Safe nightly temperature to order bonsai online

It'll vary widely by species. In temperate regions, it's best to ship trees while they're still dormant. For tropical trees, ensure they remain in conditions above freezing for the duration of shipping, but also keep in mind that if it's too hot, they could dry out. I would recommend against buying live organisms by mail, since the US Postal Service is so far behind right now, and a tree could spend a month in a dark warehouse without water.
 
It'll vary widely by species. In temperate regions, it's best to ship trees while they're still dormant. For tropical trees, ensure they remain in conditions above freezing for the duration of shipping, but also keep in mind that if it's too hot, they could dry out. I would recommend against buying live organisms by mail, since the US Postal Service is so far behind right now, and a tree could spend a month in a dark warehouse without water.
I ordered a Chinese Elm let’s see if it makes it. It was they Brussels thru Amazon. They supposedly heat pack their trees.
 
No problem. If they come via UPS, FedX, or USPS they spend nights in a terminal changing trailers. Terminals are not as cold as the great outdoors, and the trailers are packed with little air space and don't cool down that much on the way to the next terminal. Generally speaking, a place like Brussels won't ship in conditions that will ruin the sale unless you specifically order them to do so. I have shipped from Naples, FL to Detroit in Jan, Feb & Mar many times without a loss. I washed the bare roots, dusted the roots with hormone, sealed the whole wet plant in a plastic bag and stuffed them in a box. Shipping on a Monday gives plenty of time to cross the country.
 
A couple of years ago I bought a BRT from Brussels via Amazon and they wouldn’t even let me complete the purchase until we had gotten past the freezing weather along the route to Asheville. Of course there are other growers who will ship anything, anytime, so your results may vary.
 
A couple of years ago I bought a BRT from Brussels via Amazon and they wouldn’t even let me complete the purchase until we had gotten past the freezing weather along the route to Asheville. Of course there are other growers who will ship anything, anytime, so your results may vary.
yes I tried to it check out last year and they didn't ship to my state. This one was sitting in my cart and I saw the big price drop and couldn't resist.
Nightly temps will be in 40s this week so it should be fine.
 
As most of my collection has arrived via through the mail using some sort of carrier over the years. I will no longer ship any living plant through USPS. If a package sits and sits 6 weeks before arriving at my door. Yeah. I have a problem with that if it is a tree. My area, we are still seeing issues of long delays. I do not blame the shipper. I don't even blame the carrier with knowing this is an issue...to permit it being sent that way...is on me.

Example...it's still sitting in CA. Until it is marked departed. That is where it sits. *So my post master stated. I'm fine with the delay on this item. It will get here when it arrives.

Was to arrive Monday. It will get here when it gets here. I'm patient...they are just tools.
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As most of my collection has arrived via through the mail using some sort of carrier over the years. I will no longer ship any living plant through USPS. If a package sits and sits 6 weeks before arriving at my door. Yeah. I have a problem with that if it is a tree. My area, we are still seeing issues of long delays. I do not blame the shipper. I don't even blame the carrier with knowing this is an issue...to permit it being sent that way...is on me.

Example...it's still sitting in CA. Until it is marked departed. That is where it sits. *So my post master stated. I'm fine with the delay on this item. It will get here when it arrives.

Was to arrive Monday. It will get here when it gets here. I'm patient...they are just tools.
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It's so unpredictable. @sorce mailed my pots on a Monday and they didn't show up until Saturday, in the same state. I received the one from @ABCarve in 2 days. OK for pots, too much risk for trees right now.
 
I only ever had a problem with UPS one time. It wasn't shipping a plant, but something else. It was a hot part and It was supposed to go overnight. I took it to the UPS terminal and then checked the tracking and watched it go to the airport and then it returned to the terminal the next morning and sat there. The next day I called and bitched and watched it go to the airport and then back to the terminal in the morning. My customer was going crazy and UPS didn't know what to tell me, so I went to the terminal and picked up the box which was a used box I had received a chemical in and was just the right size. On the back of the box it had a printed symbol for class 4 flammables... not allowed on a airplane. Ahah! Shoot self in foot, blame UPS.
 
I will say in the recent month or so...Amazon Prime for the most part arrived in a timely manner even using USPS. Makes me wonder if their packages take priority over the USPS priority. But...honestly don't know how they get through the hubbub of all the known delays we see.
 
I have had good luck with USPS when I use their boxes with the fixed-rate shipping. However this is only good for seedlings or small trees. Anything larger... and I refuse to ship with them.

Just recently, while I still lived in California, I had placed an order for a few bonsai pots that were being shipping via USPS. The day they were to be delivered, I made sure I stayed home the entire day because I wanted to make sure I received the pots. When sitting in my office, I look out at the street in front of the house, and can see any truck that pulls up, or any delivery person who walks up to our door.

Imagine my surprise when I get a "package delivered" notification, despite no one approaching my house. I immediately called the local office, and they said, in not so many words, that it isn't unusual for the delivery people to "batch process" the delivery notifications while they start their routes, and then deliver the packages later. Wait, they said, and the box will show up. Well it didn't show up... that day or the next. Finally, after I physically went down to the post office to talk to a manager, they pulled up the GPS info for the delivery truck, and realized they had, in fact, delivered my box to the wrong address. My pots had gone to a neighbor... but they refused to tell me which neighbor it was because they didn't want to cause friction. Instead they sent a different delivery person out to talk to the household where they delivered my box... and those people denied having received anything. :( So there ya go. And even AFTER all of this, the pots were insured, and trying to get the insurance payment from USPS was a trial - despite their admission that they had caused the problem.

Never again... If you can't ship via UPS or FedEx I won't order anything expensive from you. I can't control which carrier Amazon uses... but Amazon has such a bullet-proof delivery guarantee that I don't sweat it if they ship USPS and my package is lost en-route. It's on them because they decided to use a less reputable carrier.
 
@Bonsai Nut first I was expecting a rosie post about USPS. Wow...that was ridiculous...makes you take look at the neighbors differently as to who had them.

It did... but at the same time you never know because perhaps they weren't home for a couple of days, and the box just sat on their front stoop for two days(?) There is no way to really know... and I don't want to accuse someone (even in my heart) if it truly wasn't their fault. We lived in a pretty high density area, with plenty of street traffic, so leaving a box on your front step, even for a few minutes, is asking for someone to grab it :(
 
It did... but at the same time you never know because perhaps they weren't home for a couple of days, and the box just sat on their front stoop for two days(?) There is no way to really know... and I don't want to accuse someone (even in my heart) if it truly wasn't their fault. We lived in a pretty high density area, with plenty of street traffic, so leaving a box on your front step, even for a few minutes, is asking for someone to grab it :(
Oh wow, okay not used to those areas. Living at a private lake association. We have each others back. Not a lot of traffic back here either in our allotment. I've had a neighbor inspect a shadow in my backyard they seen after calling to see if my husband was home. Learning he wasn't. Gun in tow...they checked my yard to find a herd of deer. Same neighbor held a friend of ours at gun point until the sheriff arrived. *He was picking up a key. But the neighbor knew we weren't home. We were at church. If we didn't call the sheriff's department by a specific time he would be under arrest. Made a 6'7" man cry when he got home his wife told us. We got it all cleared out. Our neighbor still wanted us to do a walk through to see if he took anything. (Ummm we are the god parents of his kids...I think we are good. But thanks.)
 
The real beauty of stolen pots is they are often very identifiable because they are different. If your neighbor has them, he can't use them or everyone will know he's a thief. He doesn't know who you might have told about it, so he has to assume that everyone knows about the pots. A unique pot disappeared at the end of a club auction many years ago that a friend bought. We were seated next to each other and it was there, and then it was not there. I have had plenty of time to think about this pot because I really wanted it and only let it go being a nice guy. This was a bonsai club auction. The thief can't use it because it would mark him as a suspicious character. He has to hide it somewhere and/or his spouse might inquire why he's not using it. Can't sell it to anyone local because, who knows might show an interest? It was was only $25 or so, so selling online is the only option, hardy worth the effort. For his efforts, he has to keep it hidden and is punished, forever. Works for me.
 
and realized they had, in fact, delivered my box to the wrong address. My pots had gone to a neighbor...
My last three deliveries from Fedex were delivered to my neighbor, one being a tree. I filed a missing package report with them and three days later the neighbor shows up with the box. I don't know if they contacted him or what. The last box, my husband just walked over and picked up off of their porch. Google Earth clearly shows our house as the address the packages are addressed to, but the drivers are just lazy. The neighbor's house is on the road, ours sits back down a longish driveway. I have made numerous attempts to contact them, but can't get past their automated system. It is beyond frustrating!!!! Amazon and UPS never have a problem finding my house.
 
When I want a box of orchids to ship to me in winter, via FedEx, I request box to be held at a local FedEx office. That was it does not ride around on a delivery truck all day, or get left on the wrong porch.

In general, having package held at office for pick up does deter porch pirates.

For Fed Ex, night temps in Memphis are key. The Memphis hub is were packages moving east to west or west to east will spend time on the ground, on carts changing planes.
 
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