Overnight or 2nd day air for online shopping of live plants?

[gu2high]

Overnight is too expensive and I am wondering whether 2nd day air is enough for the live plants to survive? But this is winter and I don't know whether it is ok for the live plants to travel in the cold for 2-3 days. Anyone has the experience?

I am going to order from AquariumPlants and heard they are good.

 

[Jchillin]

If it were me, I'd wait until after this cold snap dissipates if you cannot do overnight. Even with heatpacks, you are at the mercy of the handlers possibly leaving the package outdoors or in an unheated storage area. Or even worse, mishandling by the shipper(s).

 

[rkilling1]

I have been shipping and receiving plants all winter (NE Ohio). I ship them USPS priority mail and only put enough water in with the plants to make the towel moist. I also either give them directly to the mail carrier or to the post office. You don't want them sitting outside for very long.

 

[Purrbox]

It's fine for plants to be in the mail for 2-3 days under normal conditions. Once the temperature gets below freezing it is necessary to include a heatpack to help ensure that the plants are killed as a result of freezing. It's also a good idea to ensure that the plants aren't left exposed to the elements before being picked up or after being dropped off by the shipping company. At a certain point it becomes cold enough that you are better off waiting for better weather conditions before shipping or ordering plants. That's the situation I'm in right now (gotta love Iowa weather) and will probably continue to be in for at least another month or two.

 

[fish 'n' fries]

I ordered plants during the warm spell right before the first ice storms went through the midwest. Shipped 2nd day (not insured) cause the insured overnight was so expensive. I think they must have gone out the day the temperatures plummeted in the midwest. They got here right before we got the bad weather. They looked ok but not great. Planted them anyway and everything (even the ones that had looked good) slowly rotted in the tank. That was just my experience...but now I'm scared to order/ship again in the winter...

 

[happygirl65]

I have gotten some plants this winter that came USPS priority from various places and all of them arrived fine with no damage. But the shippers were careful to watch the weather and make sure to wait a few days to get through really cold snaps.

 

[SparKy697]

I just received java moss from Texas in an envelope. It was -10 today and they were shipped without a heat pack. They did not come from anybody on this site. I'm quite surprised how good they look.

I won't know for a few days how well they are doing, but my point is that if plants are packaged properly and with heat packs you have nothing to worry about.

 

[travis simonson]

My experience (and I've ordered a ton of plants through the mail) has been that, if you even suspect that conditions may be adverse, you insure them. Most good retailers will provide heat packs in cold weather, but there's nothing like insurance, especially with a big order.