Re: How to ship plant bare root??
Before I left for Europe, I submitted a list of plants I hoped to buy
and a cheque for an import permit. This permit was granted for all
the plants I requested because I already knew which ones would not be
allowed in. After I spent several days in Europe carefully washing
all soil off the roots (using a knitting needle, old toothbrush,
etc), I took the plants for inspection. When I arrived in Canada, I
had all the plants as hand luggage, which was lucky since my checked
baggage went astray for a couple of days. The agricultural inspector
at the airport unwrapped each plant and inspected the roots before
allowing me to take them home.
(Before I left home, I practised washing plants similar to the ones I
wanted to import, then wrapping them up for a week to see if they
would survive.)
I took the plastic bags, polyester quilt batting to wrap the roots,
knitting needle and toothbrush with me. Next time I would take half
a dozen one litre plastic yogurt containers to soak the plants in. I
thought it would be easy to get soaking containers over there, but it
wasn't, and they would be easy to pack as they nest together.
Diane Whitehead Victoria BC Canada
