You need to get them inspected if it's going out of state. Depending on how strict your inspectors are and where you're sending it, you need to get them as clean as possible, i.e. no scale, etc. If it's going to a certified state you'll have to dip it in some type of insecticide, but the bottom line is: no critters of any kind.

Priority mail usually works just fine.

Who enforces the inspection?

BTW, I'm planning on shipping a pup or two from my large capitata. They won't be hard to clean up and I've already put some Merit on them so they should continue to be bug free.

"Who enforces the inspection?" The thought police, obviously. ;-)

Of course nobody is going to make you call the Dept. of Ag. beforehand, but if you don't and they catch you at it, you're likely to get a stern warning notice or even a fine. If the USPS in FL is anything like it is here, they'll run your parcel through an infrared scanner which will show up any living material, and the DOA will be alerted, so you might as well play along from the start if you don't want your name on a watch list.

The good news is that from what I've observed, the inspectors in FL are a lot more laid back than their HI counterparts, so if your material is clean, inspection should be a breeze. Our guys go over everything with a fine toothed comb!

Lisa,

how does it fit with this?
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_exports/faqs.shtml#7

Normaly it is the importer that must take care that all the required certification is accluded and the country of the importer should be interested in the health of the plants, not the country of the exporter.

Italy in certain cases doesn't require phytosanitary certificate and I managed to get some plants with no US inspection, but I had to turn the US ambassy for help to convince the US inspection authorities.
Tomas

Tomas, I only know what I have experienced shipping plants from Hawaii to the US Mainland and bringing plants back here from various US states. Either way, they get inspected here. If we ship out, our inspectors consider it their responsibility to enforce whatever regulations are in effect for the state or country of destination, and look out for whatever pests are a concern in that area. We won't even attempt to send anything to the certified states (California, Arizona, Louisiana & Texas), but even for Florida they will reject an entire shipment if they find anything they're not quite sure of. Been there, done that, not fun.......... :-(

Coming back in I've found that inspectors in Florida and California generally only give the plants a perfunctory look, but once they arrive in Hawaii they are held and gone over thoroughly again. Hawaii also requires a phytosanitary certificate, as well as a current import permit.

These practices can vary from state to state and country to country. Some are extremely strict, others quite lax, and there doesn't always seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Best to play it safe-- call your local Dept. of Ag. and find out what is required.

Are telling me that the guys and gals on ebay go through all this trouble to ship plants? I'll bet that if they knew they had to do this they would charge even more for shipping and handling and still not do it.

Anyway, thanks for the advice and I'll look up the regs. This is certainly taking all of the fun out of it. You guys probably don't want a huge orange capitata anyways.

The big no no's seem to be CA, AZ, and HI. Texas and Florida are already damaged with nonnative plants and animals of all types, it's kind of like closing the barn door after all the animals have left. I have to say that after receiving plants from all over the past 20 plus years I have never seen a live bug or spider come out of a box or plant. Out of all the plants I have ever purchased and shipped in from out of state I don't think very many were ever inspected.

The only thing that really bothers me is the number of plants being offered on ebay from outside the US. The listings seem to be more and more common these days, and I am sure quite a few plants are being brought in without being inspected and without permits. With this risk, real enforcement of shipments even between states is only one insect pest away.

There must be some kind of list though, when I took some Daylilys to the PO a few weeks ago and I mentioned that there were plants in the box, the clerk went and checked a list on a clipboard. She came back and announced that it was ok and off they went.

I realize this is an old thread. However, here's a link on the subject that may be helpful to anyone looking for info:

Bromeliad Paradise: How To Prepare Bromeliads to Ship

Wow, your right, it is an old thread, but current experiences may be helpful. A few years ago I bought some plants from an eBay seller. Never again. It looked like he'd gone in his greenhouse and thrown stuff in a box then shipped it. What a mess! Nothing survived, and I was out $$.

All other online purchases I've made (and which have pleased me) have been from actual businesses here in the mainland USA, and I assume they take all the necessary agricultural health precautions (particularly if they ship out of the country, and some do). This month (May) I made orders from nurseries in Kentucky and Florida, to be delivered here to Albuquerque, NM, and my plants were sent by each business via Priority Mail, mailed on a Monday. Both arrived by Wednesday, so two-day mail, even shipped up hill (my elevation is ~4900 feet), was quick.

Packing methods: One seller used strips of newspaper to pack plants in and tagged nearly everything; the other used tissue paper, no ID (but a packing slip) but the plants were common ones, easy to ID. CTS uses small bags with names written on bag, for each plant or set of plants (I love this!); Rainforest Flora (2 years ago) used little chips of paper that got into the joints of the plant (very annoying!).

Also when I get unusual plants, I take pictures of them with their tags (or with the packing slip visible in the picture) to be able to maybe identify them later on. Then I integrate the plants into my collection :)

Debby, we have many of the same habits! I, too, save all of the photos posted online for anything I order in a folder with the same name and then I take photos, along with any tag, immediately upon arrival.

I have had pretty good luck with ordering on eBay although I did have one order arrive last year where all the broms were packed in the DREADED SHREDDED newspaper. I was picking and rinsing off bits for a long while for each plant before I could pot them up. Ugh.

I am careful when ordering from eBay to size up (assess) the seller as best I can through their current and prior listings to see if I think they know what they are doing. Will I be likely to actually receive the brom that is named in their listing? (For example, there is currently an eBay listing for a plant at over $100 - shipping also over $100 (Total will be $200+) - and the plant? Hmmm... yeaaaaaah.... No.) I received a beautiful set of broms this past Saturday from an eBay purchase from Puerto Rico (and boy was I excited to get them, too, because I knew there was no mail on Memorial Day (today)). Perfect packaging - nice size plants - and great prices. I'm headed outdoors to finish potting up!

Happy gardening,

Carol in Jacksonville