How to Clean, Pack, and Ship Daylilies
A Proper Method to Prepare and Send Daylilies for Sale or Trade
Apr 10, 2009
Day lilies are one of the easiest plants to ship; the fact that they are super hardy makes them perfect candidates to sell or trade through the mail. In the following paragraphs you will learn how to properly clean, trim, and package day lilies.
Materials Needed to Package and Ship Day Lilies
- Access to a working water hose; this way to can spray all the dirt off the roots.
- Clean, sharp scissors of shears for trimming roots and leaves
- Peat moss, silica crystals or some other water retentive packing material
- Sturdy packing box
- Brown packing paper (paper grocery bags are fine)
Plastic is acceptable as long as holes are supplied so the plants can breathe and the entire plant is not wrapped.
Digging and Preparing Day Lilies for Shipping
Try and choose a mild day; plants ship best in slightly cooler weather as opposed to hot sultry days.
After digging the day lilies lay them out across a flat surface (e.g. the ground); using a water hose spray the roots with a strong jet of water. Remove all of the soil and anything else clinging to the plants. See photo
Allowing the day lilies to dry out slightly before packing saves on shipping costs; without harming the plants in the least. After cleaning allow the day lilies to dry out a bit in the sun. If they seem to be getting a little too dry before packing them; simply spray them with a small amount water.
Trimming Day Lilies for Shipping
Using sharp, clean scissors or pruning shears trim all but a small amount of the fans (leaves) from the day lilies. See photo
Once the day lilies are cleaned, trimmed and slightly dry it is time to pack them.
Using Silica on Day Lilies for Shipping
Using wet silica crystals on the roots can help with keeping your day lilies from drying out too much during shipping. This prevents the plants from becoming too stressed before arriving at their destination.
Wrap the roots in either plastic or some other similar material; avoid wrapping the leaves as this could cause problems with rot, or even cook the plants in transit.
Packing Day Lilies for Shipping
Line the shipping box with brown paper (an old grocery bag works well for this); this helps to prevent moisture loss without cooking the plants. It also serves for containing any dirt one may have missed during cleaning.
Place the prepared day lilies neatly in the shipping box; if one is careful during packing they can add quite a few plants in one small box. (Who doesn’t like extra plants?)
Pack the plants rather tightly to prevent them from bouncing around while being shipped.
Especially when selling day lilies (or any other plants); it is very important to properly clean, prepare, and package your shipments.
A Few Other Pointers on Shipping Day Lilies
- Try to package and ship in the same day
- Dig, package, and ship within 2 days
- Try to include free plants with every order; this keeps people coming back for more!
- Do not forget to include a planting guide
Sharing the bounty of a garden is one of the most special aspects of gardening. Never forget to share your flowers!
Additional Perennials Reading
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