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Sending clones - best way

Katsu

Active member
Veteran
Unrooted cuts, no added moisture, ziplock baggy with no air. DVD cases (remove disc insert) make great flat packaging.

I've sent a lot and this is by far the best. In the winter the cuts can sometimes go as long as a week in transport and still make it.

Any moisture or air only speeds up decomposition. It takes a while for a cut to dry out...
 

FireIn.TheSky

Active member
Well theres a blast from the past. Whats good? :joint:

I was actually just reading a story about you and chocolate trip earlier today, you're somewhat of a legend round these parts :tiphat:
 

PepperLover

New member
Unrooted cuts, no added moisture, ziplock baggy with no air. DVD cases (remove disc insert) make great flat packaging.

I've sent a lot and this is by far the best. In the winter the cuts can sometimes go as long as a week in transport and still make it.

Any moisture or air only speeds up decomposition. It takes a while for a cut to dry out...
Thank you for the tip sir. :tiphat:
 

Katsu

Active member
Veteran
Extreme temperatures should be avoided. I find cool weather(above freezing) the best
 

wildgrow

, The Ghost of
Veteran
Extreme temperatures should be avoided. I find cool weather(above freezing) the best



Had cuts sent 2-day mail in Nov. They got posted with the evening mail and it was a holiday or bad weather weekend, so they took 4 days to get to me. One of those early arctic expresses was parked over the country and it actually froze the cuts.
Only 1 survived, but it never grew properly.
 

Ph-patrol

Active member
Veteran
Hey there Katsu

Please elaborate on the no added moisture part of your instructions.

Great share
ph
 

Katsu

Active member
Veteran
Hey there Katsu

Please elaborate on the no added moisture part of your instructions.

Great share
ph

Lots of people will spray the cuts with water, wrap the stems in damp paper towels - IMO none of this helps. You want the cutting as dry as possible and with as little air as possible in the baggy so as to delay rot.
 

megayields

Grower of Connoisseur herb's.
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Lots of people will spray the cuts with water, wrap the stems in damp paper towels - IMO none of this helps. You want the cutting as dry as possible and with as little air as possible in the baggy so as to delay rot.

diametrically opposed to this...= 180 degrees wrong IMHO (unless freezing cond. exist, then ur just dumb), and always use 2 day USPS, faster....works flawlessly so far

I've only shipped ohh bout 200 - 300 clones...in the past :biggrin:
 
diametrically opposed to this...= 180 degrees wrong IMHO (unless freezing cond. exist, then ur just dumb), and always use 2 day USPS, faster....works flawlessly so far

I've only shipped ohh bout 200 - 300 clones...in the past :biggrin:

So you do wet towls on stems and spray the clones and keep air in bag or what?
 

Katsu

Active member
Veteran
Shouldn't be diametrically opposed unless you've tried it.

Clones I've sent out are all over the world. The only package that didn't make it was a shipment that got delayed on it's way to Canada and they turned to mush.

PS I had already sent out 200-300 clones 10 years before you became a member here.

diametrically opposed to this...= 180 degrees wrong IMHO (unless freezing cond. exist, then ur just dumb), and always use 2 day USPS, faster....works flawlessly so far

I've only shipped ohh bout 200 - 300 clones...in the past :biggrin:
 

MJPassion

Observer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Awesome tip katsu...

I've always included a damp paper towel w unrooted cuts.

I never really thought about cuts getting caught up in the system for more than a few days.

Would it be possible to remove to much air, ie, vac sealed?

How would you go about sending rooted plants? Would that even be an option?
 

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
The best transport container I found is a MacGyver trick using a plastic bottle (16 oz size or larger works best).

Cut the bottle in half such the part 2/3 of the bottle remains with with bottle cap. The end with the cap (tighten) is now your "bottom" and will hold the cuttings inside.

Place something moistened (cotton, paper towels, rag, sponge, etc) in the end with the cape. Place the cuttings inside (bundle the stems with more moistened material if you want).

Re-assemble the bottle (portion with cap is inserted inside the the portion with the flat bottom) and then taped together, but leave at least 2" of "head space" between the leaf tops and the "original bottle bottom". When taping the bottle together, don't make it "air tight" (cuttings need to breathe air too) rather rather the goal is to prevent the two bottle parts from moving or separating.

Pack the "bottle(s)" as if you were mailing a family heirloom (box within a box is the best with lots of styrofoam).

Soak the cuttings in tap water a few day before shipping will help hydrate the cuttings. Also leave an extra node on the stem when you cut, this way the recipient can recut the stem and remove the bottom node if necessary. I would refrain from using any rooting agents, hormones or vitamins (wrong time for the cutting to be treated). Properly hydrated the cuttings can survive 4-5 days...should the occasion arise.

This is how I received many cuttings from NorCal and the only loss were cuttings that had a very low leaf count and tiny stub for a stem.

As a recipient, I prefer to trim my own leaf and make the final stem cut...so that is what I would do if I was the "sender".
 

megayields

Grower of Connoisseur herb's.
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Shouldn't be diametrically opposed unless you've tried it.

Clones I've sent out are all over the world. The only package that didn't make it was a shipment that got delayed on it's way to Canada and they turned to mush.

PS I had already sent out 200-300 clones 10 years before you became a member here.

Good for you OLD dude...doesnt change a thing about what I believe in..lol
 

t99

Well-known member
Veteran
DocTim420, I remember that method from the Overgrow FAQ
https://drugs-forum.com/growfaq/1218.htm
Although Katsu's method seems a lot easier and discreet.
GrowFAQ :
How can I package clones for shipping when customs will not be involved?

Added by: MedMan Last edited by: snoofer Viewed: 480 times Rated by 30 users: 9.43/10
Contributed by: Bunzboy

A while back a fellow member here @ OG shipped me some cuts that arrived in perfect condition. I took special note to the way they were packaged & have since had two other members succesfully send & receive cuts the same way, so I thought I'd share the idea.

You will need:
1 - 20 oz. plastic bottle cut in half (you will use the end w/ the cap).
2 - Cloning solution (I use Olivia's).
3 - Rubbing alcohol (like a surgical operation , everything must be sterile).
4 - Toilet paper.
5 - Newspaper.
6 - Masking tape.
7 - Razor blade.
8 - Thin piece of cardboard.
9 - Plastic baggie.
10 - Most important - Donor plant (mother).

Re-cut your cuttings under water using a 45 degree angle cut. Soak a piece of toilet paper in the cloning solution & ring out until it's wet, but not dripping. Remove the cuttings from the water and place the cut ends together. Wrap the toilet paper around the cut ends of the cuttings.






Place the cuttings in the open end of the plastic bottle and push through until the toilet paper comes out the cap end of the bottle. Wrap the toilet paper in newspaper.








Take & cut the corner off a plastic baggie and wrap it around the newspaper to avoid the newspaper drying out while the cuts are in transit. Secure the baggie with a rubber band.



Proceed to wrap the entire cap end in masking tape securing it to the neck of the bottle.









Take a piece of masking tape and place completely around the open end of the bottle. It helps to secure the top if you cut the masking tape in about 4 or 5 places.









Lightly mist the cuttings & put the thin piece of cardboard on the open end of the bottle. Secure with the masking tape that is already in place on the bottle. You now have a container that will protect your babies. Place the entire bottle in a Ziploc baggie.







Wrap the entire bottle in bubble wrap, place in your shipping box, close & tape, label the package (of course w/ a fictitious name ), and it's off to your local post office. When your package is received, re-cut the cuttings & clone as normal. It took me 5 days to receive my cuts that were sent to me in this method & yet they still arrived in perfect condition. Hope this makes it a little easier for each of us to share each other's goodies.




Editors note...
This is a very nice method for packaging clones and shipping them when the package will not be traveling across international borders. IE: Not past customs. For times when packages are traveling past customs more anti scent measures will need to be taken. Oven bags in multiple layers, are a good way to contain the scent, but they must be combined with other precautions like wearing (and changing) gloves, not touching anything mj with the gloves as you place bagged bags into additional layers of oven bags. Not changing gloves or touching cuttings with the same gloves worn to bag the items, will completely defeat the purpose of the oven bags.
 

seeded

Active member
Sending cuttings domestically is easy. Root the cuttings in a 1 inch cube, double bag 4 of them in a sandwich bag with most of the air squeezed out and then tape them down to the inside of the box so they don't move around at all. Wrap the outside of the box in quite a few layers of cling/saran wrap in a couple of directions and then do the same with duct tape. Express post them no later than Wednesday to prevent them being stuck in the post office over the weekend. Unrooted is the same but with as many cuts as you can fit in the box.

I've never sent cuts internationally but if I were to do it I would package them basically the same as I would unrooted cuttings except that I would put a bit of damp tissue or similar at the ends of the stems and use a dvd case which I would then double vacuum seal with some powdered activated carbon between the layers. The idea would be to keep it thin, light and stink free so hopefully it gets passed off as regular mail instead of an international package without a customs declaration. Unless the rules here have changed that would mean keeping it under 50g in total weight and no more than 2.5cm thick so while tough it shouldn't be impossible to achieve.
 

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
Yep, lots of people use the plastic bottle method. Simple, cheap and best of all, it works.

I noticed the method you posted does seem as bit more involved (more moving parts and uses a cardboard cutout with masking tape instead of inserting the other end of the bottle), but hey, I think the OP gets the idea.

I do question the wisdom of sealing the bottle in a ziplock bag since the supply of oxygen would be restricted if not eliminated. IMO, a bottle with 5 or so "big girl" cuttings will require some ability to "breathe" for the next 48-72 hours, so if the concern is odor then I believe there are plenty of methods that will mask any offending "plant odor". Gotta provide a healthy environment for the babies to travel.

I remember seeing at a tradeshow a cool shipping kit for plant cuttings that had a tiny LED lamp incorporated in the top, thereby allowing cuttings to have light 24/7. They were not that expensive (priced at $5 each? for a single unit) and about $20 or so for the "six pack" variety. Too cool....lol.
 

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