Re: Exporting to Russia

Dana, 

Maybe something else that would help is the way you prepare the
rhizomes. Oftimes Ag inspectors are looking for little pockets of dirt
(among other things) in the plant material.

Last year I sent away for a couple of starts of Sweet Lena. When they
arrived I was appalled. The shipper was so concerned about getting them
in to a small box, he cut all but 1/2 inch of the fans off and left NO
roots in place. They may not bloom this year but (to my novice surprise)
are doing just fine. Trimmed and cleaned carefully in this way, maybe
the Russian inspectors will be easier on them. Why not try a first
shipment of ones that aren't so important and see how it goes, then
follow up with a second shipment. If he has a friend in a separate
region, maybe sending two packages via different routes might have the
advantage of going through different inspectors/processes. The local
Russian embassy (or whatever they call the remote offices) would
probably have the information you need. They might even know what
solution is used. Iris rhizomes are pretty resistant, so unless the
solution is really terrible, would probably survive. Anything higher
than 0% survival is a good deal, true?

I have a few I would be willing to donate to the cause.


---

John                     | "There be dragons here"
                         |  Annotation used by ancient cartographers
                         |  to indicate the edge of the known world.
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