I've been thinking of listing some fig trees with 2 day priority shipping but was wondering what condition recent fig tree shipments have arrived in?  Is it too hot even with 2 day priority?

make sure you ship it fast. I won a tree from a member of this site and still haven't recieved it 8 days later. Hopefully it survived over the 4th of july weekend. Another tree from Texas made it to Washington state in 3 days. make sure roots are well wetted and shipped fast as possible.

It's too hot in NJ right now, plants in the shade are wilting, nevermind in a box in a postal truck for days.

When I do my listings its stated that I ship plants mon-wed only to insure that plants don't spend the weekend boxed up. Still have 100% feedback I sold out right before the weather got to hot. I do have more going right now but it will be a bit before they will be shiped I wrap the pots in plastic to help retain moister over their trip. I ship usps 2-3 day priority mail and use the shipping tubes.

i did receive 3 fig plants they were well packaged and they put wet newspaper on the potting mixture and used masking tape to cover , was well protected. when i unpacked it , it was still moist , had to be at least 5 to 8 days in shipping. they are doing great .

I just received an ebay purchase . My problem was that it was not "taped" or secured into the plastic cup it was in and dry. So , most of the potting soil was out and in the bottom of the plastic bag it was tied in. Someone here has posted pictures of plants they received and all the care the seller took  to water and secure it . THE best way to ship! 

I've not had any problems before with any of my purchases being watered and packed so that they did not move. 

IMO  if they are watered and packed properly and with expedited shipping , they would be ok.

Ditto to ChaplainRon54,

I have sent plants to friends recently and in the past and I wet the soil a bit and top off with moist news papers and tape.
I also place the pots/rootballs in plastic shopping bags to keep from drying out.

Plus you use your imagination as how to secure them so that they arrive at the other end undamaged.

I have had some that took almost two weeks and arrived safe and sound.
I poke a few holes on the boxes and write "Live Plants" on every side. The P.O. will place them in a climate control room until they go out. This was what I understood from one worker in the past.

But,,, You have to communicate with the P.O. and tell them you have live plants or perishables.

Pattee,

A little TLC can save everyone some grief. It's all on how much effort you put in packing them.
I made one mistake ever and it was an RDB that got damaged. Took a while to get over it.

All trees I have won have been put on hold till both seller and myself feel its safe to ship. Better to be safe then sorry.

sometime the usps shipping routes are stupid.

All the newly rooted cuttings I've gotten were near dead when they arrived no matter who the shipper was.  All the plants that filled a 1 gal pot with roots were fine on arrival.  I think plants still in cups are too young to ship and I wont buy any anymore.

I have a Android app called package buddy that tracks the shipment. It even shows the route it takes around the country on a map. very useful as you can track more than one at a time. 

Rafed , I agree - just a little prep and thought can save a lot of grief . I'll be more careful as to what sellers I buy from .

Agree, just check this one, and I was lucky to ship the cuttings only:
http://tinyurl.com/orobdsh

Thank you Jarrett, I just downloaded the ap.

It matters a lot how old the plant is. A 1 year old plant with healthy roots will be fine. It it isn't much more than a rooted cutting, then it will take a lot less stress. Ship on Mondays. Water well (soak it) the day before shipping and then top it off just before packing.

I have had 1 year plants go across the country in the summer, and get returned - so gone for 12 days, and they were still fine.

It is all about plant age, and maturity, and how careful you are.

I just received on Wed. an e-Bay shipment from a well respected seller here on the forum.  PA to TX in 3 days.  The leaves didn't show any signs at all of shipping stress.  Figlet was in a 1 gal nursey pot and well secured in its shipping package.

Sorry, not a very good photo but I think you get the idea.

My cuttings arrived today in the mail. It looked all wilted but the soil was moist. I removed the soggy soil and potted into pot from 2liter bottle. It's sitting under grow lights until root growth starts again and until leaves grow back to normal position. 

i know most trees will bounce back after good water and a month under the shade. but i still refuse to ship during the summer. 90+ temp in a closed box isn't ideal. and i'm also very pessimistic. if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. 

Most packages aren't exposed to hot weather for long, usually in your carrier's vehicle and maybe for a short while on a tarmac somewhere but I've found it seldom to be a problem with USPS Priority.  If I have a package coming to me and the weather is hot I'll usually go to my Post Office late in the morning and pick up my package so that it doesn't take the 3-4 hour ride in my carrier's vehicle before she gets to my place.  Her USPS vehicle is not air-conditioned.  We just had 8 or 9 days of 104F-107F and I would have done the P.O. pickup if I had a package coming although I still don't think it would have been much of a problem.  Proper plant preparation is essential.

I'm 1 for 4 this year. My Brunswick, Alma and the 1st LSU Thibordeaux all died.

I have received several recently and all were fine. Its all about the shipper.

I purchased some rooted cuttings (2 different sellers from different parts of the country) recently and they all were practically destroyed when received.  They were packed well but were "cooked" when I opened the package.  Priority mail took about 5 days to deliver.  It was not the sellers fault at all and I will purchase from them again...when the weather is cooler.

I would suspect a large tree would handle the shipping and heat better but small green cuttings did not do well at all for me.

Tim

I won't buy any fig trees and have them shipped this time of year.

In a previous summer, I bought one from a respected forum member and got a tree that was pretty much all dried up.  I babied it and thought it was coming back to life.  But no luck.  It died.

It was well packaged, but 3 days of transit in the heat zapped it.  It was just too wimpy of a tree to be shipped.

So I'm looking for a Smith if anybody is offering!  :)