How cold can temps get when shipping plants?

cichlidcichlid

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Jun 15, 2006
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If I wanted to ship plants without heat packs what would be the lowest temp I could do it?

Right now it is 60's in the day and 48 degrees at night. Is this to cold for shipping?

I want to do it as cheap as possible so that would exclued heat packs.
 
In these temps you gotta have heat packs. Even ten minutes at below freezing will kill them.
 
i really dont trust anything under 50s. most bring the packages in at night so they are not sitting out side in the cold. this should help but again dont always count on it. not only you have to factor in the temps where you are but where its going and in between.

how much are the plants worth you are shipping? most people will pay a couple buck extra to make sure they show up safely. i know people who really dont need a ton of heat packs so i am offering on my site 7 shipped flat rate mail to save on shipping.
http://www.bobstropicalplants.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=272
 
It really depends where they are coming from and/or where they are going. If they could be exposed to freezing or below, better be safe than sorry.

Generally, if you ship Priority Mail, they are pretty much always on the go. Meaning, they are either in a truck where the temp won't drop down to freezing or in a warehouse for the sort where the temp won't drop below freezing.

Bottom line, middle of December, I spend the $2 extra bucks just to be safe.
 
normally anything above freezing is fine. as stated it depends on where they are going. if their temps get down too low you need the heatpack if not you should be fine
 
Ditto- as long as they don't freeze, they are fine. I have been sending plants via priority mail in winter for years without problem. I usually try to check the forcast where they are being delivered. If they are expecting a cold snap (below freezing) I will make sure I am sending plants to an address where someone will be home to recieve them or an office address if the buyer works days. I ship early in the week to make sure they don't spend the weekend in a post office warehouse.

If I were buying plants I would make sure what the policy is on DOA plants. If they require you to pay for a heat pack to keep the refund/replacement guarantee I would pay for it. Not everyone is as considerate when it comes to shipping plants- or shipping plants that are only top quality when they are packed. I'd hate to see you loose out over $2.
 
i really dont trust anything under 50s. most bring the packages in at night so they are not sitting out side in the cold. this should help but again dont always count on it. not only you have to factor in the temps where you are but where its going and in between.

how much are the plants worth you are shipping? most people will pay a couple buck extra to make sure they show up safely. i know people who really dont need a ton of heat packs so i am offering on my site 7 shipped flat rate mail to save on shipping.
http://www.bobstropicalplants.com/store/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=272

I'm trying to figure out how you can fit 7 of them in a USPS small flat rate box. I cannot even figure out how to ship 5 of them in a small flat rate box. I'm going to experiment some more right now.
 
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