anyone seen or know of a good thread on how to send/post cuttings without fucking them up?
How can I package clones for shipping when customs will not be involved?
� � 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.
