How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

I've been asked a few times on how I prepare bananas for shipping, so I put together this video today while shipping a Belle and some unknown banana plant (referred to as "busy bee banana" in 2008) to Tony ("sunfish").

This box weighed right at 7 pounds and cost $11.14 to ship via Priority Mail, including delivery confirmation (postage is discounted slightly and delivery confirmation is free when postage is purchased online at USPS.com or at PayPal). I use a lot of flat rate boxes for other purposes but they're generally not the best choice unless just shipping a large corm without any pseudostem.

YouTube - Banana Plant Shipping

Maybe Tony can post a photo or two about the condition of the box upon arrival in about two days.

I hope this helps if you've been looking for some shipping tips. Please feel free to as questions.

Best wishes,

Harvey

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Thanks Harvey. I hope you do same when you ship my AE AE :)

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Patty, I can send you your Ae Ae at any time by e-mail! :ha:

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Awesome Harvey, thanks for sharing. Thread stuck.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

I made a quick-n-dirty video of packaging corms in November of '07 also, on topic so here goes:
YouTube - Packaging a banana plant for shipping.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Wow I suck at that. With these videos I should be better next time. Thanks guys.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Dude! You're a great shipper!
:bananas_b

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Really appreciate the time spent filming the packing techniques!

Thanks a :bunchonanas:

Deb

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Harvey:
I've got the idea from you Via Tony from San Diego and I was able to ship a large banana plant but I had to improvise a bit. I shipped the banana before I saw your vid.
First off, I wrapped the roots with sphagnum moss after I soaked it in az41 mixture and squeezed all the water out. I also soaked the roots with AZ41 mixture for 10 minutes to get rid of fungus and harmful bacteria. Before I soaked the roots, I spray them in full force of the water hose so no soil clung to the roots. I also almost double the length of the box and double the diameter of the box because the pup is much larger than what you had shown on the vid.
I did not want to cut the leaves so I left most of it intact. I wrapped the leaves with newspaper and filled the void with a lot of folded newspapers. Shipping cost was $18.75 FedEx ground 5 day shipment.
But from now on I think am going to stay with the size like yours because it took a lot lot of my time wrapping that big CG pup.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Dumb question: Obviously there are no dormant plants now so I would think it would be a bad thing to take all soil off a live plant & ship it dry - esp with leaves on it. Does this put it immediately dormant?
Bob (my hero) sent me 2 nanas with soil & leaves on & it got here just fine. Don't get me wrong...I know you know what you're doing, but it's hard to believe we can do this suddenly to a thriving plant & have it bounce back. It's how Mitchel sent my misi luki sword pup but it was cool then & it took awhile for it to wake up.
It just seems strange that needing lots of water to survive, they can travel for a week being bone dry in the midst of their growing season! It seems to me that a dry rootball/corm puts it to sleep - but then, how did Benny's get there healthy even though he left the leaves on?
I will say that in '06, someone sent me a corm of Williams with wet soil around it (in plastic) & it died soon after. I guess it was just TOO water logged.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

I wish I would have seen this before I made an improvised container and wasted a whole roll of duc tape.I didn't know the USPS gave away those boxes.......Great vid's

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Patty:
This is my first time shipping a banana and noone told me what I should do. I just did it by instinct I guess or by common sense. To me it is not practical to leave the soil intact because of its size. Because of its weight adding the soil will cost me too much. I only charge the buyer $11 for postage (I was guessing at that time).And you are right it is a bad thing to remove all the soil.
But it is not alltogether dry. I soaked the roots first for 10 minutes with AZ41 mixture together with the sphagnum moss and then I squeeze all the water out but being a moss alot of water is still clung to the moss. Then I wrapped the roots with it and put 3 bags of clear plastics to make sure the water stay with the roots. Since it is sealed and there is no sunlight I think it will stay moist for the 5 day duration of travel.
Because of the temperature is warm and above 60 degrees in transit, the banana will not be dormant. I think it will continue to grow. And since I soaked the roots with AZ41 which kills those fungus in the roots, the roots will stay viable.
That's my input.
I'll find out when the buyer email me and tell me what happened.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Benny, I took the soil off of mine also, though I did notice during the filming of the video I missed a little on one plant. Priority Mail usually gets plants delivered in 1-3 days so I prefer it over FedEx 5-day. I would also be more concerned about damage to a really long box.

Patty, the plants don't go dormant with the soil removed and it doesn't seem to shock the plants by doing it this way. The plant slows way down when it's in a box and not exposed to sunlight and drying air and, if you have plenty of roots, it can take off right where it left off when it was dug up. It's best to not put such a plant in full sun right away, though, so I almost always pot them up and wait until they're re-rooted before planting in the ground.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Thanks for the reply right away Harvey. Yes I know it can be damaged but I tried my best to secure the box by tying around and over and taping all over that darn thing. Like I said it would be my first and last because of the time involved wrapping and tying that thing up. I will from now on sell a pup that will fit into a post office box.
Do you go to the post office for a priority mail? Would they accept a box that is twice as long and twice as big as their largest box giveaway? That's my mental problem. I deduce right away that they won't and also is it legal to ship a banana plant? That's my constant worry.
Someone email me if I have a dwarf Brazilian for sale.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

quote from Benny;
"And you are right it is a bad thing to remove all the soil."
Benny, I never said it's a bad thing...I was just asking about it.
All 3 of us grow citrus & we could never ship them like this...meaning dry, bare roots. They would die for sure! Nanas must be pretty tough if they can handle this.
Thanks to you guys for your input. Let us know how the plants got there & how they do OK?

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Think about scion wood, then put that thought toward banana corms (bulbs).
I dug up several Ice creams, ran an ebay auction for three days, gave some of the ones that didn't sell to members and friends, left the others on the outdoor dining table for a week in 95+ weather with no roots at all, planted those after a few weeks, and now have several nice plants after only a few weeks of their being planted.
Weird thing is, several members were looking for these and I had trouble giving them away :P

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

My "Florida" from Thailand was dried for several days after the roots were removed and then painted with 'red cement' (No clue as to what that is) before being shipped to me.
The way Harvey did it will usually ensure that the plant picks up where it left off though.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Benny, I almost always buy my postage online and if I'm prepared the night before I may do a pick-up request and have them pick up the package at my farm house (a free service). This was a last minute thing.

I know USPS has a weight limit of 70 pounds but don't recall reading of a size limit, though I'm sure they must have one. I just tried out at Postage Price Calculator right now to calculate postage and played around with some numbers. I used a package 74" long x 8" x 8" and had no trouble having it give me a postage amount, so that looks okay.

To reduce the spread of pests and diseases, soil should usually be removed from banana plants, in my opinion. Small plants without a corm are weak and have little stored energy, so that's a different matter. It's best to ship those in soil-less medium, if pests are a potential problem. As I said in my video, I shipped Randy a pup earlier this year and he had it planted two days later and he said it acted like nothing had ever happened. That pup was slightly smaller than those in my video, but had more roots.

When I dug up the Belle today my first attempt was not so good and I seriously damaged a pup so I dug another one for Tony. That plant had some small roots so I cut off all of the leaves and potted it up. That should allow it to grow more roots and the removal of leaves reduces moisture loss until that time.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Hey, Jarred, quite an aerobic work-out you had there! Looks like you had quite a bit of shipping to do.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

That's the ideal package for me but where can I buy one of those? I have no clue even thinking at Home Depot.
So shipping a bigger banana is not out of the question if I can obtain them.

"To reduce the spread of pests and diseases, soil should usually be removed from banana plants, in my opinion. Small plants without a corm are weak and have little stored energy, so that's a different matter. It's best to ship those in soil-less medium, if pests are a potential problem. "


That's my way of thinking also in case the agrigods obtain a warrant for me.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

BTW when the USPS girl asked me what the content of my package I said "banana" . She did not understand so I repeat it. She still did not undesstand so I I repeat again "banana .....pup, you know....." but I still could see the puzzle in her leyes but she accepted the package anyways.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

That's the ideal package for me but where can I buy one of those? I have no clue even thinking at Home Depot.
So shipping a bigger banana is not out of the question if I can obtain them.

"To reduce the spread of pests and diseases, soil should usually be removed from banana plants, in my opinion. Small plants without a corm are weak and have little stored energy, so that's a different matter. It's best to ship those in soil-less medium, if pests are a potential problem. "


That's my way of thinking also in case the agrigods obtain a warrant for me.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Benny, I would just make a box of 5.25" x 11" x 74" out of four of the tube boxes. It would bulge some at the bottom for a large corm but I would just wrap a lot of tape around it. I'm not into buying boxes when I can get them for free. Once you have done it a few times you can put them together pretty fast. Otherwise, you might drive in the back of some strip mall and see what kind of boxes they may have discarded.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

OK. Got it.
Thanks Harvey. Or I can drive past the recycle place and see what stuff I can get for free.
That's where I got my sliding glass doors.

Benny

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Great videos guys! Thank you for sharing. Harvey, did my Hawaiian Spider Lillies I mailed you pass your inspection? I now know who to call for wrapping Chistmas/Chaunukah gifts :ha:.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Benny, one more thing you can do is get a get a bunch of the #4 Priority boxes Product: Priority Mail Box O-BOX4 (if you want your box to be 7" x 7" or a bunch of the #7 boxes Product: Priority Mail Box O-BOX4 to create a box 12" x 12". If you took 12 of the #4 boxes or 9 of the #7 boxes and stacked them on top of one another, you'd get a box 72" long. I would tape the flaps together inside the box as well as on the outside. It would take quite a bit of tape but the Post Office might have their tape at a table or counter. They used to let you order the Priority Mail tape online for free, but they no longer offer it (my local Postmaster will give me a roll if I ask for it, but I prefer to use the stronger 3M tape anyways).

I've done this before for some other smaller things, but not bananas. However, I was reminded about it when I got a plant shipped to me in 4 of the #4 boxes yesterday.

This can create a very rigid box since the entire box is double-walled.

You can order all of these supplies online and they'll deliver them in a week or so to your home. Category - Priority Mail

If you do this, let us know how it works and post a photo (or video)!

Harvey

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Thanks, Andrew. The spider lillies arrived in great shape and are doing well, though that was at least a couple of months ago and I don't remember one thing about the packaging. I told you I was getting old! :ha:

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

OK.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

I'm one year older tomorrow. It's only a number but you are older than me :). We are taking the girls for a weekend trip to a water slide park.

I have used the USPS Priority mail shoe boxes and attached several together to make a longer wider box. I also shop at Costco and gather boxes there for odd shaped items I sell on ebay. They are free as well.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

I generally try and ship larger corms, if available. That improves viability during shipment. I generally uses a 12 x 12 x 36 box, and if the palnt is too big, I will take 2 boxes and telescope them. I strap the corm to the end of the box to keep if from shifting and damaging the plant and leaves (same thing I do for shipping things in pots). If you can keep the weight from shifting, there is lettle opportunity for damage. The only thing I do differently is to leave more leaf surface on the plant. If need be, I will carefully fold them, knowing that folded and shredded leaves still "work" to provide energy on an in-ground plant. The greater leaf surface should help recovery time by providing more energy input.

Having said that, shipping intact bananas with leaves in always a challenge - balancing the weight of the corm with the tender/leafy parts of the plant.

Harvey, I guess I'll have to make a video of my suitcase technique. ;-))))

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Pitangdiego:
If the leaves are longer than the box do you folded them back into the box instead of cutting them? I think that's the way I understood you.
I was having difficulty wrapping the enlarged pup and I thought to myself never again. You all seem to say it was easy.
So please do some video so a lot of us can learn.

Benny

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Your pups are much bigger than mine, Jon. Tony and I were chatting yesterday about your big use of compost compared to our tight soils with high clay content. Even though I dig in manure, etc. it seems to not last very long. I don't think I've every had a banana root more than 2' away from a pseudostem while I've seen you pull up a pup with a root at least 5' long.

I'm axiously awaiting your video! :D

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

If there is a fruit fly quarantine in effect -- such as we currently have in many parts of San Diego county, then the CDFA requires that the leaves be removed. If you also remove all the soil and dangling roots, then it can be shipped as "dormant plant material" with no inspection required -- provided you also list your nursery stock license on the label.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Richard, you're located in a fruit fly quarantine area if I am looking at this map correctly, right? http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/pdf...lyMiraMesa.pdf It looks like you're almost out of the area; is there any progress being made to at least allow the area to be reduced? Of other active forum members it looks like Jon is located in http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/pdf...ringValley.pdf but Tony is in the clear (for now).

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Harvey, are ther any in my area?

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Maybe this deserves it's own thread, or maybe there is one already, but what exactly are the shipping rules? Can I legally ship plant material with no certs or licenses?

I'm also thinking of Chong and his box of beat up bananas that need to be inspected. Is the inspector just going to say hey you can't be shipping that stuff and confiscate the plants?

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Nope. A silver lining in the Med quarantine areas is that they can also look out for the Spotted Wing Drosophila (Cherry Vinegar Fruit Fly).

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Contact your county Ag department.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Harvey,
That was a great video. Thanks!

I have two questions, though. When you manufacture new size boxes, they have to go by weight; correct? I can't see that these would be flat rate. Also, in the video, when you vere making a rectangular box out of two triangular ones, I noticed that one said, "Priority Mail" on it, and the other said, "Express Mail". Wouldn't that cause a problem, with Priority on one side of the box, and Express on the other?

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Thanks, John.

Yes, these are not flat rate boxes and they go based on weight. For most bananas, I've found it cheaper to ship by weight than a flat rate box (I'm a huge fan of flat rate boxes for other things and used over 600 of them for chestnut orders last year). If I was shipping a large corm I would readily used a flat rate box. If I chopped one of these bananas into a size that would fit into a medium flat rate box I could mail it in a regular box (priced by weight) to Tony 350-400 miles away for about $7 or to Randy in TN for about $11. Pricing is pretty good if it's light, but I think it's more important yet to leave as much of the banana intact as possible.

These tubes have one side that says Priority Mail and another side that says Express Mail. So when I make a box like I did, I'll end up with two sides that say each. I usually use free Priority Mail stickers to cover up the Express Mail print but I don't think it's really necessary. They go by my electronic mailing label anyways and I put that on the side that says Priority Mail though I don't think that matters either.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Harv,

Thanks for explaining that. Someone had told me that there was no 'by weight' priority mail any more; that it was all flat rate, but when I went on the USPS web site, I found that this wasn't true.

I didn't realize that they used the same boxes for Priority, and Express. It only stands to reason that what really counts, is what the bar-code on the label reads.

When I have had to send larger plants, I have constructed my own boxes by putting two 30 dozen egg cartons (the kind stores and diners get their eggs in) together, making sure I stay in the size limits, so I don't get charged for, "Oversize".

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Harvey, sorry I missed this till now.... great post, thanks.
Patty...thanks.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Yes, and it still took an hour or so more than I wanted it to.
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Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Thanks for posting this Harvey. Its really helps.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

In general, in California, if you sell a plant you are required to have a nursery license ($$). In many states, any plant shipped in, regardless of whether it is a gift ($0) or a purchase (for $), must have at a minimum, a Nursery Stock Certificate (which comes with the nursery license), and often a phtyo or snail insp certificate (almost any state south of the Mason-Dixon line, plus Oregon and Washington, and a few others - $$). If the truth were told, the overwhelming majority of all plants sold on Ebay are illegal (maybe 90% or more), if they are shipped out of state, and often if shipped in state.

Quarantine here is SD only pertains to 2 things, no movement of fruit from the quarantine area, and no movement of any plant which was in a location where the soil may have been become a host to larvae from the fruit fly. Plants that I had under my banana and cherimoya trees are fine to ship, but one which were under citrus trees, etc., to provide shade and/or conserve water, are stuck till the quarantine is over. Other option is very expensive treatment/fumigation, which must be done by licensed person and supervised by State Ag person ($$$$). I would be money ahead to trash all my affected plants, than pay for the treatment. So, they wait till quarantine is over.

Additionally, I have to be inspected for Sudden Oak Death host plants. I mistakenly told them I didn't sell grass when they told me I needed a SOD inspection. There is an ongoing monitoring for Glassy-wing sharpshooters (Pierce's Disease carriers) and the traps are changed twice a month as long as I am a nursery.

There are new snail-free-quarantine-area regs coming this fall ($$). Also coming are monitoring requirements for run off into streams, watersheds, etc. ($$) These will check not only for pesticides and fertilizer, but nitrogen originating from mulch, compost, etc. (Now that they have everyone doing using them, it has become a sin.) Essentially nothing is allowed to leave your property. A neighbor without a nursery license is not subject to any of these requirements, and in my case, is probably a bigger generator of such things than I will ever be. If rainwater carries any of those things off my property, I will have to do something about it. Every other house on the block gets a pass.

I have annual inspections for the Nursery License ($$), for my Producers certificate so I can sell at Farmer's Markets ($$), for every shipment to a state requiring ag or snail certificate ($$). You get to meet a lot of government people.

Plants going to many counties in Northern California require special labeling and a faxed notice of the shipment to the Ag person in that county so that they may inspect the package, at their discretion, because of Pierce's disease. Fig trees are theoretical carriers, so that is one more thing to deal with.

And you never know when an Ag guy/gal will show up with a new concern, program, quarantine, inspection, etc.

And don't even get me started on importing things from overseas, or even Canada and Mexico ($$ and a whole lot more).

So at some point I either have to get out of the business, or figure out how to make it a full time, paying job.

Consider that a peek behind the veil of the agriculture/nursery industry.

They'll be coming for you Harvey. ;-))


YES, if the leaves are longer than the box, i bend or fold them so they fit in the box. If you are gentile enough, it will not kill the leaf, and the plant retains more leaf surface, thus more energy for recovery. Just as I would not remove any leaf on a plant in the orchard that wasn't yellow or brown. It doesn't matter if it is folded, bent, chewed on, shredded, or whatever - green is good. Period.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Pitangdiego:
Thank you for clarifying.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

I mailed a banana out today by USPS priority mail. Not only did they weight it but they also took measurements. There was 2 charges on the reciept. I guess there is the weight price along with the size...

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

If you go past a certain size they measure height x length x width.

Re: How Harvey packs banana plants for shipping
 

Do you know what those sizes are so I can stay under it next time?

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The pre-made flat-rate priority boxes are FREE from the post office. You can order them online and they will deliver them no charge. The remaining pre-printed priority mail boxes are also FREE. Shipment in those (e.g., triangle tube) is by weight only.