MissyWeitzel Great info, thanks! How long were the packages in transit? I'm looking forward to your follow up and future experimentation.
I also tried sending unrooted cuttings to a friend in Alaska. I placed about (20) 3-5" lateral shoots in a air-tight plastic food container. The cuttings were dipped in water and placed in the container, some were in an oasis with the bottom wrapped in plastic and some were not wrapped in anything. No standing water in the container. At the last minute I decided to place a "shipping heating pack" in the shipping box next to the plastic container with the cuttings. That was not a good decision. I knew that heat and humidity is perfect for fungal growth so I should have predicted the result. After 5 days in transit, the cuttings were rather moldy and probably had several fungus growing on them. We decided to dump them and try again without the heat pack.
For this experiment I also made a control by placing wet, unrooted cuttings in an air-tight quart freezer bag with no standing water in the bag. I placed these cuttings in a light-proof box and shook them once a day to simulate shipping.🙂 After 5 days in the unheated barn the cuttings looked very good except for a few lower leaves. I am currently rooting those cuttings.
