelope.

Please PM your email address or email me so I can send you a PayPal invoice.