4A plug shipping

[NE PA QDM]

apparently i'm out of the shipping range from NCRs usual shipping and there is an exorbitant cost if i have the plugs shipped in the styrofoam containers. they said they can take them out of the containers and bundle them just prior to shipping and that would significantly decrease shipping costs. i'm just wondering if anyone has had this done and if so do they retain enough of the plug shape to be easily planted?

i tried ordering from itasca bu they were out of the spruces i was looking for.

 

[Bill]

How many are you ordering? I had them ship to NJ a few years ago and don't remember it hurting.

Just ordered 4 blocks of 4A Norway spruce yesterday. I haven't heard back on shipping yet. But their going to MO. I do ask for old beat up styrofoam blocks so I don't have to return them.

I don't think they will hold there shape. You could bring a bag of top soil along when planting shake the dirt off, lay the roots in and sprinkle top soil to fill the hole. I'd call them back and ask for a couple samples now to see how they arrive and how hard they will be to plant.

 

[NE PA QDM]

i think i ordered around 1500, mostly norway spruce and some white and black spruce. i don't have the exact numbers but it sounded like the shipping would pretty outrageous due to being oversized boxes.

 

[Bill]

That is a lot. I think it would be like 8 boxes. And there big boxes to fit the Styro blocks.

I'd still ask for a sample to see how they arrive out of the styrofoam.
I bet there was also a deposit on the styrofoam blocks on the estimate also. They want those sent back.

MDC nursery shows them available to order but I think they are Bare root. They do sell to out of state customers.

 

[NE PA QDM]

i plan to use a planting tool designed specifically for 4a plugs.
i've planted about 1500 bare root seedlings in the last two years with a KBC bar but we have really rocky soil and that was slow work with about 200 per day planting solo.
i was thinking that taking them out of the container might screw things up; i wouldn't mind risking it on a few hundred (i could always use the KBC bar) but i don't think i could handle 1500 if i had to plant them like the bare roots.

 

[Buckly]

How many are you ordering? I had them ship to NJ a few years ago and don't remember it hurting.

Just ordered 4 blocks of 4A Norway spruce yesterday. I haven't heard back on shipping yet. But their going to MO. I do ask for old beat up styrofoam blocks so I don't have to return them.

I don't think they will hold there shape. You could bring a bag of top soil along when planting shake the dirt off, lay the roots in and sprinkle top soil to fill the hole. I'd call them back and ask for a couple samples now to see how they arrive and how hard they will be to plant.

I was looking at their site the other day and it said they were all sold out on 4A. Did you call them direct? I put in an order for #6 plugs but haven't heard back yet.
I ordered some 4A plugs from a different source a couple years ago that were extracted from the blocks. They were somewhat flattened out and were more difficult to plant but still worked.

 

[NE PA QDM]

Yes I called them and the order was placed a month or so ago, they just contacted me this week to say that the shipping would be pricey if they stay in the containers

 

[Bill]

Got my quote it was for 6's. $35/block to ship.

 

[scott44]

I bought some Styro 20's from NCR last year and they were shipped out of the containers and they were just fine when they arrived. I have also ordered plugs from the University of Idaho that were shipped the same way and they have been fine also. I can't speak for the 4A plugs but the 20's shipped just fine. I soaked them in totes overnight the day I got them and most were planted the next day and had very few if any that were hard to plant because they were deformed. Good luck with them!

sorry no pics of the plugs.

 

[NE PA QDM]

well that's good news, thanks all for your responses. maybe i'll split the difference and have half shipped in the containers and half taken out and bundled.

 

[Buckly]

Got my quote it was for 6's. $35/block to ship.

That's what I got. I prefer the 4A but we'll see how these work out. They say shipping would be about half if extracted. I like them in the blocks though so I have a wider time gap to plant. Over all with shipping they're still under a dollar a tree. Shipping was less last year from Itasca but, of course they're sold out.