FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So I'm starting to harvest my scorpioides gemmae and I have more than I'll probably be able to plant on my own. I'm thinking of doing a little giveaway and maybe selling and/or trading a few too...but I don't have any heat packs and we're having nighttime lows in the high teens - mid 20s F. Does anyone have experience shipping gemmae in cold weather? How well-insulated do they have to be to survive the trip?

That's kind of a tough one.
Without heat packs, they'll freeze if the temperature is low enough, and for a big part of their trip they're in an unheated semi trailer.
They'll keep for a month or so in the fridge, enough time to get a few heat packs. However, you'll then need to ship it two-day shipping. If the buyer is willing to pay for a heat pack and the higher cost of shipping, then you're golden.
If they don't want to pay the extra, but still want the gemmae, the risk is on them, just make sure they know that you're not responsible if they freeze

I know from experience that the plants (with gemmae attached) will survive frosts just fine outdoors. One of the local growers has even subjected his plants to hard freezes over winter and they came through just fine, though I suspect that would be a problem with gemmae and should be avoided.

In my experience, they are fairly cold hardy. Last winter I shipped out 1,000+ gemmae to 20+ different people, and only one of the shipments was damaged by the cold. I shipped my gemmae in a simple USPS stamped envelope. This year, I've shipped probably 1,500+ gemmae so far to 10+ different people with no problems. However, this year I am shipping gemmae in USPS small flat rate boxes, which usually arrive in 2-3 days. Plus, they have a tracking number you can check on if they're taking longer than expected. Last year I sold gemmae from November through January in the simple envelopes, so doubtlessly some came in contact with the cold and came just fine.

I received some gemmae during cold weather with below freezing temps. The shipper )nobody on ftc) ignored my shipping directions and shipped them days earlier than asked and so they ended up in my mailbox unexpected for most of the day in freezing (but mildly so) temps. Many survived, but the resulting plants were not vigorous and grew poorly.

Adelae wrote:So I'm starting to harvest my scorpioides gemmae and I have more than I'll probably be able to plant on my own. I'm thinking of doing a little giveaway and maybe selling and/or trading a few too...but I don't have any heat packs and we're having nighttime lows in the high teens - mid 20s F. Does anyone have experience shipping gemmae in cold weather? How well-insulated do they have to be to survive the trip?

If you want to sell some, please let me know.



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