Over the years, Ive been able to get seeds to every continent using this method.
Corrugated plastic and Q-Tips
I get a for sale sign that is corrugated plastic then i plug one end with a Q-Tip, put in the seeds, then plug the other end with a qtip.
Place this in a standard sized envelope to mail. This bypasses most security scrutiny and protects the seeds against being crushed by the dreaded sorting rollers.
If i have to fill out a customs form, i just declare they are jewelry beads.
Never had a single problem with this method.
Plus, its super cheap both in materials and postage cost
I’ve seen this used a few times. I received an order from a highly reputable Canadian breeder sent to me this way and Canadian customs, on exit from the country, ran a blade through each sleeve destroying about half of the beans and left a nice little “opened by Canadian customs” postcard and tape on it.
I’ve sent and received beans using that method also but prefer the coin flip and washer . Envelope feels like one of those singing greeting cards seldom do I get questioned as to what’s in the envelope .
Man I absolutely despise that corrugated plastic
Still seen seeds crushed in them. Multiple times have had two rows fall out at once.
While they do work, I think coinflips and washers are far easier to use from the standpoint of the receiver… Sure you can’t fit as many in an envelope, but can still fit quite a few
I’ve been using bud light bottle caps for years and it has never failed me yet…I also have 3 friends who work for the USPS and they said if you don’t want your envelope to go through the sorting machines all you have to do is tell them and it’s an additional charge…I just mailed an envelope with seeds yesterday and it was 0.88 cents.
Btw, I’ve also shipped/received cuttings/clones across the big pond…
Your best bet would be to use impact-resistant plastic vials or something similar and put those inside a bubble envelope mailer, then write the words “non machinable” on the front of the envelope.
A small parcel package may also be used in place of the bubble mailer, make sure all seams are well taped with quality tape for extra security.
Some of the small parcel sorting machines don’t play nice with some of the small parcels… many times, taping seams is necessary to keep the contents inside the parcel during rough handling and/or transportation.
Non-machinable means it will be sorted by hand and won’t run the risk of being put through any letter automation machines. The automation machines will definitely crush and destroy anything that doesn’t lay flat in the envelope, anything that can’t bend or anything that is thicker than 1/4”. The wheels and rollers in these machines can force loose coins to rip through their envelopes and become lost in the machine, soft bulky items will get destroyed right away.
It will cost a little more for postage if it’s non-machinable, but it won’t get destroyed before it gets to its destination either.
Yes sir, not to give away too much, but I usually glue a photo to it so it looks like a backing to go inside a photo frame. A handwritten note on the opposite side as well. Like a postcard.
In a 5x7 greeting card you can fit 6 coinflips with washers…that might not get you to 140 though. It’s the cheapest route and I’ve never lost one but there probably safer ways that cost more.
Depending what country you’re going to, places that use xray machines will outsmart just about any “stealth” you use.
Also, I don’t know about anywhere else but Australia now has xray machines specifically designed to pick up seeds, I’ve lost a lot of packages to this machine I suspect
