Sending Seeds

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sun, 14 Jul 2013 14:46:14 PDT
Speaking of small cardboard boxes, I was very frustrated at being 
unable to find any at nearby Post Office branches and having the USPS 
website malfunction on me, so I went to an Office Depot to buy boxes 
and discovered they have STACKS of USPS Priority Mail boxes there, 
for free, because they ship them from their shipping desk. So if your 
PO is going under as so many are, head for Office Depot.

The smallest Priority boxes are fiendish to assemble but are perfect 
for mailing seeds or a few bulbs.

WHen I did the NARGS Seed Exchange intake phase for three years, I 
saw every possible form of seed packaging and mailing device. The 
most crucial points are (a) tape seed envelopes shut, do not depend 
on their glue; and (b) be aware that some seeds, such as Paeonia, are 
very moist and will mold in plastic, cause paper envelopes to fall 
apart, and excessively moisten other kinds of seeds in the parcel. I 
usually ended up with a good amount of loose seed that fell out of 
the mailing envelopes or boxes when I emptied them. I dared not plant 
it, though; it went into the burn barrel along with the noxious weed 
seed that some donors thought were interesting "wildflowers."

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA

A> Most here know what I am about to say in this paragraph. Dell has more
> > experience
> > shipping fleshy seed and small bulbs than most of us. He often uses small
> > cardboard
> > boxes. Inside he uses foam peanuts and paper for cushioning. For hard dry
> > seed Dell uses
> > padded envelopes.




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